Category: Education

Texas Road Tour 2025: Legislators, First Responders Learn About Autonomous Trucking

by Kiley Thompson | Apr 11, 2025 | Education, Featured

Torc at GTC 2025, announcing collaboration with NVIDIA and Flex

On the road again! Our Torc autonomous truck traveled between Austin and Ft. Worth for the Texas Road Tour 2025

Willie Nelson famously sings about being on the road again, and Torcrs (with their love of all things transportation) made that our theme song during the last week of March 2025. Meeting with both state and local government as well as first responders, we put a few more miles on our autonomous truck between Austin and Fort Worth. Read on to find out details of the events.

March 25

We started the week in Austin, Texas, meeting with individuals from the Texas Department of Transportation at their Stassney Lane facility. Torc brought a vehicle to participate in the TXDOT AV Industry Demonstration Day, which showcased innovative technologies including autonomous passenger vehicles, trucks, and drones.

During this event, Torc met with various departments of transportation and departments of motor vehicles to discuss the benefits of autonomous driving and trucking. We had many meaningful conversations focused on sharing Torc’s approach to safety and how AVs can improve the safety and efficiency of freight transportation.

March 26

Torc conducted a First Responder Training event at Torc’s interim lot in Ft. Worth. Torc staff met with law enforcement, fire, EMS, and other first responders to discuss how to safely and effectively interact with Torc trucks.

“A great highlight was seeing how curious and engaged local first responders are about our trucks,” said Anita Kim, Director of Government Affairs and Policy. “They really appreciated the ability to see our technology up close and learn about how to interact safely with our trucks.”

Richard Russell, Torc’s Senior Manager of First Responder Policy, noted the interest of local law enforcement for Torc to conduct more one-on-one training experiences in the future.

March 27

Braving a stormy forecast, we finished the Road Tour back in Austin. We welcomed many individuals at the Texas state capitol where several companies participated in an autonomous vehicle showcase hosted by the Innovation and Technology Caucus of the Texas Legislature.

“Educating policymakers and first responders about how Torc is approaching safety and our future plans in Texas is critical to successful deployment in the state,” said Anita. “It is really important to have collaborative relationships where we operate and we are planning more events in the coming months.”

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

by Kiley Mitchell Thompson | Nov 13, 2024 | News, Education, Featured

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.

Are Autonomous Vehicles the Future?

by Alex Mesa | Sep 3, 2024 | Education

The future of everyday technology is full of innovations taken straight out of The Jetsons. But from 3D-printed food to robot butlers, we’re not so far from that sci-fi idea of what tomorrow looks like. Today, we ask our smart assistants to play our favorite songs and program our robot vacuums to clean the house while we’re at work. Our future, and our present, is full of these kinds of forward-thinking inventions, including self-driving vehicles.

While self-driving vehicles are still a ways out from becoming flying cars, autonomous transportation is rapidly becoming part of our current lives. In fact, many cars on the road currently have some degree of autonomy – and we’re not just talking about luxury autopilot features.

Programs like lane-keep assist and cruise control are all considered Level One Autonomy, or assisted driving. These days, cars with Level One autonomous functions are very, very common; it’s likely that you’ve driven one yourself. And as for Level Two Autonomy, wherein vehicles control both steering and accelerating/decelerating, there are a few cars on the road with this function, albeit their numbers are rapidly rising as autonomous technology becomes more affordable.

We might have autonomous vehicles now, but are autonomous vehicles the future? Will that Jetsons-esque future become our everyday?

Let’s Explore: Autonomous Trucking

At Torc Robotics, we’ve been in the autonomous technology world since 2005. As seasoned veterans in the self-driving world, we whole-heartedly believe that autonomous vehicles are the future. We believe that autonomous trucking will be one of the first forms of self-driving to make it to the market, with Torc trucks at the head of the pack.

Autonomous trucks, like the ones we’re developing at Torc, are the most viable form of self-driving technology due to a host of reasons, but some of the most apparent are our trucks’ addition of lidar and radar in combination with a full camera suite. When added to a Class 8 truck, these features allow our vehicles to understand what’s in the surrounding environment in real-time.

