(Blacksburg, Va., Sept. 15, 2022) Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, has named Chris Harrison vice president of Torc Platform Development. With 20+ years of experience in vehicle development, Harrison will lead the development, testing, and implementation of a hardware stack that enables the migration of the autonomous driving software onto the hardware platform.
Harrison was most recently head of software, segment vehicle dynamics, safety, and motion, automotive for Continental AG, where he led nine global locations and more than 1,200 people working towards deploying electronic brake systems in all markets.
With a comprehensive understanding of the engineering development life cycle, Harrison will lead a team to develop and evaluate sensors and their requirements. The team will work closely with Daimler Truck North America to integrate the Torc autonomous driver platform into the truck for production. In addition, his team will construct test tools like Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulators and benches to ensure a platform where the teams can test continuously. Torc is currently running its Level 4 autonomous test trucks on public roads in multiple locations including New Mexico, Texas, and Virginia, with plans to expand in the southwest corridor of the U.S.
After spending the past seven years working abroad in China and Germany, Harrison is returning to the U.S. with a newly honed global perspective. He will be based in Torc’s Austin, Texas, location.
“I look forward to working with the software development divisions at Torc to integrate this innovative, lifesaving software onto the platform.” said Harrison. “Torc’s technology will make transporting freight safer and more efficient, and I’m honored to contribute to that effort.”
About Torc Robotics
Torc Robotics, headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, a global leader and pioneer in trucking. Founded in 2005 at the birth of the self-driving vehicle revolution, Torc has 17 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical, self-driving applications. Torc offers a complete self-driving vehicle software and integration solution and is currently focusing on commercializing autonomous trucks for long-haul applications in the U.S. Torc operates test facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and engineering offices in Austin, Texas, and Stuttgart, Germany. Torc’s mission is saving lives with autonomous technology, which incorporates reducing highway deaths, enabling critical supplies – including medicines and foods – to reach every community in a timely manner, and helping the transportation industry increase fuel economy, uptime, and capacity.
(Blacksburg, Va. – Sept. 12, 2022) Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, has named Dushyant Wadivkar as vice president of Torc System Design and Safety Engineering. He will work across Torc to effectively create, implement, and oversee a world-class system and safety engineering program.
Since 2005, Wadivkar has added intelligence to increasingly complex automotive systems, all of which have been safety critical. He joins Torc from Cruise, where he was responsible for technical product management, building an artificial intelligence (AI)-based autonomous vehicle (AV) stack, internal tools, and the development infrastructure for a fully driverless urban ride-hail application. His AV journey began with leading an engineering department at Bosch to deliver highway autonomy for passenger cars. Before AVs, he developed algorithms for chassis stability systems.
Wadivkar joins Torc as the co-chair of the Legal and Regulatory Safety Committee. He will shape and influence refinements of global vehicle-safety regulations that drive development of autonomous driving system (ADS)-equipped vehicle certification standards. He will also work to enable optimal system architecture for a commercially viable product and corresponding release strategies for driverless deployment.
In addition, Wadivkar will continue to develop Torc’s innovative systems and strong safety culture, which is a comprehensive approach to the safe development, testing, and deployment of ADS technology in Level 4 self-driving freight trucks. More information about the company’s safety philosophy can be found in the Torc Voluntary Safety Self-Assessment (VSSA) report.
“Saving lives is a key component of Torc’s mission,” said Wadivkar. “I’m excited to join Torc to continue ensuring system engineering rigor and safety principles are integrated into every facet of the organization, and all stages of development, testing, and deployment.”
About Torc Robotics
Torc Robotics, headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, a global leader and pioneer in trucking. Founded in 2005 at the birth of the self-driving vehicle revolution, Torc has 17 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical, self-driving applications. Torc offers a complete self-driving vehicle software and integration solution and is currently focusing on commercializing autonomous trucks for long-haul applications in the U.S. Torc operates test facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and an engineering office in Austin, Texas. Torc’s mission is saving lives with autonomous technology, which incorporates reducing highway deaths, enabling critical supplies – including medicines and foods – to reach every community in a timely manner, and helping the transportation industry increase fuel economy, uptime, and capacity.
