Volvo unveils first-ever production ready Autonomous Truck at ACT Expo
Volvo Autonomous Solutions (V.A.S.) today unveiled Volvo’s first-ever production ready autonomous truck at the ACT Expo in Las Vegas. The Volvo VNL Autonomous brings together Volvo’s commercial vehicle expertise with industry-leading autonomous driving technology from Aurora Innovation. The result is a purpose-designed and purpose-built autonomous truck that will be the key enabler to increasing freight capacity across the United States.
“We are at the forefront of a new way to transport goods, complementing and enhancing transportation capacity, and thereby enabling trade and societal growth,” states Nils Jaeger, President of Volvo Autonomous Solutions. “This truck is the first of our standardized global autonomous technology platform, which will enable us to introduce additional models in the future, bringing autonomy to all Volvo Group truck brands, and to other geographies and use cases.”
The platform-based design approach will enable Volvo to use its in-house developed virtual driver for trucks and machines working within confined applications and partner virtual driving technologies for on-highway trucking applications.
Guided by Safety with Robust Redundancy
Volvo Autonomous Solutions is dedicated to tackling the transportation industry’s capacity constraints through safe, sustainable, and efficient autonomous transport solutions. True to the Volvo DNA, every design and engineering decision for the new Volvo VNL Autonomous has been made with safety in mind. The Volvo VNL Autonomous therefore has redundant steering, braking, communication, computation, power management, energy storage and vehicle motion management systems.
“Our platform engineering approach prioritizes safety by incorporating high-assurance redundancy systems designed to mitigate potential emergency situations,” said Shahrukh Kazmi, Chief Product Officer at Volvo Autonomous Solutions. “We built the Volvo VNL Autonomous from the ground up, integrating these redundancy systems to ensure that every safety-critical component is intentionally duplicated, thereby significantly enhancing both safety and reliability.”
Cutting-edge Technology and Purpose-built for Integration
Volvo’s and Aurora’s world-class engineering teams have worked closely together to integrate the Volvo VNL Autonomous and the Aurora Driver, an SAE L4 autonomous driving system. The Aurora Driver consists of powerful AI software, dual computers, proprietary lidar that can detect objects more than 400 meters away, high-resolution cameras, imaging radar, and additional sensors, enabling the Volvo VNL Autonomous to safely navigate the world around it.
“Powered by the Aurora Driver, the new Volvo VNL Autonomous is the realization of our shared vision,” said Sterling Anderson, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Aurora. “This truck combines Aurora’s industry-leading self-driving technology with Volvo’s best-in-class truck, designed specifically for autonomy, making it a must-have for any transport provider that wants to strengthen and grow their business.”
The Aurora Driver has been extensively trained and tested in Aurora’s sophisticated virtual suite where it’s driven billions of miles. It also has driven 1.5 million commercial miles on public roads, where it deftly navigates end-to-end trucking routes traversing highways, rural roadways, and surface streets day and night and through good and bad weather.
Purpose-built for Commercial Scale
Building a viable autonomous truck at scale requires extensive manufacturing experience and a proven procurement eco-system. The Volvo VNL Autonomous will be assembled at Volvo’s flagship New River Valley (NRV) plant in Dublin, Virginia.
As the largest Volvo Trucks plant in the world, NRV’s decades of high-volume production experience combined with stringent automotive quality processes will result in the capability to produce the Volvo VNL Autonomous at industry demand.
Customer Adoption and Societal Impact
“The Volvo VNL Autonomous, powered by the Aurora Driver, offers a fully integrated autonomous solution in the Hub-to-Hub segment,” says Sasko Cuklev, Head of On-Road Solutions at Volvo Autonomous Solutions. “Our approach reduces complexity for our customers while allowing them to experience the benefits of an autonomous solution with peace of mind by ensuring efficiency, safety and reliability.”
Volvo is a company built around people and the mission of Volvo Autonomous Solutions is no different. Improving transportation not just for customers, but society at large, is at the core of the work done by Volvo Autonomous Solutions. The United States has seen driver shortages for decades and that gap is only expected to increase.
The adoption of autonomy aims at aiding the transportation sector with additional freight capacity while allowing drivers to focus on routes better suited to work-life balance. The introduction of the new Volvo VNL Autonomous marks a milestone in the implementation of autonomous transport and the societal benefits of autonomy.
