Autonomous & Self-Driving Vehicle News: Cruise, Zoox, Hesai, Textron & Kodiak Robotics

In autonomous and self-driving vehicle news are Cruise, Zoox, Hesai, Textron & Kodiak Robotics.

Cruise Back Cruising in SF

Cruise Tweeted it will deploy several manual mapping vehicles in Sunnyvale and Mountain View with the intent to progress to supervised testing with up to 5 AVs later this fall. Resuming testing in the Bay Area is an important step forward as they continue to work closely with California regulators and local stakeholders. It will allow for local employees to engage directly with our product as they refine and improve our tech through R&D.

Zoox Joins Alliance for Automotive Innovation

Alliance for Automotive Innovation announced the addition of autonomous vehicle producer Zoox to the organization’s expanding roster of auto manufacturers, suppliers, advanced battery manufacturers, autonomous vehicle producers and semiconductor makers.

Zoox was founded to make a safer, cleaner and more enjoyable future on the road. The autonomous vehicle company will bring mobility-as-a-service to dense urban environments with a purpose-built robotaxi currently operating on public roads in Foster City, California and Las Vegas, Nevada. The company also tests its autonomous driving software in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Austin and Miami.

John Bozzella, president and CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said: “Alliance for Automotive Innovation is proud to welcome Zoox to our association. Autonomous vehicle technology is changing transportation – just look at the innovation at Zoox, a cutting-edge company already delivering safer roads and mobility solutions.”

Ron Thaniel, senior director for policy and regulatory affairs for Zoox, said: “We are excited to join the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an organisation that is one of the leading voices in the deployment of transportation technology including autonomous vehicles leading to safer roadways. The Alliance brings expertise in policy, regulation and legislation, and our team looks forward to working with them on the evolving autonomous vehicle landscape.”

Hesai New Lidar @IAA

Hesai Technology  launched its powerful new lidar solution OT128 at Europe’s biggest commercial vehicle trade fair IAA Transportation in Hannover (booth location: Hall 12, #C71). Hesai’s OT128 is the most mature 360° long-range lidar in the market and is driving the rapid development of autonomous vehicles’ all-around sensing capabilities.

Production Time Per Unit Reduced by 95%

Promising exceptional sensing performance and certified automotive-grade reliability, the new sensor OT128 from Hesai is set to have a transformative impact on the European commercial vehicle sector.

Hesai’s OT128 can achieve a detection range of up to 200 meters at 10% reflectivity, meeting the demanding requirements of level 4 (L4) autonomous driving and other high-precision applications. With a finest angular resolution of 0.1° x 0.125° and data points exceeding 3.45 million points per second, the OT128 captures environmental details with levels of clarity that far exceed the automotive industry’s requirements, supporting precise sensing in complex scenarios.

With 66% fewer parts than the previous-generation product, Hesai’s OT128 has a significantly less complex architecture. This means that the unit can be mass-produced on an automated manufacturing line, reducing the production time per unit by over 95% compared to the previous generation of mechanical lidar.

A highly versatile lidar, OT128 can clearly detect objects both near and far. The OT128 also has outstanding surface detection, even for objects that cameras struggle to identify, such as black cars.

As such, the OT128 has the potential to drive a new wave of innovation in the commercial automotive sector as it continues to strive for scalable commercial deployment of self-driving trucks, autonomous shuttles, last-mile delivery vehicles, and industrial automation. Many of these cutting-edge mobility solutions will be on display at the 2024 IAA Transportation fair in Hannover, which takes place from 16-22 September. Hesai is making its first appearance at the biennial event as the company expands its global footprint to maintain market leadership.

Unmatched Automotive-Grade Durability and Safety Standards

Hesai’s commitment to safety is reflected across its product portfolio, including Pandar128, QT128, and AT128, all of which have achieved ASIL B certification for functional safety. Additionally, Hesai follows a rigorous internal process to ensure the highest safety standards. Leveraging this experience, the OT128 also meets ISO 26262 ASIL B functional safety standards and complies with ISO 21434 cybersecurity requirements.

OT128 was designed from the outset to meet automotive-grade standards and has passed over 50 automotive-grade reliability tests. It boasts a design life exceeding 30,000 hours – three times the industry average – ensuring that the OT128 maintains exceptional performance even after prolonged operation in high temperatures. Similarly, OT128 demonstrates remarkable stability in complex mechanical shock and vibration environments, excelling under extreme conditions like high-speed driving on rough terrain and prolonged exposure to intense vibrations.

Proven Market Success and Strong Pre-Launch Endorsement

With the rapid growth of ADAS and the autonomous driving market, Hesai’s first product featuring an integrated architecture, the AT128, has achieved significant volume expansion. As of the second quarter of 2024, cumulative deliveries of AT128 surpassed 380,000 units. Its technical architecture, quality and reliability have been highly praised by automotive OEMs, making it a market-proven product. The newly available OT128 has been developed on the same platform as AT128, re-using 95% of the mature and transceiver modules in the 360° lidar.

Thanks to its excellent performance, greatly improved production efficiency and extremely high reliability, Hesai’s OT128 has already been tested by pre-launch customer partners in Europe across various applications, including L4 autonomous driving, port logistics automation, industrial robotics, heavy machinery and smart factories. Companies such as Embotech and EasyMile have reported exceptional real-world performance, highlighting the OT128’s potential to transform the autonomous vehicle and industrial automation sectors.

