Kodiak’s autonomous driving platform was particularly constructed for autonomous trucking. | Supply: Kodiak Robotics
America Military and the Protection Innovation Unit (DIU) awarded Kodiak Robotics with a 24-month, $49.9 million contract in October. Kodiak beat out 33 different autonomous car firms for the chance.
Underneath the contract, Kodiak will work with the Military’s Robotic Fight Automobile (RCV) program. The corporate will develop an autonomous resolution that can be utilized in future Military floor autos for reconnaissance, surveillance and different high-risk missions. Kodiak will develop distant driving capabilities alongside its autonomous capabilities to provide the Military extra flexibility with its autos.
“At Kodiak, we’re honored to tackle the problem of creating expertise to guard those that defend us. We consider our work with the Military and DIU will each assist strengthen nationwide safety and additional speed up our path to industrial deployment of our long-haul self-driving trucking expertise,” Kodiak’s CEO and founder Don Burnette mentioned in a launch. “We owe a debt of gratitude to the servicemen and girls who step into hurt’s approach to hold us secure; maintaining them secure in return is an honor we take severely.”
The military hopes to make use of the venture to maintain up with the newest industrial applied sciences by making a steady technical pipeline that may allow speedy improvement and deployment of latest autonomous car applied sciences as they grow to be commercially out there.
The contract additionally provides Kodiak the chance to enhance its Kodiak Driver, the corporate’s autonomous trucking platform.
Final yr, Kodiak introduced in $125 million in Sequence B funding, bringing its complete funding on the time to $165 million. Kodiak’s autonomous driving system is purpose-built for long-haul trucking. The fourth-generation truck has a modular sensor suite that features a middle pod on the truck’s entrance roofline and pods built-in into each facet mirrors. Kodiak’s autonomous vans deal with the on-highway driving, whereas a human driver handles getting on and off the freeway and driving to the ultimate vacation spot.
This gained’t be the corporate’s first time working with authorities businesses. In 2021, it obtained a U.S. Air Power Small Enterprise Innovation Analysis (SBIR) contract. Underneath the contract, Kodiak labored with the Dover Air Power Base to develop a software program platform for simulated autonomous autos that will navigate the Dover flightline.
