autonomous and self-driving vehicle news are Aurora, Recogni, Hesai,Labs
New indie Semi, AEye, ANELO & Autev.
In this Article
Aurora Partners with Hirschbach
Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUR), and Hirschbach Motor Lines, Inc., a leader in refrigerated trucking, announced they began a commercial pilot this week to test and safely deploy autonomous trucking for refrigerated cargo between Dallas and Houston. Aurora’s ability to support critical, time-sensitive refrigerated goods expands the network of carriers and shippers who can benefit from the advantages of its autonomous trucking service, Aurora Horizon.
“Since joining Aurora’s Industry Advisory Council, I have had a front row seat to the positive impact of autonomous technology,” said Richard Stocking, co-CEO of Hirschbach. “Autonomous trucks will provide safe and reliable capacity to supplement our existing network of incredible company drivers. We will identify opportunities that will expand autonomous capabilities across Hirschbach’s network that will hopefully supplement our drivers from monotonous stretches of highway and allow them to spend more time with their families.”
“This new pilot, on the Peterbilt 579 upfit with the Aurora Driver, demonstrates the increasing maturity of our operations as we expand our product support to a wider number of carriers and shippers,” said David Maday, Senior Vice President, Business Development & Product Strategy at Aurora. “We are extremely excited that Hirschbach has the confidence in Aurora’s technology and our ability to deliver perishable goods safely and on time.”
Autonomously delivering perishable goods and preventing spoilage requires mature operations and sophisticated technology. Aurora’s new, next-generation trucking terminal in Dallas is designed to support these advanced commercial driverless operations to maximize efficiency for a variety of customers, including refrigerated trailers. Aurora Driver-equipped tractors with Hirschbach refrigerated trailers started to make the 400-mile round-trip along the I-45 corridor between Aurora’s Houston and South Dallas terminals this week.
Refrigerated autonomous trucks capable of operating at nearly all hours of the day have the potential to move goods in record time, increase the shelf life of fresh produce, drive down the costs of goods for consumers and ultimately lead to fresher food and less waste. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates 30-40 percent of nationwide food supply results in the spoilage of perishable goods, which occurs, among other ways, at various stages of the production and supply chain.
Aurora recently announced the Aurora Driver is Feature Complete and has entered its final phase of refinement and validation ahead of commercial launch in 2024. By the end of the year, Aurora expects to close the Aurora Driver Safety Case for driverless operations on its launch lane between Dallas and Houston. In parallel, the company will continue to mature its operations as pilot load volume is expected to increase to 100 loads per week by the end of 2023.
Recogni SDK for Phoenix Computers
Recogni Inc. the leader in AI-based processing for autonomous vehicles, announced software development kit (SDK) for the Phoenix ADAS/AD High Performance Computer. Phoenix has unmatched processing capability and scalability from 150 to 2000 TOPS in combination with low latency and low power consumption for L2 to L4 autonomous vehicles. Now, customers can have a full hardware/ software system to efficiently manage the processing requirements of autonomous vehicles.
“Autonomous driving capabilities are being developed for a wide range of mobility use cases – from passenger vehicles and trucking, to robotics and aviation,” said Marc Bolitho, CEO of Recogni. “Each of these use cases requires specific programming and functionality, but one common requirement is having high compute with low power consumption. High compute, low power, and low latency remain strong pillars for mass adoption of autonomous mobility, and Recogni’s Phoenix and SDK is a key enabler to make this a reality. We are proud to be the first autonomous driving system on the market that can offer such a highly customizable, high performance system.”
The Recogni SDK will give customers the software tools necessary to port their AI perception networks and autonomous driving functions to the Phoenix platform, enabling them to significantly increase their compute capacity while reducing power consumption and system complexity. Recogni’s SDK enables customers to unleash the compute power of Scorpio and implement autonomous driving applications while overcoming a myriad of compute bottlenecks in existing systems.
The Recogni SDK will be available in Q3 of this year. For more information on Recogni’s solutions, please visit https://www.recogni.com/.
Hesai Tech Partners with Inertial Labs
Hesai Technology (HSAI) announced a multi-year Technology Partnership Agreement for lidar sensors with Inertial Labs, a global leader in mobile robotics navigation systems & inertial measurement units. Inertial Labs selected Hesai’s sensors to provide perception and navigation capabilities for its navigation systems for autonomous marine, land, and aerial-based robotics systems.
Hesai’s lidar sensor solutions enable robotics systems to operate autonomously and safely without human intervention. The sensors provide real-time 3D point cloud data for localization, obstacle detection, and path planning. Hesai’s low-power sensors support autonomous mobile systems in various outdoor environmental conditions, including precipitation from rain, snow & fog. The sensors are also unaffected by varying lighting conditions and can operate in daytime & nighttime.
