In autonomous and self-driving vehicle news are Aurora, HOLON, BENTELER, dSPACE, TriEye and Indy Autonomous Challenge.
Aurora Summit
Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUR) is hosting a two-day Partner Summit where company leaders will share exciting updates, including the introduction of its Partner Success Program and the planned route expansion between El Paso, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona.
“We strongly believe that engaging key partners – the people who will regularly interact with the Aurora Driver – is critical to the success of our driverless commercial product,” said Ossa Fisher, president of Aurora. “Our Partner Summit allows us to showcase the capabilities and competence of the Aurora Driver and build trust with our stakeholders that we’re on the right path to safely deploy driverless trucks.”
Aurora Partner Summit
The Aurora Partner Summit brings together over 20 carriers as well as industry safety experts, regulators, first responders, and law enforcement from the national, state, and local level for collaborative conversations on a wide range of industry topics.
Nat Beuse, Aurora’s Chief Safety Officer, will outline the company’s approach to evaluating the Aurora Driver’s readiness for driverless operations between Dallas and Houston through the closure of its Safety Case. Additionally, law enforcement professionals and first responders will share their experiences working with Aurora and how they are preparing for driverless trucks in Texas.
Partner Success Program
Aurora is launching an industry-first Partner Success Program, which puts customers’ drivers and executives in the cab of Aurora Driver-powered trucks to evaluate autonomy performance before driverless operations. To help validate the program, Aurora enlisted J.J. Keller, a trusted source in safety and regulatory compliance, to take a ride and provide feedback on the experience. The program is slated to begin in Q4 2024.
Phoenix Route Expansion
As part of the company’s effort to unlock value for carriers, Aurora plans to extend its Fort Worth to El Paso lane by opening operations to Phoenix. The company expects to begin commercial pilots for customers between Fort Worth and Phoenix in the first half of 2025 with the intent to go driverless on that route later in the year. The 1,000-mile passage takes over 15 hours to complete, making it particularly compelling for autonomy.
Aurora has hauled over 7,000 loads for pilot customers across nearly two million commercial miles to date. For more information, visit aurora.tech.
HOLON & BENTELER in Florida
HOLON, a leading manufacturer of autonomous, electric shuttles purpose-built to revolutionize shared mobility and sustainable transportation, is poised to transform the future of transportation with the launch of its first production plant for autonomous movers in Jacksonville, Florida. This city unveiling was announced in collaboration with prominent Florida officials and key community stakeholders. HOLON, a subsidiary of global automotive supplier BENTELER Group, will be Florida’s first automotive vehicle manufacturer.
The approximately 500,000-square-foot facility will be constructed in Jacksonville, with completion expected in 2026. The developer for the project is VanTrust Real Estate. The plant will be pivotal in advancing HOLON’s mission to deliver inclusive, emission-free and sustainable passenger transportation, addressing urban traffic challenges, climate change and demographic shifts.
Henning von Watzdorf, CEO of HOLON, said, “Today marks a significant milestone in the journey of our mover project. With openness and a supportive regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles, the U.S. offers an ideal environment for HOLON’s industrial initiatives and Jacksonville has demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm for our vision from the beginning, making the city a national leader in the deployment of autonomous transit. We are deeply grateful to our partners and team for their tireless passion and hard work, which have made—and will continue to make—our expansion into the U.S. a reality.”
Automotive-Grade Mover’s Market Readiness
HOLON’s mover, a fully electric and autonomous vehicle (AV), is designed to excel in public road use by setting new benchmarks in safety, ride comfort and production quality. The mover is being developed in close collaboration with authorities to ensure it complies with relevant federal requirements, including Buy America and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), upon deployment. With a top speed of 37 mph and a capacity for up to 15 passengers, the mover is versatile enough for various applications, from on-demand services like ride pooling and ride hailing to regularly scheduled transit operations.
Petr Marijczuk, COO of HOLON, added, “We are thrilled to establish our first U.S. manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, marking a milestone not just for HOLON, but for Florida, the United States, and the global autonomous vehicle industry. After an initial ramp-up phase, HOLON anticipates creating up to 150 jobs by 2027. Our Jacksonville plant will produce approximately 5,000 autonomous movers annually, making them more accessible and quicker to the market worldwide.”
“VanTrust is excited to work with HOLON and JAXUSA on this transformative opportunity,” said Executive Vice President of VanTrust, Marc Munago.
Prototypes of the mover will be available later this year, with the first vehicles set to be deployed in pilot projects by early 2026. Targeting municipalities, private operators, and institutions such as airports, campuses, planned communities, healthcare facilities and national parks, the early interest in reserving this limited series of prototypes highlights the growing demand for a flexible, cost-effective mobility solution that can adapt to diverse environments and operational needs.
Secretary of the Florida Department of Commerce J. Alex Kelly and Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan expressed strong support for the initiative, highlighting the positive economic and technological impact on Jacksonville and the broader Florida region.
dSPACE SIL for IAC
-When the world’s fastest autonomous race cars take to the starting line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on September 6, the ten university teams of the Indy Autonomous Challenge will begin a new chapter in the development of their vehicle controllers: From now on, the university teams can use the extended functionality of dSPACE’s software-in-the-loop (SIL) solutions and use the cloud racing services to race virtually against other teams at any time. With the SIL simulations from dSPACE, the racing teams further develop their AI drivers on virtual racetracks to make the cars faster, safer, and more reliable.
dSPACE, one of the world’s leading providers of simulation and validation solutions, expanded its partnership with the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) at the beginning of the year and has since been supporting the university racing teams not only with onboard computers, but also with simulation software, training, and support. As the software-in-the-loop technology sponsor of the IAC, dSPACE provides the teams with the simulation solution SIMPHERA – a powerful framework that includes simulation models, test automation, test analysis, and a simulation platform and can integrate additional components such as HIL simulators. The virtual test environments for desktop and cloud use offer teams access to all components of the individually configurable framework. For example, components of the open simulation models can be replaced by their own models.