And while autonomous driving systems will certainly make the roads safer for all, autonomous trucking adds a layer of usefulness that personal self-driving cars aren’t geared towards. From strengthening supply chains to driving down the cost of goods, trucks like ours will create a better future in countless ways.

So, are autonomous trucks the future? Yes! Once it’s safe for driver-out vehicles to put tires to the pavement, you can expect autonomous trucks to carry goods to-and-from shipping hubs across the country.

Let’s Explore: Autonomous Cars

In the past few years, autonomous cars have exploded onto the scene. Although there are some flashy headlines and sleek cars rolling out onto city streets, are autonomous cars the future?

The answer is: yes, but it’s a little more complicated than the autonomous trucking equivalent.

Autonomous cars are certainly probable and possible; we’ll likely see Level Four autonomy on our streets in the near future. Thanks to algorithmic precision and sensors far better than the human eye, these cars will make our roads safer. They’ll also be more efficient thanks to carefully managed gas consumption, eco-friendly decision-making, and more.

However, the cost of hardware is currently a huge challenge for the kinds of cars that we park in our driveways. From high-performance computing to mass-market manufacturing, it’s difficult to create a self-driving car that is safe, affordable, and maintainable for the average person. That’s not to say that it’ll never happen – it’ll just take some time before technology catches up to affordability. For now, those looking for a self-driving vehicle can look towards the various Level Two autonomous cars currently available – or set their sights on the robotaxis that are currently coming to many cities across the United States.

Other Considerations: Software, Weather, and More

An autonomous vehicle, whether it’s a self-driving truck or a self-driving car, is an amalgamation of sensors, algorithms, processors, and more. At autonomous driving companies like Torc, we’re working to develop software that combines these elements in seamless, sophisticated ways. We’re laser-focused on developing trucks that operate autonomously in a few particular use cases: for example, in ideal weather conditions.

You might’ve heard that autonomous driving systems are still tackling the inclement weather challenge. While autonomous vehicles use a variety of sensors, cold inclement weather is still something the industry has yet to solve. Therefore, self-driving vehicles will likely launch in the Sunbelt region of the United States, where the weather is mostly temperate and snow isn’t a concern. However, we don’t expect snow to be an issue for long; there are promising solutions on the horizon, including ground-penetrating radar and other forms of localization methods. With so many developers working in a fast-paced, innovative industry, it’s only a matter of time before today’s problems become tomorrow’s footnotes.

So, Are Autonomous Vehicles the Future?

Yes. Autonomous vehicles are the future, just as they’re part of our present. As the autonomous driving industry continues to race towards self-driving solutions, we’re excited to see where the future leads us.

Why Level 5 Autonomy Is Science Fiction vs Science Fact

by Alex Mesa | Aug 14, 2024 | Education

What’s the number one question Torc’rs get asked? “When will your trucks fully reach Level 5 autonomy?” Humans like to think in the binary. Either you’re driving the vehicle, or you’re not driving the vehicle. But it is not so black and white when it comes to autonomous vehicles.

The SAE – the Society of Automotive Engineers International — has defined autonomous driving into six different levels. Only Level 5 is fully autonomous, to the point of theoretically being able to handle every driving situation that you could imagine, in every location in the world, without any human interaction or supervision needed.

Within the parameters of the 21st century, the software needed to create fully deployable Level 5, not to mention commercially viable vehicles, are science fiction.

Level 4, just a step under that, is reality. It is, in fact, the science versus science fiction.

What’s the difference between Level 4 autonomy and Level 5 autonomy?

The nuances between Level 5 and Level 4 are distinct and important. Understanding them is key to differentiating between the real and the fantasy.

Level 5 autonomy is where most imaginations run to when they hear “self-driving.” It is fully and completely autonomous. There is no need for a steering wheel, and all people are passengers. But that simplicity of Level 5 would require an astronomical amount of technological development, maintenance, and testing.