“Inertial Labs is a company with a rich history in hardware engineering. Our mission is to develop cutting-edge solutions that drive the adoption of advanced sensor-fusion navigation and perception technologies at more affordable costs. Our unwavering commitment to quality is evident in our products, which are designed to meet the highest performance and reliability standards. At Inertial Labs, product excellence is always our top priority. To ensure the quality and accuracy of our products, we conduct exhaustive testing in our labs and gather feedback from customers worldwide. Our research has led us to conclude that Hesai LiDAR sensors are the ideal choice for achieving highly accurate and reliable 3D measurements” stated Inertial Labs CEO, Jamie Marraccini.
Inertial Labs has a rich history in hardware engineering and is dedicated to developing cutting-edge cost-effective navigation and perception solutions using advanced sensor-fusion technologies. Our products are rigorously tested and receive customer feedback worldwide, ensuring the highest quality and performance. Based on our research, we have concluded that Hesai LiDAR sensors are optimal for achieving accurate and reliable 3D measurements.
“Inertial Labs’ navigation and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) provide seamlessly integrated heading & ego-motion data to the LiDAR data stream. With this fused data stream, customer’s robotic systems can expertly navigate a variety of Operational Design Domains (ODDs) from the land, sea, and air.” said Frank Bertini, Director of Technical Marketing.
New indie REE Transceiver
indie Semiconductor, Inc. (Nasdaq: INDI), an Autotech solutions innovator, has launched the world’s first volume production-ready, highly integrated 120 GHz IQ radar front-end (RFE) transceiver featuring on-chip integrated antennas. The TRXˍ120ˍ067 provides the high-resolution, small-form-factor, low-power consumption sensing demanded by emerging automotive radar systems and significantly simplifies application development by eliminating the need for external antennas.
Radar is already a widely deployed long-range sensing solution for safety and convenience features such as automated emergency braking (AEB), automated parking and adaptive cruise control (ACC), leveraging frequencies between 76 GHz to 81 GHz. As vehicle OEMs look to continually improve sensing resolution, radar is now becoming increasingly important for in-cabin Driver and Occupant Monitoring Systems (DMS/OMS), leveraging higher frequencies from 120 GHz to 140 GHz enabling vital sign detection, including heartbeat and respiration, to ensure occupant safety. These higher, license-free frequencies also support the use of antenna-on-chip techniques that significantly simplify PCB design, minimize sensor form factor and reduce cost – criteria particularly important for DMS/OMS applications where external antennas impose industrial design limitations unacceptable to automotive manufacturers.
As international vehicle safety assessment programs such as European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) mandate or recommend driver and occupant monitoring, in-cabin sensing solutions will rapidly proliferate and ultimately play a critical role in enhancing overall safety. As a result, S&P Global Mobility forecasts driver and occupant monitoring will represent a semiconductor market opportunity of $507 million in 2029, up from $64 million in 2022, representing a 34% CAGR over this period. Radar sensing at 120 GHz and above will increasingly contribute to the deployed in-cabin solutions to address high resolution sensing applications.
“Building on the momentum of our recent acquisition of Silicon Radar GmbH, we are excited to offer our customers the world’s first, production-ready 120 GHz radar transceiver on-chip with integrated antenna, opening new possibilities for automotive radar and sensing applications,” said Dr. Peter Gulden, SVP of indie Semiconductor’s Radar Systems and Software. “This transceiver pushes the sensing performance envelope and uniquely positions indie as a leader in advanced automotive radar solutions.”
AEye Award
AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIDR), a global leader in adaptive, high-performance lidar solutions, announced it has been awarded Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s (ITS America) Best of ITS Award for its Ultra-Long Range Automated Incident Detection (AID) project with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and VSI Labs. The three entities partnered to validate that AEye’s 4Sight™ M lidar can provide reliable detection, even in harsh Minnesota winter weather conditions, at 800 meter range – performance that exceeds existing AID application expectations and pushes the baseline standard of ITS safety.
“Transportation technologies that detect incidents on highways can help reduce response and clearing times and road congestion, but have clear limitations,” said Tara Olds, Director of Connected and Automated Vehicles at the Minnesota Department of Transportation. “It’s important for us to continually advance our technology tools in order to improve roadway safety, and AEye’s lidar is an example of how they are pushing the industry, even in the most challenging weather conditions.”
For the project, AEye partnered with MnROAD, the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s cold-weather pavement testing facility, and VSI Labs, to test AEye 4Sight M lidar sensors on Interstate 94. While MnDOT currently uses cameras to obtain analytics on the flow of traffic on this corridor, the 4Sight M lidar sensor offers greater precision when it comes to speeds, lane positioning, number of axles, and even load profiles. In addition, AEye’s AID solution provides superior performance in poor weather, and is able to detect incidents at distances up to one kilometer.
