The United States Postal Service (USPS) has awarded self-driving truck company TuSimple a contract to perform five round trips, for a two-week pilot, hauling USPS trailers more than 1,000 miles between the Postal Service’s Phoenix and Dallas distribution centers.
During the duration of the pilot, a safety engineer and driver will be on board the truck to monitor vehicle performance and to ensure public safety.
For TuSimple, the company is expanding its autonomous operations beyond Arizona, as it debuts its self-driving technology in Texas. TuSimple will run a series of its self-driving trucks for 22 hours each, which includes overnight driving, along the I-10, I-20 and I-30 corridors to make the trip through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Business Solutions
Business Solutions
Sonardyne acquires maritime software and equipment specialist EIVA
Sonardyne International Ltd. has announced that it has acquired maritime software and equipment specialist EIVA A/S, marking the latest step in the company’s long-term growth strategy.
“We are committed to a sustainable future for Sonardyne, which includes investing in complementary technologies and enterprises that supplement our core expertise in underwater communications, navigation, monitoring and imaging systems,” says Simon Partridge, Sonardyne’s strategy director.
LORD equipping Clearpath research robot platform with inertial sensors through new partnership
LORD Corp. has partnered with Clearpath Robotics to equip the Clearpath research robot platform with LORD’s inertial sensors.
LORD inertial sensors enhance the autonomous capabilities of Clearpath’s robots, helping provide them with precise navigation in applications such as 3-D mapping in difficult terrain.
RE2 Robotics to develop dexterous, underwater robotic hand for U.S. Navy
RE2 Robotics has announced that it has received $3 million in funding to develop a dexterous, underwater robotic hand with tactile feedback for the U.S. Navy.
Known as Strong Tactile mARitime hand for Feeling, Inspecting, Sensing and Handing (STARFISH), the program will create an “advanced end-effector for mine countermeasures (MCM) and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) missions” for U.S. Naval expeditionary forces.
Cepton, Dataspeed partner to bring lidar technologies to autonomous vehicle developers
Cepton Technologies Inc. has partnered with autonomous vehicle (AV) technology provider Dataspeed Inc. to bring its high resolution, long-range and compact lidar technologies to AV developers.
The partnership will result in Dataspeed’s customers now having access to Cepton lidar technology for the development and deployment of autonomous applications.
“Dataspeed is a leading provider of by-wire systems with worldwide installations,” says Mitch Hourtienne, Cepton director of Business Development.
“Our partnership will make it easy for the global community to develop advanced perception capabilities for the next generation of autonomous vehicles.”
Sea Machines Robotics bringing autonomous capabilities to commercial vessels
Sea Machines Robotics has partnered with workboats manufacturer Hike Metal to integrate its SM300 autonomous vessel control system aboard commercial vessels used for search-and-rescue (SAR) missions.
According to Sea Machines, the collaboration will “help develop and demonstrate the capabilities of autonomous marine technology for the purposes of increasing the productivity and safety of SAR operations.”
Invert Robotics looks to increase global footprint of its climbing robot
Robotics company Invert Robotics has closed an $8.8 million round of financing. The company will use the strategic investment to scale its team, open a U.S. office and expand its technology platform and industry-specific technologies.
Headquartered in New Zealand, Invert Robotics’ goal is to increase the global footprint of its climbing robot, which is the first robot specifically designed to inspect the integrity and safety of non-magnetic, hazardous environments, according to the company.
“Our climbing robots go where other robots cannot and people should not,” says Invert Robotics Managing Director Neil Fletcher.
Modus adding second Saab Seaeye Sabertooth to its Hybrid AUV fleet
Saab Seaeye has announced that Modus is adding a second Saab Seaeye Sabertooth to its Hybrid AUV (HAUV) fleet.
According to Saab Seaeye, the Sabertooth AUV will be equipped with extended autonomous endurance and increased thrust for high speed survey. Additionally, the AUV will be ready for the integration of advanced and high-resolution sensors for various applications and operations, the company says.
Aitech to supply key mission interface systems for MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling program
Boeing has awarded Aitech Defense Systems Inc. a contract to supply key mission interface systems for the MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling program.
Under the contract, Aitech will provide Boeing with an advanced, customized remote I/O interface controller based on the commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) Ai-RIO remote interface product.
“Ensuring the success of the unmanned MQ-25 Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) test aircraft requires precision electronics and close-knit cooperation among the companies involved,” explains Moshe Tal, CEO, North America of Aitech Group.
Drivent exits stealth mode, announces certification to test autonomous vehicles in Washington state
Self-driving technology company Drivent has exited stealth mode, announcing that it has been certified to test autonomous vehicles in the state of Washington.
The company has also unveiled what it calls “essential” technologies for autonomous vehicles.
“Years ago, we realized that encouraging widespread adoption of self-driving vehicles would require more than just making cars that don't crash,” explains Eric Wengreen, Drivent co-founder.
“While the autonomous industry focused on collision-avoidance technology, we focused on developing technology to overcome the non-collision barriers to adoption of autonomous vehicles.”