The time has come to remove even one protection driver from an autonomous semi-truck with the advent of the autonomous truck Kodiak Robotics Inc. sixth generation.
The Mountain View, California company planned to unveil its latest version of a self-driving semi-truck Tuesday at the 2024 CES trade show in Las Vegas.
Commercial trucks newly equipped with Kodiak technology operate autonomously on the roads with a safety driver on board who then takes over and manually steers the truck through local streets.
But this latest generation is complex enough — after five years of real-world testing that included 5,000 vehicles transported more than four million miles — that a protective driving force is no longer necessary, according to Kodiak founder and CEO Don Burnette.
That’s why the company describes the new truck as “driverless. “
Don Burnette, founder and CEO, Kodiak Robotics Inc.
“It’s the truck that we’re confident we can drive without a driver on public roads, and it has all the mandatory redundancies on the platform side to make it possible,” Burnette said in an interview. “So things like redundant braking, redundant steering, redundant steering, power, redundant computer security, that’s the bar that we hold to make sure that when the AI says to brake, the truck brakes. “
Specifically, Kodiak’s sixth generation of autonomous vehicles includes:
Later this year, Kodiak plans to integrate a next-generation Ambarella CV3-AD AI domain system-on-chip.
“The CV3 is an incredibly resilient AI and learning device. You can think of it as a computer chip, and it’s guilty of processing all the knowledge that comes from our sensors,” Burnette explained. “Then think LiDAR, cameras, and radar, and they’re combining a series of numbers for AI to make sense of the world around it. “
Sixth-generation autonomous driverless semi-truck cab from Kodiak Robotics
The actual truck is built by a partner company and equipped with Kodiak self-driving technologies.
The new trucks will be gradually introduced to Kodiak’s fleet while previous-generation trucks will continue to operate with safety drivers aboard to not only intervene when necessary but to monitor and provide feedback on the performance of the self-driving system.
Although sixth-generation trucks are capable of running without a driver, that doesn’t mean they can’t carry a human being on board.
“We may still have a protective motive force in our trucks without motive power,” Burnette said. “They’re just able to function without a motive force, so they can function without a motive force. Remember, we call this the Protective Driving Force, but they’re not just there for protection. They are skilled driving forces and are in the most productive position to feed our formula on the best tactics to handle any situation.
Since its debut in 2018, Kodiak has expanded its routes and visitor roster to include major corporations such as Loadsmith, C. R. England, Tyson Foods, IKEA, Werner and Forward Air Corporation.
Pilot Company and Kodiak Robotics partnered to develop services for autonomous trucks at Pilot and … [+] Flying J travel centers.
Last August, Kodiak and Pilot Company, the largest operator of travel centers in North America, announced the opening of their first truckport in Villa Rica, Georgia. The truckport is being used to launch and land Kodiak autonomous trucks and serve as a hub for drivers to pick up and drop off first- and last-mile deliveries.
For now, Kodiak is installing its self-driving technologies on diesel-powered trucks, mainly because they are more widely available. That doesn’t mean future generations won’t be propelled by other power sources.
“We still are very bullish and excited about future drive trains and different fuel systems, whether that’s hydrogen fuel cell whether that’s battery electric,” said Burnette. “But alas, we are not truck manufacturers and we can only work with what we have access to.”