In what it describes as an industry first, Embark Trucks, Inc. today announced the successful completion of autonomous on-road testing in snowy conditions in Montana. The testing, which the company announced had started at the beginning of 2022, was conducted to demonstrate the performance and safety of its patent-pending Vision Map Fusion (VMF) technology in regions that experience severe winter weather.
Results from the testing demonstrate that in about 90% of runs through the snowy conditions under study, VMF should operate successfully or pause and resume travel within acceptable shipper delivery windows. The company says that conditions like these could result in more significant delays for competitive HD map-based autonomous driving systems.
The testing used Embark-powered trucks traveling on a 60-mi round trip route on public roads between Clinton and Missoula, MN, in varying winter weather situations. In addition to on-road testing, the company developed a comprehensive weather model using over 8 billion historical weather data points (dating back over 10 years for all major U.S. routes) to analyze the impact of snow at a lane level across the U.S.
The testing and weather analysis show significant technical and commercial promise. Embark’s testing and performance review indicated that VMF worked within tolerance thresholds for safe operation in snowfall rates up to 0.17 in/h and with snow accumulation of 1 in on the road over 3 h—conditions that cover the vast majority of snowy weather based on the company’s analysis.
Embark says that the favorable test results represent a milestone in the development of autonomous trucking technology, as well as a major achievement for the company made possible with VMF. Combining these performance results with historical weather patterns and typical shipper delivery timelines, the company was able to estimate expected delivery performance.
On northern lanes, those starting or ending outside of the Sunbelt, historical data show that roughly 1 in 5 runs will experience some snowy conditions. Embark estimates that the VMF system will operate within acceptable shipper delivery windows about 90% of the time on such runs. The company will look to refine these initial findings through additional modeling and partner insights to account for other conditions such as ice formation, sleet, and heavy winds.
Embark’s VMF technology has enabled this progress by moving beyond lidar-centric mapping and localization. It relies heavily on the camera-based sensing modality in snowy conditions, while also understanding and accounting for the degraded states of lidar returns and map conditions, so it is capable of filling in the gaps and mitigating the uncertainty created by accumulating snow on the roadway.
The company plans to expand its autonomous driving capabilities and continue its northward national expansion following its anticipated Phase I Sunbelt rollout in 2024. Throughout this testing process, the company worked with several partners to better understand the impacts of inclement weather on truck uptime and dispatching, gaining an appreciation for the difficult driving conditions that truck drivers must navigate on a regular basis during U.S. winters.
“When we set out to develop our autonomous truck solutions, we planned to create a system that is capable of operating safely across America in all kinds of road conditions, broadening our scope to serve parts of the country that may be limited by snow or inclement weather,” said Alex Rodrigues, CEO of Embark. “While we continue to focus on our existing commercialization timeline, the validation of our VMF technology for use in northern states and regions that regularly experience seasonal snowy weather will prepare us for long-term deployments and growth and help us provide the most flexible solution possible for our carrier partners.”
Autonomous truck technical roadmap
In January, Embark announced a roadmap to develop and deploy technology that would allow trucks equipped with its technology to operate in snowy conditions autonomously. This was a follow-up to a June 2021 investor presentation that detailed the company’s initial “Roadmap to Driver Out” plan, detailing the 16 key technology achievements required to deploy autonomous technology in the U.S. Sunbelt. The company had already achieved 11 of the milestones and planned to complete the remaining 5 between then and the commercial deployment of its technology in 2024.
Futurride covered some of that technology in Embark uses Nvidia Drive to accelerate its autonomous truck SaaS in August.
While driving in snow is not a capability Embark identified to commercialize by 2024, company engineers are continuing to develop their autonomous systems for the most complex situations and scenarios. Snow presents a challenge for even the most experienced human drivers but being able to safely drive in snowy conditions is required to ensure continuity and efficiency in supply chains.
The company says that other autonomous trucking companies have largely avoided operating in regions that are home to snowy climates, as snow poses a unique challenge to the sensors and maps relied upon by AVs. Many AV companies have built autonomous driving software that relies on HD maps to navigate the road but Embark says that map-reliant AV software often fails in snowy conditions because it expects that the environment it senses will closely match what is in its maps–and sometimes doesn’t.
Embark believes it has a significant advantage when it comes to addressing snowy roads. The company’s VMF technology allows Embark-equipped autonomous trucks to operate even where the surrounding terrain has been altered by snowfall.
“VMF is one of the main technology differentiators for Embark, designed specifically for trucks, and allowing us to operate in even the most challenging road conditions,” said Rodrigues. “With enhancements to our perception stack, our world-class engineering team will achieve another industry-first technology milestone using VMF. Not only is Embark executing against its existing commercialization timeline, but we’re also going above and beyond by developing technology like this to prepare for long-term deployments and growth.”
Industry-first process
Embark Trucks, Inc., a subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Embark Technology, Inc., is focused on improving the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of the nearly $730 billion a year trucking market. Headquartered in San Francisco since its founding in 2016 by Rodrigues and Brandon Moak, the company says it is America’s longest-running self-driving truck program, partnering with some of the largest shippers and carriers in the nation.
Its mission is to realize a world where consumers pay less for the things they need, drivers stay close to the homes they cherish, and roads are safer for the people we love. To help accomplish its mission, it is aligning with similar-minded partners to prepare for a nationwide logistics network.
In one such tie-up, the company announced last week that U.S. Xpress has joined its Embark Partner Development Program and plans to add its terminals to the Embark coverage map. This partnership marks a significant milestone by adding a fleet’s properties into an autonomous truck developer’s transfer point network.
Embark says it pioneered the transfer point model in 2019 when the company unveiled its first sites in Los Angeles and Phoenix. Transfer points are used to move freight from driverless, long-haul trucks to driver-enabled trucks for first- and last-mile delivery. Since developing the model, Embark has conducted hundreds of hauls through these sites, refining required transfer point features and developing process flows for important onsite activities.
U.S. Xpress’ nationwide terminal network presents an opportunity for a carrier to leverage its existing real-estate footprint to support efficient autonomous trucking operations. Through the partnership, Embark and U.S. Xpress will identify priority terminals based on traffic patterns, customer needs, and technical requirements. The companies will start with two terminals in Sunbelt states, creating a clear path to opening a high-volume lane for autonomous hauling.
“We’ve established U.S. Xpress as a carrier leader in autonomous trucking, and this partnership is further evidence of our intention to be an early adopter of autonomous vehicle technology,” said Eric Fuller, President & CEO of U.S. Xpress. “Through this partnership with Embark, we’re taking the next important step in planning and preparing our terminal network to support executing our autonomous strategy.”
“Through our partnership with U.S. Xpress, we have identified a unique opportunity to leverage U.S. Xpress’ existing truck terminals, unlocking a more seamless scaling process,” added Rodrigues. “By utilizing existing truck terminals for transfer operations, Embark autonomous trucks will be able to more easily integrate with existing U.S. Xpress network assets such as last-mile driver capacity, parking, and maintenance services.”
The two companies plan to co-develop an onsite operations playbook that captures standard processes for when autonomous trucks enter U.S. Xpress properties. Expected solutions will include gate access, onsite vehicle movement, trailer swap procedures, inspections, and data and power management. By developing these procedures now, U.S. Xpress will be able to quickly integrate Embark-powered autonomous trucks as a complement to professional truck drivers within its operations.