For a fully realized Level 5 instance, the autonomous driving system would have to navigate everywhere. Every drivable surface, from gravel roads to back-alleyways would need to be mapped and remapped. Situations that the vehicle would be able to handle would include everything from unmarked roads and new pop-up roadworks to a tornado dropping out of the clouds, as aliens land, and Godzilla starts attacking. The definition of Level 5 includes the autonomous vehicle making the right decisions in all those situations without complaint. In other words, an android would be driving the vehicle; there would be zero human intervention involved.

It is science fiction. Does that mean it will not happen? Maybe. However, Level 5 autonomous trucks are not a viable, achievable, accessible product for the 4.19 million miles of U.S. roads. And those vehicles, and that freight market, is what Torc is focused on.

Torc’s Focused Approach

Level 4, however, stays just slightly over that line of science fiction into science fact. Torc’s autonomous driving system can navigate without human intervention within environmental, route, or traffic scenario limits. The limits put on the expected or allowed performance of the trucks are defined in the system’s Operational Design Domain or (ODD). Within these factors, the autonomous truck can navigate the road ahead in defined situations. Importantly, Level 4 can be an autonomous product that can be realistically foreseen, programmed, tested, and viable. That is Level 4, a high automation drive.

We state the Whys to Level 4 Autonomous Trucking plan in our Safety Report:

Torc is working toward building a level 4 truck because we believe that this level of driving automation will be the safest for heavy-duty trucks and will offer enormous advantages in many areas.

Level 4 trucks will:

Make significant contributions toward safer roads and more sustainable transport solutions;
Enhance traffic safety thanks to a redundancy of systems and multiple sensors that can consistently achieve high performance – thereby helping to prevent the great majority of crashes that today result from human error;
Improve efficiency and productivity by, among other avenues, higher utilization of the vehicles – practically around the clock;
Avoid traffic jams by intelligent route management, making it possible to travel during light traffic times.

Level 5 Autonomy is Always Everywhere

Is Level 5 autonomy possible? The answer is complicated. For answers, we turned to Axel Gern, chief technology officer of Torc’s technology and software development center in Stuttgart, Germany. “Level 5 automation means, in my definition, always everywhere,” says Axel. “It needs to make safe decisions when you’re driving through the desert in Africa, or in the middle of Bangalore. But do we need to drive there autonomously? No, not right now.”

“Level 5 autonomy puts a lot of work and focus on these things, to achieve a safe system that is able to drive everywhere, every time,” Gern continues. “Level 4, when you start to restrict the scope, understanding the limits and living within those limits, is perfectly fine. When you basically cover the situation to at least a safe condition, what is called minimal risk condition or MRC, that is what’s useful. Anything else is a huge challenge. Level 4 autonomy, in the way Torc defines it, is approachable and doable.”

For the trucking and the freight logistics industry, Level 4 is the most appropriate and realistic. It is also, strategically, the safest level, and since the beginning of our company, safety and saving lives has been our work’s core mission.

At Torc, our mission is to create a scalable, commercially viable autonomous trucking product that will address the practical needs of the freight industry. We will leave fighting off Godzilla to our science fiction fans.

Lane-Keeping in Self-Driving Trucks: Precision and Trust

by Alex Mesa | May 29, 2024 | Education, Featured

Across all the features that self-driving technology has to offer, we might think of lane keeping as one of the most basic features possible. However, lane keeping is a complex behavior that relies on multiple components, sensors, and procedures to complete safe driving behaviors. In self-driving technology, precision is everything, making lane keeping a foundational necessity that underscores the safe and efficient operation of robotic trucks.

What is lane keeping?

Lane keeping is a critical driving functionality that ensures a vehicle stays within its designated lane on the road. Many newer consumer cars and commercial semi-trucks have some form of autonomous lane-keeping system programmed in, albeit there are several nuances and differences between types of lane-keeping systems, such as:

Lane Keep Assist (LKA)

Lane Keep Assist is a feature that can be toggled on and off on most vehicles. It typically works via camera, allowing the LKA to “see” the lane lines and nudge your vehicle within the lane lines when it begins to drift. However, because it’s camera-based, this feature may struggle to perform in muddy, snowy, or especially rainy conditions.

