Navistar’s decision builds on an early-stage collaboration with TuSimple, which splits operations between the U.S. and China, that began in 2018 and comes after it evaluated technology from other companies that Persio Lisboa, the truckmaker’s new CEO and president, didn’t identify. The target is to have semis with Level-4 autonomous capability–meaning they can drive without human input–on the market by 2024.
“We see that they are quite complex, and we are in a complex combination in this effort,” Lisbon told Forbes. “We see the adulthood of the organization. I think we see the skill and point of professionals progressing in their appearance with opposite numbers in our appearance.”
“The bottom line here is that it’s a built-in truck that’s factory-produced and leaves the factory line,” says TuSimple President Cheng Lu, speaking from the company’s San Diego headquarters. “Of course, everything is automotive quality, so in terms of ease of maintenance and reliability, there is an OEM for this truck, which is really vital to the end user.”
Founded through Xiaodi Hou, a Caltech-trained PC scientist, TuSimple’s generation leader and architect of its AI-based software, the company focused exclusively on mastering long-distance truck transportation for the U.S. market. And transport goods from the ports of China, because Hou We thought it was a faster way to create a business that generated revenue. (TuSimple is also a notable member of Forbes’ AI 50 2020 corporation list to view).
(For more information, see Robo-Rigs: The Scientist, The Unicorn And The $700 Billion Race to Create Self-Driving Semi-Trucks of May 31, 2019, Forbes magazine factor).
Navistar sells approximately 35,000 Class 8 semi-finishes in the U.S. And Canada under its foreign logo and has its own in-house engineering team that works with independent technology. He will paint a lot with TuSimple “to integrate the personality of the vehicle,” says Chris Gutierrez, lead engineer on navistar’s Advanced Driver Assistance System team.
“There’s more than just software and hardware here,” he says. “It’s one thing to say that this truck will avoid and spin whenever it wants, but how does it interact with other drivers and a smart network controller? How to show the truck when it is appropriate to turn on the flasher before converting the lanes? How fast do you get this lane replaced and when does its flashing light turn off at the end of this lane? »
These are just a few of the elements that must be subtle before the launch of the association’s autonomous trucks, as well as redundant systems for greater protection and updating of the electrical architecture so that trucks can seamlessly accommodate computers, virtual cameras, robot radars and lidar laser sensors. demand platforms.
Navistar’s minority stake in TuSimple is “the first phase of our two-phase technique and progression process,” says Lisbon, CEO of June. “We’ll have the progression in conjunction with customers, and then we’ll move on to phase two, which is more in line with the final validation before going into production in 2024.”
Shares of Navistar rose 3.1% to $29.99 in New York Stock Exchange trading on Wednesday.
From Los Angeles, the U.S. capital of cars and congestion, I try to make sense of technology-driven changes reshaping transportation, cities and how we get around. I’ve
From Los Angeles, the U.S. capital of cars and congestion, I try to make sense of technology-driven changes reshaping transportation, cities and how we get around. I’ve tracked global automakers, advanced vehicle tech and environmental policy for more than two decades, including 15 years at Bloomberg, and squeezed in stints in the financial and corporate worlds. What’s your story?