Three weeks after becoming the first company in the U.S. to launch totally driverless 18-wheeler highway trucking runs, Aurora Innovation has—for now, at least—put humans back behind the steering wheels.
The human “observers” won’t be operating the trucks, which are doing commercial runs between Dallas and Houston on Interstate 45. Instead, they’ll be monitoring the autonomous Aurora Driver’s operations, just as they have for years in preparation for the recent fully driverless launch.
The reason for the reversal? Bellevue, Washington-based PACCAR, the manufacturer of Aurora’s Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks, “requested we have a person in the driver’s seat, because of certain prototype parts in their base vehicle platform,” Aurora CEO Chris Urmson said in a company blog post.
Aurora CEO Chris Urmson a few weeks ago, moments before departing on Aurora’s inaugural driverless trip. [Photo: Aurora]
“PACCAR is a long-time partner and, after much consideration, we respected their request and are moving the observer, who had been riding in the back of some of our trips, from the back seat to the front seat,” Urmson added. “We’re confident this is not required to operate the truck safely based on the exhaustive testing (covering nearly 10,000 requirements and 2.7 million tests) and analysis that populates our safety case.”
Urmson said his company’s Aurora Driver will continue to be fully responsible for all driving tasks, including pulling over to a safe location if required. “And we’ve shown we can do that safely,” he added, “with the Aurora Driver operating for more than 6,000 driverless miles along our commercial launch lane between Dallas and Houston. This change has no impact on our near, mid-, and long-term development plans.”
Don’t miss what’s next. Subscribe to Dallas Innovates.
Track Dallas-Fort Worth’s business and innovation landscape with our curated news in your inbox Tuesday-Thursday.
R E A D N E X T
-
North Texas has plenty to see, hear, and watch. Here are our editors' picks. Plus, you'll find more selections to "save the date."
-
UT Dallas researcher Dr. Walter Voit transformed Minecraft’s 170-million-player universe into an advanced virtual training ground—for students and for AI agents tested by DARPA. His team’s Polycraft World uses gameplay to turn classroom theory into real-world expertise, covering topics from synthetic organic chemistry to nuclear plants to semiconductor facilities. Their new startup company, Pedegree Studios, has licensed the core technologies from the university to create a scalable digital pipeline for education and workforce development.
-
Combining cutting-edge research and real-world applications, the UT Dallas professor transforms public health with innovations in detection technology, including “a check engine light” for the human body. In collaboration with EnLiSense, the company she cofounded, Dr. Prasad combines chemistry with software and hardware to bring the technology to life as market-ready devices.
-
The southern half of Dallas County is home to just over 1.05 million residents. That’s about 40% of the total number of people who call Dallas County home—and roughly 200,000 more than the entire population of San Francisco. Coupled with the fact that Dallas-Fort Worth is emerging as a top life science market, as documented in a 2023 CBRE report, you can see why the DeSoto Development Corp. is including an 80-acre Life Sciences Innovation Core among its major projects. “In terms of economic development, research shows that it’s more effective when it happens regionally,” says Matt Carlson, DDC's chief…
-
A free, five-day celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation, Dallas Startup Week 2024 will be held August 11-15 in Frisco. Some 100 sessions and activations will be built around four compelling summits. The keynote speakers: a Grammy-winning musician and noted tech investor; an AI thought leader and best-selling author; "Shark Tank"-starring husband-and-wife "wine cocktail" brand co-founders; and a founding member of the legendary rap group NWA.