Lane Keep Assist is sometimes confused with Lane Departure Warning, which alerts drivers via haptic feedback, audible alerts, and sometimes indicator lights, if they’ve begun drifting out of the lane. Unlike other forms of lane-keeping systems, lane departure warning won’t correct the vehicle’s path. Instead, its job is to inform the driver that the vehicle is exiting the lane.

Lane Centering Assist (LCA)

Lane centering, sometimes called autosteer, takes LKA a step further. This feature is typically part of a vehicle’s adaptive cruise control, wherein a vehicle performs most highway behaviors itself while under human supervision. Lane centering is an active technology that keeps a vehicle in the center of its lane and can typically be turned on and off.

Today, many Class 8 trucks come equipped with various forms of Lane Keep Assist, Lane Centering Assist, and Adaptive Cruise Control. Aside from making drives safer for truck drivers and other highway users alike, these features can adjust throttle inputs and gear ratios for more efficient driving behaviors. By utilizing these features, drivers can optimize the amount of fuel their equipment consumes, reducing costs across the board.

Why is lane keeping important?

Lane keeping plays a foundational role in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of any vehicle, including our autonomous trucks. By enabling our robotic trucks to steadfastly maintain their designated lanes, we’re not only addressing a core competency in highway navigation but proving that our technology can be a safe foundation for a self-driving system.

Lane-keeping is important because of its impact on safety, but there are a few other reasons why we focus on this behavior as one of the most integral in safe-driving technology.

lane keeping

Traffic Flow and Predictability

When vehicles stay within their designated lanes, it reduces the likelihood of swerving and abrupt lane changes. When we humans learn to drive, we learn that being a predictable driver means being a safe driver.

Our autonomous technology is no different. In order to reduce the likelihood of traffic accidents and promote smoother traffic flow, we must ensure that other drivers are able to anticipate what our self-driving truck is going to do at all times. Whether that means keeping a consistent, steady pace within one lane or using an indicator light to shift lanes, predictability should be at the forefront of all lane-keeping behaviors.

Efficiency

By staying within the given lane, vehicles maximize the use of available road space, allowing more efficient traffic flow. During peak hours, when space is at a premium, this can reduce delays, avoid bottlenecks, and make it easier for vehicles to travel at a consistent speed throughout their journey.

How do self-driving cars and trucks stay in their lanes?

Self-driving trucks and self-driving cars stay in their lanes via cameras, Global Navigation Satellite Systems, LiDAR (or Light Detection and Ranging sensors), and more. Thanks to the work of autonomous driving engineers, our self-driving semi-trucks’ perception suite can recognize lane markers, interpret them correctly, and communicate this information to the rest of the system. From there, the autonomous driving system can utilize the information to maintain a set speed and keep watch on the distance between it and the vehicle in front of it.

There’s a common misconception that driverless cars and driverless trucks rely on lane markers alone to make sense of the path before them. While this used to be the case for very early self-driving cars, our autonomous abilities have advanced to grand new heights. Today, lane markers (and the cameras that “see” them) are just one piece of the puzzle.

Self-driving vehicles also utilize radar, which is sometimes found in Lane Keep Assist programs that we have in our day-to-day cars. Radar adds an additional safety component to lane navigation. Using radio waves to detect objects like other cars and traffic cones, radar helps paint the picture of what the driving environment looks like. In the same vein, mapping allows a self-driving vehicle to utilize historical information about the road to navigate in conjunction with the other tools in its toolbox. These two tools work with lane marker detection to assess the environment, calculate the safest possible behavior, and execute that behavior.

Lane Keeping and Robotic Trucks

As proponents of safe and sustainable self-driving practices, our autonomous driving system keeps in line with regulatory and industry best practices throughout all lane keeping behaviors. Aside from its impact on safety, proper lane keeping allows us to operate predictably to drivers on the road around us, prove our product’s viability, and promote a safe self-driving future.

