Daimler Truck’s autonomous Freightliner Cascadia is getting a LiDAR upgrade through a recent deal with Israel-based Innoviz Technologies. The agreement involves Torc Robotics, a Daimler Truck subsidiary that plans to integrate Innoviz’s LiDAR technology into the new autonomous Freightliner trucks and pair it with Torc’s virtual driver software.
As part of the announcement, the companies will collaborate on a joint development effort to advance the sensors required for commercial trucking. The partnership with Daimler Truck was hinted at in Innoviz’s previous disclosure that a major commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturer had selected it for its Level 4 autonomous trucks.
This is part of Daimler Truck’s broader strategy to bring autonomous trucks to market. The company has deployments planned across highways and regional routes in North America.
Developing a Level 4 autonomous truck—one fully operated without a human on board—requires extra steps compared with a regular Class 8 truck. Daimler Truck and Torc will use a combination of sensor technologies, including LiDAR, radar and camera systems, to detect the vehicle’s surroundings regardless of weather and other conditions.
The approach is multilayered and is used for both safety and maneuvers such as turning at intersections or navigating an on-ramp. The LiDAR technology uses lasers to generate a high-resolution 3D map of the environment. Safety requirements mean these autonomous trucks will use both long-range LiDAR to look far ahead and short-range sensors to gather detailed close-proximity data.
Innoviz is the partner for the short-range LiDAR; the announcement notes that Daimler and Torc have already selected their supplier for long-range LiDAR.
Daimler Truck is one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, with Daimler Truck North America holding a combined market share of about 42% of all Class 8 trucks sold under its Freightliner and Western Star brands, according to a recent Daimler Truck investor presentation.
“This partnership with Daimler Truck and Torc represents a significant validation of our technology and our position in the autonomous trucking market,” said Omer Keilaf, CEO and co-founder of Innoviz, in the announcement. “The trucking industry demands LiDAR sensors that can perform reliably in the most challenging conditions while delivering the precision and range needed for safe autonomous operation. Our InnovizTwo sensors have demonstrated compliance with these stringent requirements, and we’re excited to support Daimler Truck and Torc in bringing this transformative technology to market.”
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