America is increasingly experiencing robotaki

07.08.2019

Another American startup RABOTNIKOV Kodiak proceeds to Autonomous transportation in Texas

In the United States accelerated the process of introducing Autonomous freight transport, which is associated with the physical lack of drivers – so, according to the American trucking Association (ATA), at the end of 2017, the industry is faced with a shortage of 51 thousands of professional truck drivers against 36 thousand in 2016 (at the end of the 2010s, the deficit has already reached 6-digit numbers – ed.). This happens, in particular, due to the low prestige and low profitability of the profession, against the background of significant growth in intercity trucking (today they account for 70% of all freight transportation in the United States that brings in $700 billion of revenue per year) transformed in a fundamental limitation of growth of e-Commerce, and therefore in the medium term threatens stable growth of the American economy.

Once again to solve the problem volunteered for the company-startups Kodiak Roboticks from California mountain view, founded only 16 months ago – in 2018 by Don Burnett and Paz Eshel, however, already ten years "wareprise in the pot" development of Autonomous technologies for commercial vehicles for implementation in long-distance transportation is safe and reliable Autonomous technologies.

In August of this year, Kodiak Robotics announced the receipt of first commercial orders in the North of the state of Texas for which there opens a new office.
Robotrac Kodiak with insuring a driver (ie the 4th level of autonomy) created on the basis of known model of the tractor Peterbild 579.
Previously, the company claimed to have created a fleet of 8 tractors and expands further.

Co-founder and CEO of Kodiak Robotics don Burnett, who studied at the University of Carnegie Mellon, was also a co-founder of the company-the manufacturer of trucks Otto that Uber bought for $680 million, but was closed in the summer of 2019. Burnett left Uber in March 2018, closely focusing on the development of drones. He has also been an engineer in the Google project for the production of robomobile. Organizing the 2018 startup, Burnett said that just three months of its Kodiak Robotics has assembled a team of approximately 10 engineers "world-class" who "have experience in moving semi-Autonomous vehicle on public roads". The company raised a year ago, $40 million investment to Finance the development of Autonomous cargo transport (co-founders of steel CRV, Lightspeed Venture Partners Ventures and Tusk).
According to Burnett: "This funding, which came just three months after the founding of the Kodiak Robotics, was a huge validation of our vision. We believe that unmanned trucks are likely to be the first Autonomous vehicles will be able to maintain a viable business model, and we are proud to have received the support of such influential investors who will help us execute our plan."

Startups in Robotron attracted by the fact that long haul trucking are primarily on highways, with their far more orderly movement compared to the "chaos" of city streets. This means that the current system of self-driving take less decisions and better suited for Autonomous vehicles.

Company Kodiak Robotics believes that Autonomous trucks will play an important role in the elimination of the shortage of truck drivers, while increasing safety, improving the quality of life for truck drivers, increasing efficiency, reducing congestion and emissions as well as creating new jobs in the economy.

PS This startup RABOTNIKOV is not the first and certainly not the last in America (just some deja vu). So another year and a half ago a similar project proposed division Waymo Autonomous Trucks company Google Inc., and also on the basis of truck brand Peterbild.

The trucks were equipped with a touch system, similar to that installed on the minivan, the Chrysler Pacifica, which Waymo works in Arizona. This set of equipment of the 4th level of autonomy includes lidars, radars and surveillance systems.

In addition, the company-startups Uber Freight still March 2018 announced the beginning of regular freight traffic on the route 40 in Arizona, but as Kodiak announced information about their customers-the shippers. She turned the project over a week before the announcement of Kodiak.

Robotrac 4-level startup Embark offline (of course with the operator at the steering wheel) traveled 2400 miles (more than 4 thousand km) from Florida to California.

American-Chinese joint venture TuSimple from Beijing and San Diego was willing in 2018 to run trucks 4-level 120-mile route from Tucson to Phoenix, Arizona. Its a collection of offline technologies includes Nvidia and computer Drive PX system, as well as several radars and cameras.

There is a feeling that start-UPS in Robotron in the United States arise like mushrooms (demand and supply), but live very long, about like moths-lived, as beyond the demonstration samples and experimental runs is not able to show a stable transportation process. However, the process the main thing to start as the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, then deepened, and there is very go..