“The testing shows that AEye’s 4Sight M lidar offers longer range detection and greater accuracy compared to cameras, radars, or other roadway monitoring solutions,” said Akram Benmbarek, AEye’s VP of Strategic Initiatives. “With improved analytics and intelligence derived from this lidar data, agencies like MnDOT can better track and respond to traffic flow and incidents. We’re honored to be recognized by ITS America, and to play a part in helping municipalities reduce congestion, prevent accidents, and realize cost savings.”
“VSI Labs was delighted to support this project,” said Phil Magney, Founder and President of VSI Labs. “Being based in Minnesota, we have a particular interest in helping agencies like MnDOT deploy new solutions that improve the performance and safety of the transportation network.”
AEye’s 4Sight M is a high-resolution, ultra-long range lidar sensor, which enables increased coverage with fewer sensors, lowering the cost of materials, installation, and maintenance over the lifespan of the system, while improving data collection quality and reliability. It enables traffic managers and emergency vehicles to respond quickly to a collision and drivers to travel more safely by warning them of hazardous conditions on the road that may not be immediately visible.
AEye’s lidar sensor leverages AEye’s 4Sight™ Intelligent Sensing Platform to better locate, identify, classify, and track objects. This allows for improved data collection speed and quality, ensuring that more accurate information is used to drive decisions and improve highway safety, as well as reduce traffic congestion and maintenance costs. AEye’s all-in-one solution comes complete with a library of optimized high-resolution scan patterns to tackle the unique requirements of AID applications.
ITS America is the country’s leading organization to advance transportation technology. Its Best of ITS awards recognize innovative projects which best advance ITS to benefit communities.
ANELO Joins NVIDIA Inception
ANELLO Photonics, the creator of the SiPhOG™, announced it has joined NVIDIA Inception, a program designed to nurture startups revolutionizing industries with technology advancements.
ANELLO is focused on building low-noise and low-drift optical gyroscope smart sensors leveraging ANELLO’s patented photonic integrated circuit technology. The result is the ANELLO SiPhOG™ which is the smallest optical gyroscope in the world, that enables reliable and accurate navigation and positioning across many autonomous applications in GPS-denied environments. With the ANELLO SiPhOG integrated into a range of Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) and solutions, customers have access to a more stable, accurate and robust sensor for their autonomous applications.
NVIDIA Inception will allow ANELLO Photonics to accelerate solution development and validation while providing opportunities to further the company’s visibility and growth. The program will also offer ANELLO Photonics the opportunity to collaborate with industry-leading experts and other AI-driven organizations in the autonomy space and beyond.
ANELLO Photonics is currently engaged in commercial trials with various market-leading customers in the Construction, Farming, Trucking, Robotics, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Autonomous Vehicles, and National Security space.
“We are incredibly excited to be part of the NVIDIA Inception program,” said Dr. Mario Paniccia, CEO of ANELLO Photonics. “Being part of the Inception program will enable us to not only work more closely with NVIDIA and their vast network of customers and partners but will also allow us to access very powerful tools to further improve our technology and accelerate our product development overall.”
NVIDIA Inception helps startups during critical stages of product development, prototyping and deployment. Every NVIDIA Inception member gets a custom set of ongoing benefits, such as NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute credits, marketing support, and technology assistance, which provides startups with the fundamental tools to help them grow.
Autev Autonomous EV Charging
Autev, a startup that provides an On-Demand Autonomous EV Charging Service just launched under the mission to make EV charging more convenient for EV owners, reduce the need for a fixed charging infrastructure, and help facility owners meet the increasing demand for EV charging.
Osama the founder and the CEO of Autev says “Our market research has shown that there is a huge gap in the market between the increase of EVs on the streets and how EV charging infrastructure is growing. Building new public charging stations or dedicated EV charging parking spaces in areas of shared parking presents logistical challenges. Additionally, while 80% of EV owners charge their EVs at home using their own charging devices, at-work and on-the-go EV charging segments are potentially the fastest growing through 2030.”
To address these challenges, Syd the co-founder and the COO of the company says “We have developed an autonomous charging robot that can provide on-demand charging wherever it is needed. Our technology reduces the need for a fixed charging infrastructure and makes EV charging more convenient for EV owners. Furthermore, we offer Robotics as a Service (RaaS) charging facility owners, who pay a monthly fee, as well as two sub-revenue streams from user charging fees and advertising.”
Moreover, Autev’s team comes from a startup mindset with strong engineering and entrepreneurial capabilities and international outreach, giving them the potential for future expansion. Their innovative approach sets them apart from other players in the market.