EasyMile, headquartered in Toulouse, France, integrates the OT128 into its autonomous shuttles, providing comprehensive on-road awareness for the vehicles. “Hesai has a track record of designing industry-leading performance lidars. The OT128 has ultra-high resolution, long-range perception, with a level of support that doesn’t compromise functionality. These were fundamental features we needed for our autonomous vehicles,” says Benoit Perrin, General Manager, Easymile.

Embotech, a Zurich-based provider of autonomous driving solutions, uses the OT128 on its harbour terminal trucks to meet customers’ strict requirements for reliability and performance. Giorgio Corbellini, Head of Commercial Vehicle Automation, Embotech, says. “Reliability and performance were critical during the proof-of-concept phase, while ROI becomes a key focus in the deployment phase. Hesai’s lidar products enable us to meet our customers’ requirements in both stages, advancing our vision of revolutionizing autonomous mobility.”

Global Leadership and Future Outlook

Hesai made its European mobility fair debut at the 2023 IAA Mobility event in Munich, and continues to extend its global leadership in the lidar technology market. In 2024, it makes its debut at the IAA Transportation event in Hannover.

According to the Lidar for Automotive 2024 report by Yole Intelligence, an international market research and strategy consulting firm, Hesai is ranked No. 1 in the robotic car lidar market globally, with a 74% market share. Among the top 10 autonomous driving companies in the world, nine use Hesai’s 360° high-performance lidar.

Textron Works with Kodiak Robotics

– Textron Systems Corporation, a leading developer of crewed and uncrewed military ground vehicles, and Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a leading self-driving technology developer for the trucking and defense markets, announced today that they have integrated the Kodiak Driver, Kodiak’s self-driving system, into Textron’s Systems’ RIPSAW® M3 vehicle. The RIPSAW M3 vehicle, equipped with the Kodiak Driver, is a rugged and reliable uncrewed robotic ground vehicle designed to keep service members out of harm’s way while meeting the mission of today’s military. With this vehicle, Textron Systems and Kodiak intend to jointly explore future opportunities with both the U.S. Department of Defense and the militaries of allied nations as they look to accelerate automation into military ground vehicles.

Integrating the Kodiak Driver into Textron Systems’ RIPSAW M3 vehicle demonstrates the unique versatility and reliability of Kodiak’s autonomous system, and the value that dual-use technology can bring to defense markets. The Kodiak Driver-equipped RIPSAW M3 vehicle is the first autonomous tracked vehicle on which Kodiak has collaborated, and the first Kodiak Driver-equipped vehicle without room for a human.

“The RIPSAW M3 equipped with the Kodiak Driver is a transformative solution for military ground operations,” said Textron Systems’ David Phillips, Senior Vice President, Land, Air and Sea Systems. “Our collaboration will not only enhance the U.S. military’s ability to execute complex and high-risk missions, but also provides a critical tool for keeping personnel out of harm’s way. This collaboration will help redefine, and perhaps accelerate, the future of uncrewed military ground vehicles, offering unparalleled capabilities and mission-readiness.”

The RIPSAW M3 vehicle equipped with the Kodiak Driver- represents a unique collaboration between a leader in military ground vehicles and a dual-use artificial intelligence technology developer. The vehicle combines Kodiak’s industry-leading autonomy system with Textron Systems’ rugged and reliable tracked vehicle platform. The Kodiak Driver-equipped RIPSAW M3 vehicle is capable of successfully executing a wide range of high-risk military missions, such as reconnaissance, surveillance, and tactical maneuvers, across a wide range of terrain types, from highways to dirt roads to fully cross-country.

Through this collaboration, Kodiak strategically integrated its modular DefensePods into each corner of the RIPSAW M3 vehicle, ensuring 360-degree visibility while maintaining a low profile. DefensePods are an adapted version of Kodiak’s modular, swappable SensorPods, designed for military use. DefensePods are pre-calibrated, pre-built hardware enclosures that include the sensors necessary for autonomous driving. DefensePods can be easily swappable in the field in 10 minutes or less, using standard tools and with minimal training. This design ensures that the Kodiak Driver-equipped RIPSAW M3 remains operational even in the most challenging environments.

As military ground missions are dynamic, Kodiak’s approach to autonomy–which leverages an advanced perception system to identify what is around the vehicle, recognize drivable surfaces, and then navigate the vehicle as a human would–unlocks full off-road autonomy. The Kodiak Driver-equipped RIPSAW M3 also contains Kodiak’s unique Assisted Autonomy technology, which combines autonomy with human-in-the-loop path planning. Assisted Autonomy combines the best aspects of remote autonomy assistance and remote driving, allowing soldiers to seamlessly control a vehicle remotely when necessary, reducing the risk that vehicles become disabled in novel environments. When operated in Assisted Autonomy, the autonomy system combines human-driven planning with the Kodiak Driver’s safety controls, ensuring safe operations while enabling human intervention for mission-critical tasks.

“Kodiak is building the world’s most capable and flexible autonomous system,” said Kodiak’s Don Burnette, Founder and CEO. “No other autonomous system can drive everywhere, from on-highway to off-road, providing unique value to customers across the defense, trucking, and industrial industries. By collaborating with Textron Systems, we can offer unparalleled support to the warfighter at the speed of relevance.”

The same technology stack that drives the Kodiak Driver-equipped RIPSAW M3 vehicle has delivered freight without a human driver in West Texas’s Permian Basin, and has driven over 3.5 million miles while delivering over 6,000 loads for some of the trucking industry’s biggest names.

Textron Systems has over three decades of experience in uncrewed land, air and sea systems. With proven expertise in design, integration, production and aftermarket support through multiple military programs of record, Textron Systems builds on a mature, proven history in supporting the DoD and our allies.