As we forge ahead with our driverless trucking development, we will continue to innovate, collaborate, and lead the way in advancing our autonomous driving system. Through ongoing research, development, and collaboration with our stakeholders and partners, we will further enhance our lane-keeping capabilities to meet the evolving needs and expectations of the industry and the public. Together, we’re driving the future of freight.

Understanding the Levels of Autonomy: 3-4-5

by Torc | Apr 18, 2024 | Education

In Part I of this series, we defined and discussed the SAE Levels of Autonomy from Level 0 to Level 2. In this article, we will cover the remaining Levels of Autonomy, as well as which Level of Autonomy Torc is pursuing and why.

Rounding Out the Levels of Autonomy

Autonomous Driving Systems at Level 3 Autonomy: Conditionally Automated Driving

The SAE refers to Level 3 Autonomy as ‘conditional automation.’ It is a mode in which all aspects of driving are handled for you, but the driver must be present at all times in case an intervention request is made. A Level 3 ready autonomous vehicle is capable of driving itself in particular conditions, during which it will take control of all safety-critical systems. In proper circumstances, the ADS (Automated Driving System) completes the entire dynamic driving task and then disengages quickly upon the driver’s command. The driver is no longer obliged to constantly monitor the system or perform non-driving-related tasks while operating the vehicle. If the system prompts the driver, the driver must answer within a certain amount of time to avoid the system from disabling itself.

Autonomous Driving Systems at Level 4 Autonomy: Highly Automated Driving

Vehicles with Level 4 Autonomy are capable of driving fully autonomously in proper settings without the assistance or intervention of a human driver. If a driver takes control of the vehicle, the ADS will disengage if necessary. In some cases, the vehicle does not prompt the driver or user to take over because it is competent of handling the problem on its own. The development of commercial vehicles that can drive themselves on highways or in geofenced urban areas is likely to be realized by the end of the decade, thanks to advancements in sensor technology, high-definition mapping, more timely data, vehicle-to-vehicle connections, and off-site call centers (for dealing with uncommon risks).

Autonomous Driving Systems at Level 5 Autonomy: Fully Automated Driving

Vehicles capable of Level 5 Autonomy will be able to drive on any road that has been mapped and can be navigated by a human driver. It is sufficient for the user to specify a destination, and the vehicle will subsequently transport any occupants to their location. The system must be capable of managing all scenarios on its own and executing the entire dynamic driving task. Currently, this level of autonomy is not technologically possible. We don’t anticipate it being possible for many, many decades. Some entrepreneurs predict the imminent development of a Level 5-capable vehicle, while more cautious industry experts are beginning to suspect that such a sophisticated system would either never be possible or would prove too costly for commercial development.

Which Level of Autonomy is Torc Working Towards?

Torc is pursuing the development of Level 4 Autonomy and autonomous driving systems for use in commercially available freight trucks. We believe Level 4 Autonomy is the safest level of autonomy for heavy-duty trucks and that it will give significant benefits in a range of areas. Level 4 trucks will contribute to safer roads and allow for more environmentally friendly transportation options. They will also increase traffic safety by employing redundant systems and various sensors capable of achieving high performance constantly, assisting in the prevention of the great majority of crashes that occur now because of human error. They may also result in enhanced efficiency and production due to increased vehicle utilization — essentially around the clock.

They will help both fleet clients and the entire economy because the competitiveness of any business is directly related to the effectiveness of its logistics and supply chain network. As Torc CSO Andrew Culhane stated, “I strongly believe that autonomous trucks will support economic growth throughout the nation by moving goods more efficiently and diminishing the impact of the U.S. truck driver shortage. However, it is critically important that autonomous vehicle (AV) companies approach a deep understanding and collaboration with the freight industry.”

Learn More

Read Torc’s Vehicle Safety Self-Assessment (VSSA) Report to learn more about autonomous driving systems and Torc’s self-driving trucks. It gives an overview of our safety culture, our technology, and describes how we are collaborating with industry experts to assure the safe development and commercialization of our autonomous driving systems for autonomous freight trucks.