Blacksburg, VA – August, 18, 2022) Torc Robotics and Daimler Truck (DT) today announced a change to the executive team at Torc that will usher in the next era of leadership, product commercialization, and customer focus. Effective Oct. 1, Dr. Peter Vaughan Schmidt, currently head of Daimler Truck’s Autonomous Technology Group, will succeed Michael Fleming as chief executive officer of Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck. Fleming will retain a seat on the Torc Board of Directors and remain engaged as a key advisor.
This change in the senior executive position at the company is a natural transition in Torc’s evolution as a company since 2019, when Daimler invested in Torc. Following the investment, Fleming realigned Torc to focus on building autonomous technology for class 8 semi-trucks and quadrupled the company into a global organization with teams in four locations in the United States and Europe. Under his guidance, development teams pushed autonomous-truck technology forward toward Torc’s vision of being the first company to bring a profitable and scalable autonomous truck to market safely.
Martin Daum, chief executive officer of Daimler Truck, noted, “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Michael Fleming. His achievements for our company and for our industry as a whole cannot be overstated. He is a true pioneer and visionary who paved the way for autonomous driving, founding Torc Robotics 17 years ago. Torc has been part of the Daimler Truck family since 2019 and, with Michael at the helm, has successfully further developed its software solution for autonomous driving and adapted it to our Freightliner trucks. As a consultant and Member of Torc’s Board of Directors, Michael Fleming will continue to contribute his expertise and I am very much looking forward to continuing our cooperation. Following the pioneering work in recent years, Torc is now entering the next phase. The aim now is to establish Torc as a global company with four locations, bring autonomous trucking technology to perfection in the next few years, and ultimately to series production. I am very pleased that we have the right personality in Peter Vaughan Schmidt to shape this next phase as CEO of Torc. Peter has been responsible for autonomous driving at Daimler Truck for many years and has been closely supporting Torc since we invested in 2019. He therefore has everything it takes to lead Torc, as an independent company in which Daimler Truck holds a majority stake, into a successful future and to bring the entire potential of autonomous trucks to the road.”
After 17 years at the helm, Fleming is stepping down as CEO, but will stay deeply involved as board member and strategic advisor. Fleming hands the reins of the company to Schmidt, who has guided large global companies and brings the expertise required to run organizations and to launch and commercialize products. Schmidt has served Daimler in a variety of roles since 2005 including strategy, product and platform management, as well as production and plant management.
Schmidt has been deeply involved in autonomous technology for a number of years, most recently as head of Daimler Trucks’ autonomous business unit where he orchestrated majority investment in Torc in 2019, and has worked closely with Fleming since. Prior to joining Daimler, Schmidt was a principal and consultant at McKinsey and Company serving the automotive industry.
Schmidt said, “We are all excited about this new chapter in Torc’s history. We’re building on Torc’s long tradition of autonomous innovation and safety and standing on the shoulders of the pioneers who built this industry from the ground up, starting 17 years ago with Torc’s founding. We’re looking forward to focusing on our customers’ needs, developing great technology together, and bringing the best possible product and much needed capacity to market as quickly and safely as possible.”
About Torc Robotics Torc Robotics, headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, a global leader and pioneer in trucking. Founded in 2005 at the birth of the self-driving vehicle revolution, Torc has 17 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical, self-driving applications. Torc offers a complete self-driving vehicle software and integration solution and is currently focusing on commercializing autonomous trucks for long-haul applications in the U.S. Torc operates test facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and engineering offices in Austin, Texas, and Stuttgart, Germany. Torc’s mission is saving lives with autonomous technology, which incorporates reducing highway deaths, enabling critical supplies – including medicines and foods – to reach every community in a timely manner, and helping the transportation industry increase fuel economy, uptime, and capacity.
(Blacksburg, VA – May 12, 2022) Torc Robotics has tapped Axel Gern, a long-time leader in truck automation, to head its recently opened Torc Europe GmbH engineering facility in Stuttgart, Germany. Gern has been named senior vice president of engineering and managing director for Torc Europe at the technology and software development center.
“We are thrilled to have Axel join our team,” said Michael Fleming, Torc founder and CEO. “We have worked closely with him since before Daimler Truck invested in Torc, and we appreciate his clear vision and strong leadership. He knows the roadmap and the tech, and has earned great respect from Torc’rs.”
