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Forbes
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Swift Navigation Lands Major Investment For Tech That Improves GPS
Swift Navigation has landed $50 million from a group of investors. The company's Skylark Precision ... More Location software improves GPS accuracy. Global positioning systems, or GPS, are great for helping to guide motorists to a location, or at least let them know where they are. However, GPS basically only gets you close, rather than to a precise spot. That may be fine for casual navigation, but it's not okay for advance driver assistance systems, or ADAS, which include automatic lane-centering, or for semi-autonomous driving systems that allow motorists to take their hands off the wheel for long stretches or make hands-off lane changes, or completely self-driving vehicles. As the auto industry moves towards vehicles with even higher levels of autonomy, the need for precise location technology becomes even more acute. A company that has developed such technology has captured the eyes, and financial backing of investors. San Francisco-based Swift Navigation completed its $50 million Series E financing round, the company announced Wednesday, bringing its total capitalization to more than $250 million. The round was led by led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from existing investors NEA, Eclipse, EPIQ Capital Group, First Round Capital, Telus, and Potentum alongside new investors Niterra Ventures, Alti Tiedemann Global, Grids Capital, Essentia Ventures, Shea Ventures, and Enertech Capital. 'We're expanding the reach of our global network, and then we're launching millions upon millions of cars live in our service,' said Swift co-founder and CEO Timothy Harris, in an interview. 'We already have several million on the road, but we have many different customer programs with different OEMs, and we're excited for some launches next year with some new OEMs that are launching next year as well.' 'Swift Navigation has built a game-changing solution for high-precision positioning, enabling autonomy and automation at scale," said Michael Stark, managing director and founder of Crosslink Capital, in a statement. GPS is actually a subset of Global Navigation Satellite System, or GNSS, which includes all navigation systems. While GPS is accurate to anywhere from three to ten meters, adding Swift's cloud-based application Skylark Precise Positioning Service vastly improves on that to a matter of centimeters by making corrections as the satellite signal travels through Earth's atmosphere, according to Harris. What can go wrong? Anything from inherent errors in satellites that are not in perfect orbits, to disruptions to GPS signals on their way to Earth-bound receivers. 'We actually model the atmosphere in real time. That's the core of our product now. Skylark itself just looks like a data service to get you centimeter accurate positioning behind that. We're modeling the atmosphere in real time. We're modeling the satellites, but it's really a software over-layer to the GPS,' Harris explained. While virtually all automakers use GNSS, about 70% of auto brands are currently using precise GNSS. Swift is working with around 20 automakers, according to Harris. Accuracy comparison between standard GPS and precise GPS provided by Swift Navigation. The urgency to improve a vehicle's location awareness comes as customers desiring, and willing to pay for, so-called L2+ autonomy systems such as General Motors Co.'s Super Cruise or Ford Motor Co.'s Blue Cruise, demand greater capabilities. 'So as we expand automated driving to new environments, what happens? We see more trees. We see more buildings,' said GM technical fellow Curtis Hay, during an April panel discussion on the subject at the American Center for Mobility, in which Swift also participated . 'We've got to solve those, as they become more important problems to tackle the automated drive down highways.' Indeed, Swift's Harris points out that precise positioning not only improves safety but its more exact location detection improves occupant comfort through greater reliability and with less jarring moves from automatic lane-keeping technology. There's a cost, however to all this, in an era where the average transaction prices of a new vehicles hovered at $48,907 in June, according to Kelly Blue Book. 'I cannot put this technology into a vehicle to force another $2,000, $3,000 on top of that, the price of that vehicle,' said Mark Barrott, a partner at management consultants Plante Moran, during the April panel discussion. 'It has to be affordable. It has to be useful, and my consumer has to understand how to use it, what benefit they're going to get.' Swift's Skylark addresses the cost issue by being able to provide precise location on lower-cost standard definition maps, rather than more expensive high-definition version, Harris pointed out. 'It's a data service that goes into the vehicle based on the distributed network. So there is an ongoing software cost element, but relative to the cost of putting in other big sensors, like LiDAR, it is a tiny fraction of cost,' said Harris. 'What that means is it hits the kind of the more mass market price point for ADAS systems. You're not talking about adding a huge amount of cost of the vehicle.'As Swift enjoys new investor support Harris says the company is expanding applications of its precise positioning technology to improving location accuracy for outdoor robotics, micromobility vehicles such as scooters, and fleet tracking and package delivery.
