Partnership critical to making autonomous trucking a reality

Hesai Technology Co., Ltd. and Kodiak Robotics, Inc. announced a new partnership [March 2021] to integrate Hesai’s 360-degree scanning LiDARs onto Kodiak’s patent-pending mirror pods.

Hesai Technology is a global leader in 3D sensors (LiDAR). Founded in Shanghai, Hesai’s team has created a suite of innovative sensor solutions that combine three core strengths: industry-leading performance, manufacturability, and reliability. Hesai’s proprietary micro-mirror and waveform fingerprint technologies lead the market in sensor innovation and adoption, with customers spanning 70 cities in 23 countries and regions.

LiDAR technology is purpose-built to handle the rigors of real-world autonomous vehicle deployment. With their long-range capabilities, Hesai’s LiDARs will enhance the side- and rear-view capability and redundancy of Kodiak Vision – Kodiak’s principles-based perception system that maximizes the value of LiDAR, cameras, and radar.

Kodiak has built its technology specifically for deployment as an L4 autonomous trucking product, not as a proof-of-concept. After a rigorous evaluation process, Kodiak determined that Hesai’s LiDARs not only meet Kodiak’s demanding performance requirements, but also have a demonstrated ability to feed Kodiak Vision with actionable data under a wide range of conditions, including the tough environments Kodiak sees on Texas [US] highways.

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in April 2018 to develop autonomous technology that carries freight forward. Kodiak is building and operating self-driving trucks designed to operate on highway routes, making the freight industry safer and more efficient. The company has developed the industry’s most advanced technology stack purpose-built specifically for long-haul trucks.In January 2021, Kodiak became the first company in the autonomous trucking industry to announce disengage-free customer deliveries, and released footage of over 1000 miles of disengage-free driving.

“Kodiak’s partnership with Hesai will be critical to making autonomous trucking a reality in the very near future,” said Don Burnette, Kodiak’s CEO. “Hesai’s LiDARs have the reliability and performance we need to deploy the Kodiak Driver in the harsh conditions common in long-haul trucking. We have built Kodiak as an ecosystem-first company, and are proud to be working with industry leaders to build an incredibly deep partnership network.”

David Li, Hesai’s CEO added,”Hesai is thrilled to be integrating our LiDAR into the Kodiak Driver. Together, we can build one of the industry’s most capable and reliable self-driving solutions.”