Gern joins the Torc team after serving as the chief technology officer for the Daimler Truck Autonomous Technology Group, where he had a leading role in the technological strategy for the company’s Level 4 autonomous truck development. At the same time, he built a strong team in Germany focusing on system design, safety engineering, validation, and testing, as well as motion control and hardware development — all functions that support autonomous driving.
Gern was on the Daimler Truck team that investigated autonomous driving partnerships that led to the successful 2019 acquisition of a majority stake in Torc. “I believe Torc is a major force in the safe commercialization of autonomous trucks, and I am very happy to join the team,” said Gern. “We have very strong engineers and technical resources in Germany, and I look forward to supporting the deployment of Level 4 autonomous trucks in the United States.
After serving as vice president of Autonomous Driving North America in Sunnyvale, California, for Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Gern joined Daimler Truck in 2018 as the technical project lead, Autonomous Trucks. Earlier he joined what was then Daimler AG in 1998 as a research and development engineer and earned successively higher-level positions in the organization. Gern studied computer science at the University of Stuttgart, focusing on software engineering, distributed artificial intelligence, and robotics, and earned his Ph.D. in 2005.
Gern is a long-time thought leader on autonomous trucks. He believes that combining Daimler Truck’s strong knowledge and expertise in system design and safety, with the software development skills from Torc, is a winning combination.
Torc’s appointment of Gern to lead its Germany location comes amid fast growth as the company accelerates its work to commercialize Level 4 autonomous trucks at scale. Torc recently announced the opening of its 18,000 square-foot technology and development center (with an additional 12,000 square feet of workshop space), located in one of Germany’s prime automotive development regions.
The Stuttgart center was announced in tandem with Torc’s new engineering office in Austin, Texas. Torc also operates a test facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as well as its headquarters in Blacksburg, Virginia.
About Torc Robotics
Torc Robotics, headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, a global leader and pioneer in trucking. Founded in 2005 at the birth of the self-driving vehicle revolution, Torc has 17 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical, self-driving applications. Torc offers a complete self-driving vehicle software and integration solution and is currently focusing on commercializing autonomous trucks for long-haul applications in the U.S. Torc operates test facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and an engineering office in Austin, Texas. Torc’s mission is saving lives with autonomous technology, which incorporates reducing highway deaths, enabling critical supplies – including medicines and foods – to reach every community in a timely manner, and helping the transportation industry increase fuel economy, uptime, and capacity.
(Blacksburg, VA – May 5, 2022) Torc Robotics, a pioneer in commercializing self-driving vehicle technology, today announced that Penske Truck Leasing will serve as the truck maintenance service provider for Torc’s autonomous test fleet.
“Penske Truck Leasing’s expertise and impressive track record in the global trucking industry will play a significant role in getting our trucks on the road and strengthening our goal of safe operations,” said Michael Fleming, Torc founder and CEO. “Our objective is to integrate our trucks into the existing freight industry, and we are confident that a current industry leader, like Penske, will provide crucial support in doing just that.”
This agreement is part of Torc’s ongoing commercialization of autonomous trucks for long-haul applications.
Torc recently announced the Torc Autonomous Advisory Council (TAAC) in support of its goal to be the first scalable, profitable, commercialized Level 4 truck solution. Penske Truck Leasing, along with key freight industry leaders, will provide strategic guidance to Torc as it integrates with the freight network and tackles challenges beyond highway driving.
Paul Rosa, senior vice president of procurement and fleet planning, Penske Truck Leasing, said “We are very pleased to support Torc’s fleet uptime with our best-in-class truck maintenance program. This arrangement serves as a great complement to our work on the Torc Autonomous Advisory Council.”
About Penske Truck Leasing
Penske Truck Leasing is a Penske Transportation Solutions company headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. A leading global transportation services provider, Penske Truck Leasing operates more than 372,000 vehicles and serves customers from more than 1,300 locations in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Product lines include full-service truck leasing, contract maintenance, commercial and consumer truck rentals, used truck sales, transportation and warehousing management, and supply chain management solutions. Visit www.pensketruckleasing.com to learn more.
