The first application of the autonomous technology will be long-haul, the area with the greatest capacity need. We’re working on what we call a “hub-to-hub” solution.
Simply, the autonomous truck will transport goods in the middle mile, operating autonomously between two hubs or transfer terminals near highways. The automated driving system will be capable of navigating highways and surface streets without human intervention between the hubs. Initially, the first and last mile routes, within cities and towns, will still be manually driven.
Daimler and Torc are currently producing an autonomous-ready Freightliner Cascadia, complete with redundant chassis, steering system, braking system, low voltage power net, network communications, and more.
Our braking system is designed with fall-back safety mechanisms in place. Featuring multiple brake controllers and a pneumatic backup, this critical piece of equipment and its redundant design ensures that the truck is able to perform its behaviors.
Our redundant steering system has several servo motors, which allow lateral control in case of an electronic or hydraulic failure.
Our low voltage power net not only generates the higher power necessary for our controllers, but provides continuous power to all control modules.
And lastly, our secondary communication network provides constant communication between key systems, which are further protected by state-of-the-art cybersecurity requirements.
Torc will leverage and apply insights from Uber Freight’s vast network to support the development and deployment of its autonomous truck
Torc Robotics, today announced a strategic partnership with Uber Freight, a leading logistics solutions provider. Through this agreement, Torc will leverage Uber Freight’s logistics network, representing $18 billion in active freight and transportation under management and 100k+ digitally-enabled carriers, to unlock critical insights and learnings regarding the future deployment of autonomous trucks.
Uber Freight’s marketplace and critical insights will be used to inform Torc’s autonomous freight network design and expansion strategy. These insights include which lanes are optimal for deployment, how to prioritize the rollout of lanes and various ODDs, balancing supply and demand across supply chains with autonomous trucks, the management of autonomous loads with transfer hubs, and more.
Uber Freight is also a longstanding member of Torc’s Autonomous Advisory Council (TAAC), a council comprised of key freight industry players who provide strategic guidance to Torc. This includes Schneider, C.R. England, Penske, Ryder and other industry leaders, as well as Torc’s majority stakeholder, Daimler Truck AG.
“As we have always said, collaboration in the autonomous trucking industry is paramount to the technology’s deployment at scale. Our partnership with Uber Freight is a prime example of how working together with industry players will ensure the technology is integrated seamlessly, safely, and efficiently,” commented Peter Vaughan Schmidt, Torc’s CEO. “This partnership is a natural expansion of our initial working relationship through TAAC, and leveraging Uber Freight’s data and insights will help our mission to commercialize autonomous trucks at scale by 2027.”
“Torc is a proven pioneer in autonomous trucking, and we’re thrilled to collaborate with them on the road ahead,” said Lior Ron, Uber Freight founder and CEO. “We firmly believe that by collaborating with partners early on, we are helping incorporate the important voices of shippers and carriers across the Uber Freight network and shaping the future of freight with autonomous trucks. In partnering with Torc, we’re able to provide a leader in this space with rich insights regarding how goods move, which in turn will result not only in more access to safer autonomous trucks, but ultimately build more reliable and efficient supply chains.”
With over 20 years of experience, Fowler will leverage her C-suite skillset to lead and oversee Torc’s information security management program
BLACKSBURG, Va – December 5, 2023 – Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG and a pioneer in commercializing self-driving vehicle technology, today announced the appointment of Summer Craze Fowler as the company’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Fowler brings more than two decades of experience developing and executing successful technical strategies that align with business goals and objectives. In her role, she will collaborate with Torc leadership to develop a strategic security and risk management program, implement security policies and procedures, manage security technologies and oversee security-awareness training.
“Joining Torc at such a momentous time for the organization and industry is incredibly exciting,” commented Fowler. “Since my early meetings with the team, Torc’s prioritization of safety and innovation has been clear. I look forward to collaborating with this deeply focused team on our mission to commercialize a hub-to-hub autonomous truck product safely and efficiently.”
Having spent nearly four years with Argo AI, Fowler has extensive experience in enterprise cybersecurity policies and procedures, previously supporting Motional as Senior Vice President, Cybersecurity & IT, and leading teams at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory and Carnegie Mellon University.
