Plus Autonomous Truck Aces Driverless Safety Maneuver Testing
At a highway test track, Plus autonomy handled challenging scenarios in preparation for on-road ... More operations later this year.
Plus, an autonomous trucking AI software company, announced today the latest milestone in its commercialization plan. The company's virtual driver, SuperDriveTM, recently completed validation tests of fully autonomous operations and handling of advanced safety maneuvers with no person in the truck. The testing occurred on a closed test track.
Plus sees this as a continuation of enhancing the safety, reliability and maturity of its AI-based self-driving software as it prepares for the commercial launch of factory-built driverless trucks integrated with SuperDrive.
The validation of a SuperDrive truck with fully redundant sensors and computers is a major milestone on the roadmap to start factory production of driverless trucks. SuperDrive operated the truck without a human driver in the cabin or remote intervention. The driverless truck relied entirely on Plus's self-driving technology to make complex real-time driving decisions.
Plus has partnered with significant truck makers including TRATON GROUP's Scania, MAN, and International brands, Hyundai, and Iveco to bring factory-built driverless trucks to Europe and the U.S. In Janap, Plus is also partnering with TIER IV to launch driverless trucks to address the country's critical driver shortage.
These OEM tie-ups are key to scalable deployment, reaching freight companies around the world. For over-the-road trucking, the OEM-partnership club also includes Aurora, Gatik, Torc, and possibly Waabi.
SuperDrive is also trained using end-to-end AI models to dynamically handle unexpected situations where it is no longer safe for the truck to continue on the road. SuperDrive's Autonomous Fallback System (AFS) is designed to ensure that the hardware and software in the self-driving system are resilient and capable at all times. Repeated driverless tests validated that once the AFS identified and confirmed an issue, such as a sensor failure, software module fault, or road closure, it reliably directed SuperDrive to the safest path, whether that was to come to a slow stop in its lane or to pull over to the side and stop the vehicle.
The testing occurred at the Transportation Research Center's 7.5 mile track in Ohio. SuperDrive was integrated into an International Truck. A video summary of the testing can be viewed here.
These stringent tests, a culmination of years of safety validation and rigorous testing using simulations, closed courses, and public roads, are a strong indication to the system's performance and the effectiveness of the AFS. This type of testing increases the confidence of OEM partners as well as the end-user trucking fleets.
'Autonomous trucks are among the most transformational applications of Physical AI. When it comes to launching driverless trucks commercially, it is critical for our self-driving software to be able to handle the expected and unexpected complexities of driving and interacting with the physical world. Safety is and always will be a priority at all times,' said David Liu, CEO and Co-founder at Plus. 'We are taking deliberate steps to test, validate and deliver safe and scalable factory-built autonomous trucks with SuperDrive that meet the rigorous demands of the freight industry.'
Plus has accumulated more than 5 million miles of real-world driving using its autonomous driving system. Public road testing is underway in Texas and Sweden as part of its development and preparation for the commercial launch of SuperDrive. Plus's Safety Case Framework is available on their website.
Plus has previously said that commercial production of their driverless trucks will occur in 2027 on the International platform. As David Liu said in a recent Plus press briefing, '2025 is about validation. 2026 is getting to commercial readiness, i.e. driver-out on-road pilots, with commercial launch in 2027.'
Torc Robotics announced a similar closed-course milestone in 2024. Closed-course validation will be essential for progressing to on-road deployments which Bot Auto and Waabi have said will occur later this year. Aurora is planning to announce inaugural commercial driverless on-road operations imminently.
Disclosure: Richard Bishop is an Advisor to and/or an equity holder in the following companies mentioned in this article: Aurora, Gatik, Plus.
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