ABOUT US

We’re one team, dedicated to
driving the future of freight.

The freight industry was built on strong, long-lasting values: doing the right thing, delivering results, caring for others, and strengthening our communities. As our shipping world evolves, we’re ensuring that those strong values carry through the ages with our Level 4 self-driving semi-truck.

History

...it begins with darpa

In 2007, a small group of Virginia Tech college students and an SUV named Odin finished third in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge – an event now regarded as one of the most important in autonomous vehicle history. Read more about some of our biggest milestones.

2005 • Torc Robotics is founded

Torc was founded as Torc Technologies in 2005 by a group of Virginia Tech students on a mission to carry on their collegiate work on autonomous vehicle software. “TORC” originally stood for Tele-Operated Robotic Controls, and the team focused on developing Level 4 autonomous technology.

2007 • Torc places third in the DARPA Urban Challenge

Torc and Virginia Tech formed team VictorTango to compete in the DARPA Urban Challenge. Their car navigated many traffic scenarios without a driver in four hours and 36 minutes, finishing third. The DARPA Urban Challenge is often cited as a launching point for the autonomous vehicle industry.

2010 • A solution to support and lighten the load of our warfighters

Torc and Virginia Tech engineers developed GUSS (Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate), integrating a self-driving system on military vehicles to support service members. GUSS vehicles worked to keep them out of harm’s way and increase carrying capacity.

2011 • Accessible self-driving solutions for the visually impaired

Torc and Virginia Tech partnered with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) to outfit a vehicle with sensors and technology to enable a visually impaired person to drive using haptic feedback and assistance from the vehicle’s sensors. On January 29, 2011, a visually impaired driver demonstrated the technology at the Daytona Speedway by driving independently on the race track.

2015 • Using autonomy for IED route clearance and awareness

Torc and the defense firm Critical Solutions International (CSI) developed autonomous capabilities for the HUSKY military vehicle as a route clearance application in potentially dangerous environments.

2017 • Asimov completes a cross-country trip with 5,300 autonomous mile driven

Torc demonstrated its technology with Project Asimov in a cross-country journey from Washington D.C. to Washington state, becoming the first certified autonomous vehicle pilot test in Washington after the state introduced its 2017 Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Program.

The trip concluded with a visit to Gov. Terry McAuliffe at Virginia’s Executive Mansion, after completing 5,300 autonomous miles.

2018 • Asimov takes Las Vegas

Torc demonstrated its self-driving Asimov vehicles at the CES 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the week-long event, they navigated stop-and-go traffic on the strip, highway merges, tunnels and a surprise rain-storm on the conference’s first day.

2018 • Torc partners with AAA

Torc and AAA announced a partnership to establish safety criteria for self-driving vehicles and create a public street testing program.

2019 • Torc partners with Transdev for safer mobility

Torc partnered with the French public transportation company Transdev to develop a fully autonomous shuttle platform.

2019 • Daimler Trucks and Torc partner on self-driving trucks

Daimler Trucks, a trucking leader, joined forces with Torc to commercialize highly automated trucks (SAE Level 4) on U.S. roads.

2019 • Torc and Daimler Trucks begin testing self-driving trucks on public roads

In September 2019, Torc and Daimler Trucks began actively testing their self-driving trucks on public highways in Virginia. The deployment on public roads took place after months of extensive testing and safety validation on closed courses.

2020 • Torc expands with New Mexico test center

Torc and Daimler Trucks look to the future and expand their joint autonomous truck road testing to New Mexico with the establishment of a test center in Albuquerque, NM.

2022 • Torc Austin opens

Austin’s mix of creative technology talent and its freight-lane-dense location make it the perfect place for Torc to innovate software engineering and Product Development.

2022 • Torc Europe opens

The Stuttgart team supports the ongoing development of SAE Level 4 virtual driver for deployment in autonomous trucks in the United States.

2022 • Peter Vaughan Schmidt replaces Michael Fleming as CEO

Dr. Peter Vaughan Schmidt succeeded Michael Fleming as chief executive officer of Torc Robotics.

2023 • Torc acquires Algolux, expanding to Montréal

Torc acquired Algolux Inc. for its award-winning intellectual property and expertise in the areas of computer vision and machine learning.

Many Locations. One Team.

Blacksburg, Virginia

Montréal,
Québec, Canada

Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas, USA

Albuquerque,
New Mexico

Closing in 2025

Stuttgart, Germany

Closing in 2025

As our team continues to drive the future of freight and push strongly into the productization phase of our development cycle, Torc is building out new talented teams in both the Dallas/Fort Worth area at our new hub location and Ann Arbor, Michigan, a hotbed of new and experienced automotive and autonomous talent. 

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Coming in 2025

Aerial Golden Hour Over Historic Church and Urban Growth, Ann Arbor

Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

Coming in 2025

Aerial of Downtown Fort Worth Blue Sky

The AUTONOMOUS INSIDER

stay inFORMED

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter, The Autonomous Insider, to stay on top of all things autonomous trucking. We highlight Torc events and news, freight logistics information, and other important industry news as we continue to drive towards the future of freight.