From 2018-2022, she served as the Chief Information/Responsibility Officer at Argo AI, where she built, maintained and enhanced IT infrastructure and cybersecurity capabilities to meet and anticipate the needs of highly technical engineering staff who were developing AI software.
“As we continue to pave the way for the commercialization of autonomous trucking, Summer Fowler and her team will be instrumental in ensuring the security and trustworthiness of our systems,” commented Peter Vaughan Schmidt, Torc Robotics’ CEO. “Her wealth of experience in driving security operations and leading technical strategy aligns perfectly with Torc Robotics, and we are excited for Summer to join the Torc team.”
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 over 18 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; Stuttgart, Germany; and Montreal, Canada. Torc’s purpose is driving the future of freight with autonomous technology. As the world’s leading autonomous trucking solution, we empower exceptional employees, deliver a focused, hub-to-hub autonomous truck product, and provide our customers with the safest, most reliable, and cost-efficient solution to the market.
Consortium Works to Advance Safer Testing, Development, and Deployment of Automated Vehicles
WARRENDALE, PA. (November 7, 2023) – The Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC), an industry program of SAE Industry Technologies Consortia, is excited to announce Torc Robotics and Zoox as the latest members to join the AVSC, strengthening the current membership with valuable insights in the development of AV safety-related best practices. The AVSC membership is comprised of manufacturers, developers, and fleet managers in the automated vehicle space, bringing decades of experience of launching safe, innovative mobility technologies, and working to advance safer testing, development, and deployment of automated vehicles.
Torc Robotics is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, a global leader and pioneer in trucking and AVSC Collaborator. Torc has over 18 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical automated driving systems and is currently focused on commercializing autonomous trucks for long-haul applications in the U.S.
“We are very excited to welcome Torc Robotics as part of the AVSC membership. We expect their inputs to bring diverse perceptions and ideas from the autonomous freight world to our united goal of developing best practices to engender public confidence in the safe operation of SAE level 4 and 5 AVs,” said Darcyne Foldenauer, Director, Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC).
“It’s no secret that collaboration is paramount in the commercialization of autonomous trucks,” commented Michelle Chaka, Torc’s Senior Vice President, Safety and Regulatory. “The AVSC has played – and will continue to play – a crucial role in driving industry collaboration to help ensure the safe testing and deployment of AVs, and Torc is happy to join forces with an organization dedicated to advancing safety across the entire autonomous industry.”
Zoox was founded in 2014 with a mission to make transportation safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable for everyone. The company is developing an all-electric, fully autonomous, purpose-built vehicle and will own and operate its fleet and a ride hailing service in dense, urban environments. Zoox currently operates a purpose-built robtaxi on public roads with passengers, in Foster City, California and Las Vegas, Nevada.
“AVSC is thrilled to also welcome Zoox into our consortium,” Foldenauer continued. “We see their focus on safe testing and deploying a ride hailing service, as complementing our current diverse members that participate in the development of our best practices. Their safety innovation strategy of “Prevent and Protect” is a perfect fit with the AVSC mission of advancing the safe development, deployment, and fleet operations of automated driving systems (ADSs).
“Safety is foundational at Zoox. With recent advancements in autonomous technology, we are reaching an inflection point within the industry. Now more than ever, there is a need for transparent collaboration to develop unified safety standards for this technology,” said John Maddox, Senior Director, Safety Policy & Strategy at Zoox. “Joining the AVSC further enables us to provide key insights from the development and deployment of our purpose-built vehicle and work together with our fellow travelers to progress safe deployment across the autonomous vehicle industry.”
Torc and Zoox join the AVSC industry leader members Aurora, GM/Cruise, Lyft, Motional, Uber, Volkswagen, and Waymo. Consortium members are working on the development of a series of safety principles for SAE Level 4 and 5 automated driving systems. Their best practice documents are the result of information sharing and collaboration. They represent an agreement on the topics that are most relevant to the safe development and deployment of automated vehicles.
For more information about the AVSC, visit avsc.sae-itc.org. SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (SAE ITC®) is an affiliate of SAE International. The SAE ITC team specializes in establishing and managing consortia by providing proven processes, tools, and resources.
