A Product Release, Not a Demo: Why Torc’s Autonomous Product Release v0.1 Was ‘The Next Step’

A Product Release, Not a Demo: Why Torc’s Autonomous Product Release v0.1 Was ‘The Next Step’

Torc has begun successful advanced validation of our autonomous trucks without a driver in a multi-lane closed-course environment.

As Torc Robotics nears its 20th year of operations in 2025, it has achieved an incredible milestone: a fully self-driving product release validation. More than just a demo, this milestone manifests the hard-won lessons behind Torc’s R&D, advanced engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, software best practices, and operational excellence. But if you look past the dramatic images of no human behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler moving at 65mph, it represents a powerful step forward toward an efficient and sustainable freight system that will reshape our supply chain… and you also have a rather standard production stage step.

The autonomous drive without a human driver was a straightforward, product milestone. Additionally important, it marked the critical next step from Torc’s advanced engineering phase to productization on a unified, embedded platform. Not a bolt-on solution, Torc’s integrated Freightliner Cascadia is autonomous-ready, creating more efficient, profitable way to move freight across middle mile routes.

The productization stage of any development process is meant to prove that a product was built correctly, in both reference to customer pain points and needs, and in our case, using automotive and software best practices to create a road-worthy product. Every software you’ve ever used or product you’ve ever bought has likely had some form of product validation stage. In our self-driving truck validation, we need to address the fact that the community needs a safe vehicle for the long-haul journeys wherein a human driver is unavailable. Therefore, our truck must be able to drive on its own. So, our product validation was more than just a demo – it was real time, real speed proof that the software can do what it’s supposed to do, as well as a demonstration of what this technology can do for our customers and our communities.

Amazon originally started as just an online bookstore in the mid-1990s. Jeff Bezos wanted to create “an everything store” but knew that the first step to a full-scale productization needed a controlled, narrow focus. He chose books because they were easily sourced and shippable from specific warehouses, and introduced a simple online storefront. Through this product validation, Amazon was then able to work on logistics, customer service, and online services.

The Torc product management team is quick to point out that this milestone wasn’t a demonstration but simply a stage in a product release lifecycle, marking the next stage of product maturity. “All software needs to have this step to be created,” says Sheila Scanlon, Vice President of Product Management. “You don’t release software until it’s passed all the tests, and while this test was amazing to see, it was a product validation event. This release ties completely back to our product roadmap with a subset of the end features being fully tested and verified, but no software release is ever the ‘final’ release. It’s just like your cell phone: It’s constantly getting upgrades, as will our software.”

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two PhD students, had the software know-how to create a better and faster search algorithm. They tested on a small controlled, gated data pool at first, Stanford University’s computer network, as their first product validation. After positive feedback and expansion, that search algorithm eventually became Google.

The company’s applied and responsible artificial intelligence (AI) applications, system architecture, production-intent embedded hardware, and directing safety engineering all joined up to get the truck on the road autonomously. From this point until market entry, Torc is working on fully vetted, tested, and traceable software. Our product validation stage is just one chapter in a much longer story.

“This product is never going to be done. This was one step. We’re continuing to build upon the product capabilities and features, with every additional release until our version 1.0 release, which will be available early 2027,” says Scanlon. “It’s a subset of the feature complete. It’s always going to be growing and expanding. New sensors and hardware will be created, and we’ll have better and better capabilities and more and more features, which will allow us to expand our ODD or expand the roads.”

At Torc, we’re targeting initial use cases across the southern United States for our first commercial product launch, scheduled for 2027. Our product validation event has proven that our first leg of freight, in Texas, is a feasible and achievable use case for our technology. As we develop new features and unlock new routes, our self-driving semis will become a powerhouse of safe, efficient, and easy freight.

 

Torc Joins PAVE’s Autonomous Trucking Weekend at the Texas State Fair

Torc Joins PAVE’s Autonomous Trucking Weekend at the Texas State Fair

Torc Joins PAVE’s Autonomous Trucking Weekend at the Texas State Fair

The Texas State Fair, held annually in Dallas, is one of the largest and most famous state fairs in the U.S. It’s been held since 1886, making it over 135 years old. It was originally established to showcase the agricultural and industrial progress of Texas. And this year, the industrial progress included a corral of autonomous trucks.

Invited by PAVE to join a collaborative Autonomous Trucking Weekend on October 5th and 6th, Torc joined Aurora and Plus in showcasing our truck and answering questions of fairgoers about the self-driving future.

“The Texas economy is a powerhouse. Industry brings good technology to where the opportunity is,” says Walter Grigg, Torc’s director of industry partnerships. “The state of Texas has been very friendly and welcoming, and the public has been very friendly and welcoming.”

Over the course of the event, all of the companies and PAVE representatives took questions from the public, discussing how self-driving fleets will help reshape the trucking industry. Attendees left with new information and a better understanding of how autonomous trucks will fit into a larger more robust shipping landscape. In a follow-up attendee survey conducted by PAVE, only 14% of respondents reported their comfort level as “uncomfortable” with sharing the road with autonomous trucks, and 38% rated their comfort as 4-5 on a 5-point scale, 5 being the most comfortable. Additionally, most saw improved road safety by the elimination of human error, and fewer crashes due to driver fatigue, as positives to the adoption of autonomous trucking.

“We appreciate that our testing is a privilege, all of our companies, on public roads. The focus on safety never goes away but you’ve definitely seen — even if you’ve not known it — you’ve seen autonomous trucks. And you’ll see more of them,” says Walter.

Torc Takes Texas: Bringing Autonomous Trucking to Ft. Worth, Austin, and San Antonio

Torc Takes Texas: Bringing Autonomous Trucking to Ft. Worth, Austin, and San Antonio

If first responders and government officials can’t make it to Torc, Torc will bring autonomous trucking technology to them, especially in Texas!

Torc took to the Texas highways May 6 – 9, 2024, visiting locations in Ft. Worth, Austin, and San Antonio. With a traveling, custom-wrapped event trailer as our location on wheels and our ADS-ready Freightliner Cascadia, Torc hosted over two hundred first responders, transportation experts, and the public safety community. The week was filled with amazing conversations about autonomous trucking and Torc’s First Responder Interaction guides, while sharing Torc’s commitment to safety and innovation.

Torc’s First Responder Guide provides information on how first responders can safely interact with our trucks. More information about our First Responder Guide can be found here.

The tour was an important opportunity to share Torc’s vision and provide attendees with a first-hand experience with our innovative long-haul trucking technologies. Guests were able to climb into the truck cab, view the controls, and learn about the sensors, cameras, and software that encompass our autonomous driving system. Importantly, it provided education about the future ahead, answering questions, offering facts, and explaining how autonomy will help shape freight logistics.

Check out the video below for a recap of the event and more information from Michelle Chaka, Torc’s Senior VP of Safety and Regulatory.

In Case You Missed It:

Be sure and check out Michelle Chaka’s webinar on Safely Delivering Autonomous Trucking Solutions

 


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