Startup Aims to Sell Driver-Assist Gear for Heavy Trucks
May 17 2016 - 12:30AM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Ramsey
An engineer who helped spearhead the self-driving Google car
project at Alphabet Inc. has quietly launched a Silicon Valley
startup that plans to retrofit tractor trailers with
autonomous-driving technology.
Anthony Levandowski, one of the founders of Google's
self-driving car program, left Google toward the end of January. He
was joined by Lior Ron, another former Alphabet employee who
earlier led Google Maps and the development of the Moto X
smartphone.
The new company, Ottomotto LLC, plans to build hardware enabling
existing 18-wheelers to operate on highways without driver
intervention, taking on larger companies that are currently
reserving such technology for new trucks, Mr. Levandowski said in
an interview.
Ottomotto counts former Alphabet, Apple Inc. and Tesla Motors
Inc. software engineers among its 41 employees, he said.
Mr. Levandowski's self-funded startup has begun testing three
Volvo AB trucks with an eye toward allowing them to travel on the
highway without a driver's intervention. Daimler AG, Volvo, and
other manufacturers are working on similar technology. Currently,
many trucks are sold with driver-assist technology, but only a
handful of states sanction fully autonomous commercial trucks.
An Alphabet spokesman acknowledged Mr. Levandowski's
contribution and said, "we wish him well with his new
endeavors."
Mr. Levandowski's self-driving truck startup, which prefers to
be called Otto, marks the latest in a series of new companies,
employee departures and investment alliances transforming Silicon
Valley and the traditional auto industry in the race to put
autonomous cars on the road. Driverless-car startups have
proliferated amid advances in driving sensors and other technology,
and Silicon Valley firms and long-standing car companies are
rushing to snap up their talent and know-how.
Apple just put $1 billion into Chinese ride-sharing company and
Uber Technologies Inc. competitor Didi Chuxing Technology Co., a
move that could aid the iPhone maker's work on an autonomous
electric vehicle. General Motors Co. earlier this year bought
startup Cruise Automation Inc. and invested $500 million in
ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. in part to further work on
driverless cars.
Mr. Levandowski declined to pinpoint when Otto's technology
would be ready but said he hopes to sell the autonomous system to
truck fleets soon. The gear would allow trucks to travel without a
driver using the pedals or steering wheel. He said Otto aims to
focus on less-complicated highway driving so the technology can
quickly pass muster.
In 2013, the federal government adopted regulations that require
more rest time for U.S. truck drivers and limit how much they could
drive in a week. It is unclear whether adding new technology to
ease driving would allow for more flexibility with those
regulations.
"We are focusing on the near-term potential for autonomous
vehicles," Mr. Levandowski said. "It is easier for us to convince
ourselves that our technology is better than humans on highways"
than in city driving situations, he said.
Tractor trailers have long been considered prime candidates for
robotic control. Trucking companies have struggled to recruit and
keep drivers, and regulations governing how long they can be behind
the wheel have exacerbated the shortage. There were roughly 50,000
too few drivers of big rigs in 2015, according to American Trucking
Associations.
Otto aims to help tackle that problem. Robots can save truckers
energy and render them more like security guards by handling the
monotonous, miles-long stretches between highway exits, he
said.
Mr. Levandowski started working for Google in 2007 as an
engineer on the company's Street View program. By 2009, he became
among the first to work on Google's self-driving car effort. He
built a Toyota Motor Corp. Prius fitted with sensors for autonomous
driving, dubbed a "Pribot," before Google officially started its
self-driving car project. Google eventually purchased one of his
startups that helped launch its driverless car program.
Write to Mike Ramsey at michael.ramsey@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 17, 2016 00:15 ET (04:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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