ITC enables public, private, academic and government organizations to connect and collaborate in neutral, pre-competitive forums thus empowering the setting and implementation of strategic business improvements in highly engineered industries globally. (www.sae-itc.com)
Last month (October 2022), members of the Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) met in Washington, D.C., for the organization’s annual meeting. Dedicated to bringing the conversation about autonomous vehicles to the public, PAVE regularly sets the stage for professionals in AV to gather, assess the state of the autonomous vehicle industry, and discuss how we can move forward together to educate the public on this new technology.
This year’s meeting kicked off with an introduction from Tara Andringa and Brad Stertz, the executive director and chairman of PAVE, respectively. As leaders in public policy, self-driving software, and autonomous trucking filtered in, the PAVE team introduced keynote speaker Bryan Reimer, Ph.D.
Consumer Attitudes, Autonomous Applications
Dr. Reimer revealed countless lessons learned and data points gathered from his work as a research scientist at MIT AgeLab and Associate Director at New England University’s Transportation Center. From consumers’ understanding of commercialized autonomy to building up consistency in the way the AV industry speaks, Dr. Reimer’s presentation dove into several challenges in bringing self-driving vehicles into everyday conversations.
He began his presentation by detailing consumer attitudes on autonomous driving. Since 2016, year-over-year data tells us that more and more drivers are becoming comfortable with driver-assisted driving programs; these advanced takes on cruise control are common in many vehicles available for consumer purchase today. However, as Dr. Reimer noted, car manufacturers often don’t educate on, or neglect to mention, these self-driving features during the sales process.
This brought Dr. Reimer’s presentation to its driving point: your average consumer doesn’t encounter much, if any, information about autonomous technology without specifically seeking it out. In events where a consumer should encounter autonomous technology, the AV industry hasn’t figured out to communicate that information concisely and consistently. As an industry, Dr. Reimer says, we need to band together to create narratives that are educational and accessible to wide groups of people.
During the Q&A section, questions from the audience sparked a conversation about how we bring those narratives to life. Dr. Reimer suggested that airlines and airports have achieved this consistency across state-level and federal regulations, even amidst different company brands, lines of business, and more.
Dr. Reimer noted that the difference between riding and driving is something to consider when communicating to the general public. Consumers, he says, will benefit from autonomous vehicles mainly because of the convenience of them. For instance, in the world of self-driving vehicles, consumers may think that a car will allow kids to ride in the backseat without any human interaction. This version of autonomous driving is still several decades away, but data reveals that it’s the baseline with which consumers operate when they think about self-driving technology.
In that same Q&A segment, Dr. Reimer shared that consumer knowledge of autonomy is almost completely limited to Tesla’s Autopilot system. In the grand scheme of commercializing and regulating the autonomous vehicle industry, companies must work together to define terms, share information, and start a broader conversation about autonomy and its everyday applications.
As this keynote presentation ended, audience members were left with the call-to-action to begin defining the question of how autonomy can gain the same consistency that airlines benefit from, and how that can be leveraged into a public-facing autonomous narrative.
Autonomous Vehicle & Trucking – Tomorrow
At the conclusion of the event, PAVE speakers detailed various upcoming events, opportunities to get involved, and updates to membership offerings. Alongside industry leaders like Torc, PAVE is expanding the world of autonomous driving to include policymakers, the general public, and all levels of stakeholder in the AV industry.
At Torc, we know that to reach our goal of safely commercializing this technology, we need to consider the viewpoints and deeply collaborate with our team members, industry colleagues, and local policymakers. That’s just part of the reason why we’re dedicated to creating autonomous trucks that are, first and foremost, safe as possible.
Like Dr. Reimer, we believe that autonomous driving – or riding, depending on your viewpoint – has the opportunity to make our lives more convenient. However, we expand convenience to include the real-world potential of reducing traffic accidents. We also include efficiency and asset utilization for fleet managers within our scope, providing freight professionals with a solution that combats the effects of the current labor gap to haul freight thousands of miles across the country.
With organizations like PAVE at our side, Torc is looking towards an autonomous future that meets these challenges head-on. If you’re interested in learning more about PAVE and its coalition of industry, nonprofits, and academics in autonomous driving, you can find their website here. To learn more about Torc Robotics and follow our journey to creating life-saving autonomous trucks, follow our socials.