About Torc Robotics
Torc Robotics, headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, a global leader and pioneer in trucking. Founded in 2005 at the birth of the self-driving vehicle revolution, Torc has 17 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical, self-driving applications. Torc offers a complete self-driving vehicle software and integration solution and is currently focusing on commercializing autonomous trucks for long-haul applications in the U.S. Torc operates test facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and an engineering office in Austin, Texas. Torc’s mission is saving lives with autonomous technology, which incorporates reducing highway deaths, enabling critical supplies – including medicines and foods – to reach every community in a timely manner, and helping the transportation industry increase fuel economy, uptime, and capacity. Follow Torc for more news and information.
(Blacksburg, Va. — April 6, 2022) Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck, is opening a technology and software development center in Stuttgart, Germany. Torc is a leader in SAE Level 4 self-driving vehicle software for heavy-duty vehicles. Torc Europe GmbH will tap into the available talent pool in one of Germany’s prime automotive development regions. The Stuttgart team will support the ongoing development of SAE Level 4 virtual driver for deployment in autonomous trucks in the United States.
“Torc is working closely with Daimler Truck to optimize the entire product stack including the virtual driver, sensing and computer hardware, and the redundant chassis to be the first company to launch a scalable and profitable self-driving product,” said Torc Founder and CEO Michael Fleming. “Torc’s Stuttgart technology and software development center will leverage the deep automotive and trucking technical and product expertise to make this a reality.”
Torc Europe GmbH is an independent entity and a 100% subsidiary of Torc Robotics, Inc. The office is in Untertürkheim, in close proximity to an existing Daimler Truck R&D facility and near the Daimler Truck headquarters. The 18,000 square-foot technology center has an additional 12,000 square feet that will be used as a workshop.
“Stuttgart is known as an area with a wealth of automotive and autonomous vehicle expertise. We hope to leverage this significant talent pool to meet our commercialization goals and support our mission of increased safety and efficiency,” said Torc Vice President of Engineering Mike Avitabile. “Collaboration thrives because of the partnership with Daimler Truck, a leader in the trucking industry. Combining Daimler Truck’s experience with Torc’s expertise in automated vehicle software and automated truck systems will help accelerate bringing our product to market.”
Torc and Daimler Truck are collaboratively pursuing a common goal of developing and bringing autonomous trucks for long-haul trucking (SAE Level 4) to the roads within the decade. This pure-play approach is directed at solving what Fleming calls “one of the most complex engineering feats of our generation.” The challenge is to reinvent the truck to accommodate a safe, scalable Level 4 product, while integrating with the complex, interconnected freight network to support sustained innovation and efficiency.
Torc and Daimler Truck
In 2019, Daimler Truck invested a majority share in Torc, the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to enter an integrated partnership with a truck original equipment manufacturer. Torc and Daimler Truck, with its North American entity, are ramping up development and testing in the United States, which requires support in areas such as simulation, machine learning, and infrastructure.
In addition to the facility in Stuttgart, Torc recently opened a 20,000-square-foot facility in Austin, Texas. In 2021, the company added a 28,000-square-foot office space for its workforce in Blacksburg’s Corporate Research Center. A fully operational test facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, opened in 2020. The Albuquerque location allows daily, multi-shift runs of Torc’s autonomous test trucks on highways in New Mexico and Texas.
The company is growing and is hiring software engineers, data scientists, and architects in the areas of systems, safety, validation, and product development. To learn more about employment opportunities at Torc Robotics, visit the Careers page.
Torc Robotics, headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, a global leader and pioneer in trucking. Founded in 2005 at the birth of the self-driving vehicle revolution, Torc has 17 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical, self-driving applications. Torc offers a complete self-driving vehicle software and integration solution and is currently focusing on commercializing self-driving trucks. “Trucking is the backbone of the United States economy, delivering food and products to every community in the country,” said Torc CEO and Founder Michael Fleming. “Daimler Truck has led innovation in trucking for more than a century, from the first truck, to driver-assist technology. Torc is working with Daimler Truck to commercialize self-driving trucks to make our roads safer and better, fulfilling our mission of saving lives.”
Daimler Truck’s Freightliner Cascadia test truck in front of the Torc Europe Stuttgart office.