Forbes
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Outrider Powers Scaling Of Yard Autonomy With TÜV SÜD Certification
Outrider, a leader in autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, has announced 'the industry's first safety system designed from the ground up for scalable, driverless movement of freight in mixed-traffic trailer yards.' Autonomous yard trucks operate on pavement within logistics facilities, moving trailers and/or containers. This is a fast-growing niche in truck autonomy, sitting between over-the-road trucking and off-road truck operations such as mining. Outrider notes that their customers represent over twenty percent of all yard trucks operating in North America. Outrider is backed by NEA, 8VC, Koch Disruptive Technologies, FM Capital, and other investors. Outrider's proprietary functional safety approach was determined to align with the AV Conformity Framework requirements of TÜV SÜD, a globally recognized independent testing and certification organization. With this step complete, commissioning and deployment of the latest-generation driverless yard trucks will begin with select enterprise customers in the second half of 2025. "Outrider pioneered the yard automation space with the goal of making autonomous yard operations inherently safer than present-day operations, and we have prioritized the safety system from day one," said Andrew Smith, Founder and CEO of Outrider. 'It is not hard to create a driverless demonstration. It is a major technical undertaking to design an 80,000-pound robot that operates amongst over-the-road trucks, delivery trucks, and warehouse personnel.' Leveraging state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, the Outrider System handles the complex task of moving trailers in mixed-traffic logistics yards with a high degree of precision, versatility, and predictability. Recognizing that even the most advanced AI-driven systems can be susceptible to unexpected failures, Outrider has built a comprehensive, redundant safety system designed to mitigate hazards identified in its safety case. The combination of AI and safety systems allows for unsupervised, fully automated operations, according to the company. Outrider's safety system includes fourteen safety mechanisms that address over 200,000 safety hazards specific to yard operations. The Outrider System utilizes safety mechanisms, including redundant hazard detection, fail-safe hardware redundancies, and real-time health monitoring, to detect anomalies in the environment, override unsafe behaviors, and bring the autonomous vehicle to a stop when necessary. "Given the lack of standards for yard automation, Outrider developed the safety approach that will set the standard in the industry," said Vittorio Ziparo, CTO and Executive Vice President of Engineering at Outrider. 'We used established standards for functional safety in road vehicles outlined in ISO 26262 and safety in autonomous vehicles outlined in ISO 21448, as the starting point for a proprietary and comprehensive safety approach for autonomous yard operations.' TÜV SÜD conducted a preliminary assessment of Outrider's functional safety approach using their AV Conformity Framework. This framework, based on current industry standards and best practices, evaluated essential elements such as Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment, coverage and safety analysis, testing, and the safety case. Through a methodological showcase of the Functional Safety workflow, TÜV SÜD determined that Outrider's functional safety approach was aligned with these requirements. Outrider continues to accrue the body of evidence to ensure the appropriate implementation and effectiveness of the approach. This assessment marks a key milestone, confirming that Outrider's approach is well-suited to meet the requirements of ISO 26262 and is aligned with current state-of-the-art practices. Additionally, the approach establishes a robust foundation for integrating with other safety domains, including SOTIF and cybersecurity. The Outrider System runs on top of Outrider-approved autonomy hardware and electric yard truck platforms from vendors including NVIDIA, Orange EV, RH Sheppard, and Yaskawa. For safety-critical systems and components, partners work closely with Outrider's development team to review and approve Outrider's safety case for the use of their products in driverless operations. "Through a successful development and validation program, as well as extensive review of Outrider's safety case, our engineering and safety teams approved the use of our commercial steering system in the Outrider System," said Simon Malsbury, Engineering Director at RH Sheppard, a leading supplier of steering systems for the trucking and transportation industry. 'Outrider is the first yard automation provider to receive RH Sheppard's approval to use its drive-by-wire steering system in autonomous operations in logistics yards.' In addition to driverless operations with select customers in 2025, Outrider is taking orders for deployments in 2026 and 2027. The Outrider System is offered as a subscription service, including the autonomy stack, cloud-based management software, automated trailer inventory tracking, and 24/7 support. Additionally, the system is capable of connecting trailer brake and electric lines with no modifications to trailers using its TrailerConnect robotic arm, or by integrating with auto-coupling systems designed for captive trailer fleets. Outrider sees the completion of the safety system as furthering their leadership in autonomous yard operations. Outrider's many industry firsts culminate in autonomous trailer movement, including hitching, backing, trailer brake line connection, yard inventory tracking, as well as integration with warehouse, yard, and transportation management systems. Outrider's approach is focused on setting a benchmark for trust, reliability, and safety standards in autonomous logistics, paving the way for broader industry adoption of automation in supply chain operations. Wrap Up Some of Outrider's claims in today's announcement might be disputed by others in the space. Similar to Outrider, competitors FERNRIDE, Forterra, and ISEE have noted capability in mixed-traffic trailer yards. FERNRIDE has recently announced a TÜV SÜD safety certification as well. Since each safety evaluation is unique to the use case and technical implementation, it is difficult for outside observers to parse out the differences. But logistics forerunners adopting this tech are in the know and making deep-dive assessments, a process which drives competition and creates a 'safety pull' from the end-user which benefits the entire industry. Logistics firms keep their heads down to get the job done and are unlikely to announce every tech upgrade. While the headlines that herald on-road autonomy continue to roll out, operators moving truck trailers and containers are already quietly adopting yard autonomy technology. Customers who have experienced successful trials in their facilities are placing orders. Disclosure: Richard Bishop is an Advisor to and/or an equity holder in the following companies mentioned in this article: Forterra, Outrider.
