news 
One of the Last Robot Truckers Finally Ready to Hit the Road
Aurora Innovation, a leading autonomous trucking company, is nearing the end of its pilot phase and expects to start reporting revenue from robotic services by mid-2025. While it’s taken longer than planned to shift to commercial operations, CEO Chris Urmson remains confident that his company will be the first to do so in the industry.
Urmson attributes Aurora’s progress to its focus on simulation, artificial intelligence, and safety protocols. The company has invested heavily in research and development, pouring over $2.4 billion into R&D from 2020 through last year’s third quarter. Despite cumulative losses totaling $3.7 billion during this period, Urmson is optimistic about the company’s future prospects.
“We feel like we’re in a very strong position,” he said, noting that Aurora has more than $1.2 billion of total assets and over $263 million of cash on hand.
However, Urmson acknowledges that autonomous vision systems remain a persistent challenge for the industry. “The bottom line is that perception systems are quite brittle and they cannot be easily backfilled by remote humans,” he said.
Aurora’s R&D efforts have also been driven by the need to bolster camera and radar data with 3D maps of distant road conditions. This, in turn, will enable the company to improve its autonomous driving capabilities.
While Aurora is preparing for commercial operations, it is not without competition. Other startups, such as Waabi and Bot Auto, are also working towards launching their own services. Kodiak has already begun hauling sand off-road to oil and gas fields with driverless semis in West Texas, targeting a smaller market. Additionally, Gatik is focusing on hauling groceries and office supplies in smaller commercial trucks on city and suburban streets.
Despite these challenges, Urmson remains confident that Aurora will be the first company to start commercial operations in the trucking industry.
Source: http://www.forbes.com
