Aurora is a public company (Nasdaq: AUR), headquartered in Pittsburgh with offices across the United States, that builds the Aurora Driver: a self-driving system for freight-hauling trucks. The system pairs proprietary hardware with what the company calls Verifiable AI software, and is designed as an independent platform rather than one captive to a single automaker - intended to integrate with multiple vehicle manufacturers and transportation networks.
Technical work spans several domains: autonomous driving, perception and object detection, path planning and decision-making, and in-house lidar hardware. The company's FirstLight lidar can detect objects over 450 metres away, and Aurora states that the system detects and reacts to hazards up to 11 seconds sooner than human drivers at highway speeds. The Aurora Driver is designed to see in all directions, make split-second decisions, and operate nearly round-the-clock.
Aurora is hauling customer loads commercially in Texas. Seven named industry partners are listed, including Volvo Trucks, PACCAR, FedEx, Uber Freight, Werner, Schneider and Ryder. The team is composed of engineers, safety experts and operators; the company describes safety as the foundation of what it builds and states an ambition for the system to behave like the best truck drivers on the road.
