With nagging driver shortages and a dramatic increase in home delivery, commercial trucking and logistics are key and potentially lucrative applications for autonomous-vehicle technology. But first, AV developers must prove to freight companies, government regulators and the public that their self-driving technology is fail safe.
What happens if something goes wrong with a self-driving big rig or autonomous Amazon delivery van, for example, and there isn't a driver on board or even remote control to safely pull the vehicle off the road?
For AV tech company Aurora Innovation, the answer is a Fault Management System designed to detect issues with the company's self-driving system and safely guide a truck or van from the road sans human involvement.
This year, Aurora said it would demonstrate a third-generation beta version of the system in the third quarter. Last week, the company revealed it was "a quarter ahead of schedule." In June, Aurora says it successfully demonstrated the Fault Management System on an Aurora-powered Peterbilt 579 Class 8 truck operating on public roads at highway speeds.