In the run-up to the race, dSPACE had set up the simulation solution for the teams, which provides a digital twin of the IAC race cars and models of the Indianapolis racetrack and made it available for desktop use. Just in time for the race in Indianapolis, dSPACE has now given the green light for the next level of simulation: With the cloud racing services, teams can arrange virtual races alongside the races on the racetracks and compete against each other with different setups or send several of their own virtual vehicles with different setups onto the virtual test track. “With the extended range of functions, the teams are able to test their AI driver software in the cloud comprehensively and quickly,” says Raimund Sprick, Senior Manager Automated Driving and Software Solutions at dSPACE.
Paul Mitchell, Chairman and President of the IAC adds: “By integrating dSPACE’s advanced SIMPHERA software-in-the-loop solutions, our teams can now leverage virtual environments to refine and validate their AI algorithms with remarkable accuracy and speed. This initiative not only accelerates the iterative testing cycle but also enriches the knowledge transfer between simulated environments to practical applications, ensuring that our competitors are at the forefront of safe and efficient autonomous systems.”
dSPACE has been the exclusive on-vehicle computer technology sponsor for two years and provides the onboard computers for the IAC. Every IAC race car runs with the dSPACE AUTERA AutoBox. The robust and powerful central computer reads data from lidar and radar sensors and cameras as well as from buses and networks in the vehicle, processes it, and provides real-time controls and commands for the fully autonomous racing cars.
Visitors to the IAC race will see dSPACE demonstrate the SIMPHERA software-in-the-loop solution, its cloud racing services, and the AUTERA central computer in the Innovation Paddock at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition, on the morning of September 6, Vivek Mogdal, Vice President Sales at dSPACE, will join other experts on a panel titled “SIM to REAL – The Metaverse Meets Reality” to discuss how simulation solutions and machine learning can help improve real-world outcomes.
About dSPACE
New TriEye SWIR Sensor
TriEye, pioneer of the world’s first cost-effective, mass-market Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensing technology, announced the release of the TES200 1.3MP SWIR image sensor. Based on the innovative TriEye CMOS image sensor technology that allows SWIR capabilities using a CMOS manufacturing process, the TES200 is the first commercially available product released in the Raven product family.
The TES200 operates in the 700nm to 1650nm wavelength range, delivering high sensitivity and 1.3MP resolution. With its large format, high frame rate, and low power consumption, the TES200 offers enhanced sensitivity and dynamic range. This makes the new image sensor ideal for imaging and sensing applications across various industries, including automotive, industrial, robotics, and biometrics.
“We are proud to announce the commercial availability of the TES200 image sensor. Our CMOS-based solution has set new standards in the automotive market, and with the rise of new Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, the demand for more sensors and more information has increased. The TES200 now brings these advanced SWIR capabilities to machine vision and robotic systems in various industries,” said Avi Bakal, CEO of TriEye. “We are excited to offer a solution that delivers a new domain of capabilities in a cost-effective and scalable way, broadening the reach of advanced sensing technology.”
The TriEye Raven image sensor family is designed for emerging machine vision and robotics applications, incorporating the latest SWIR pixel and packaging technologies. The TES200 is immediately available in sample quantities and available for production orders with delivery in Q2 2025.
Drivers Are Concerned Sharing the Road with AVs
Attorney Amy Witherite, whose firm specializes in motor vehicle accidents, is advocating for regulations on driverless trucks. A public opinion poll commissioned by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety found that 86% of respondents expressed concerns about sharing the road with driverless trucks, coming soon to major Interstate Highways in Texas.
“The fact is there are more regulations regarding student drivers than there are for the owner/operators of 80,000-pound trucks that will be sharing our highways with school buses, families and everyone else who uses our state’s highways,” says Amy Witherite, founder of the Witherite Law Group and an expert of motor vehicle safety.
“Student drivers have to pass written and road tests,” notes Witherite. “There is no test for whether a driverless truck is safe to operate. It is left solely up to the trucking company and manufacturers who have invested millions in the technology and stand to profit when it is implemented. Put simply the fox is watching the hen house.”
Even the ultra-conservative Project 2025 has urged the federal government to come up with standards noting … “current regulations were written before the advent of automated vehicles and driving systems.”
Local public safety agencies do not seem to be prepared for the imminent deployment of these vehicles either. Open records requests to public safety agencies along the Dallas to Houston route showed none could provide examples of training or protocols in place for dealing with autonomous trucks.
“The public and lawmakers have been lulled into a sense of comfort by slick videos showing the vehicles operating in pristine conditions,” said Witherite. “In the real-world weather conditions, erratic or unsafe drivers, unexpected road hazards and equipment failure all pose serious life-threatening potential problems.
“Sensors can fail, software can be corrupted or hacked, and computer controls can malfunction,” notes Witherite. “That is why in aviation automation disconnects when problems are detected, and control is returned to human pilots who are in the cockpit and at the controls.”
The latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report (2021) showed Texas had the most fatalities involving commercial trucks of any state. According to Drivewyze, there were nearly 4,500 motor vehicle traffic fatalities and nearly 19,000 serious injuries in Texas throughout 2022, which equals a traffic death every 1 hour and 57 minutes.
The Witherite Law Group specializes in vehicle accident cases and offers crucial support for individuals involved in accidents with driverless vehicles. For more information visit their website. www.witheritelaw.com.