Former Employees From Google, Apple, Tesla Start ‘Otto,’ Develop Equipment for Self-Driving Trucks

Jennifer van der Kleut

A group of 40 former employees of top-notch firms like Google, Apple, Tesla, Cruise Automation, Nokia’s HERE and others have banded together to form Otto, a company that aims to outfit commercial trucks with equipment that turns them into self-driving vehicles.

Otto is working to develop a hardware kit that, once installed in a freight truck, would enable the vehicle to drive autonomously. The equipment could be purchased and then installed at either a service center, or possible by the truck’s manufacturer if Otto is able to establish manufacture partnerships, reports The Verge.

Two of Otto’s founders-Anthony Levandowski, who led Google’s self-driving car division, and Lior Ron, who led Google Maps-said in a blog post that commercial trucks are ripe with problems and inefficiencies that they believe autonomous driving could help solve.

“…They cause a large number of fatalities, are inefficient and, to top it off, there’s an increasing shortage of drivers. That creates the perfect storm for a tech-based solution, Otto’s founders believe,” TechCrunch reports.

Initially, Otto will focus on highway driving by the trucks they outfit. Drivers will still be responsible for navigating surface streets, and for loading and unloading the trucks as usual.

One thing that is unclear, The Verge explains, is whether the fact that the human in the truck does not have to operate the truck the majority of the time-highway driving makes up the bulk of a commercial truck’s travels-will allow trucking companies to get around laws that minimizes the number of hours trucking employees can work.

“…In theory, an Otto-equipped truck might be able to safely operate for many more hours than a human who is always in full control, but [Lior Ron] says they’ll have to work with regulators to prove that out,” The Verge explained.

TechCrunch reports that Otto initially started out developing driver assistance systems, that aim to make driving a truck more safe. That philosophy carries over into the company’s self-driving equipment.

“…Among many things, they aim to let drivers safely take a sleep break while leaving their truck driving autonomously,” TechCrunch said.

To start with, Otto is testing on Volvo VNL 780 trucks, but The Verge reports that they eventually hope to work with many Class 8 trucks, which are the largest, heaviest trucks on American roads.