Kodiak Robotics has formally handed off two autonomous vehicles to buyer Atlas Vitality Options, marking the startup’s first business launch.
Atlas, a supplier of proppant (i.e., sand) and oilfield logistics, acquired its first Kodiak-equipped vehicles in December and commenced driverless operations in an off-road surroundings in West Texas’s distant Permian Basin shortly after. The corporate has already delivered 100 hundreds utilizing self-driving vehicles with out a human security driver behind the wheel, in response to Kodiak founder and CEO Don Burnette.
“That is the primary time, so far as we’re conscious, that the client is proudly owning and working the driverless automobile, as a substitute of the AV firm, and we expect that is the mannequin of the long run,” Burnette informed TechCrunch.
Till now, Kodiak — and its opponents within the house like Aurora Innovation and Waabi — has carried out business pilots for patrons on highways with human security drivers behind the wheel. Throughout these pilots, Kodiak-owned vehicles ran freight on behalf of shippers or carriers. The purpose, although, is to promote the AI Driver-as-a-Resolution to firms like Atlas. In different phrases, Kodiak and others don’t need to run their very own transport operations in the long term, however relatively give attention to promoting the self-driving know-how.
For comparability, within the robotaxi trade, firms like Waymo and previously Cruise have owned and operated their very own ride-hail providers, however Waymo’s latest partnerships with Uber and Moovit sign that the corporate might finally bow out of working such providers, too.
Kodiak first introduced its partnership with Atlas in July 2024 after the 2 accomplished Kodiak’s first driverless run delivering frac sand in West Texas’s distant Permian Basin — an unstructured, off-road surroundings. Whereas Kodiak nonetheless has energetic pilots operating freight on highways and plans to pursue long-haul autonomous trucking, the Atlas deal is a key a part of the startup’s near-term go-to-market technique.
Off-road autonomy has its personal set of distinctive challenges — like a consistently altering panorama and no HD maps to depend on — however it presents a quicker path to income than freeway driving, in response to Burnette.
And that wager is already bearing fruit.
Kodiak is now producing income from Atlas by means of a mixed {hardware} and software program annual subscription that features the price of Kodiak’s modular sensors, that are fitted onto the Atlas-owned vehicles, in addition to the self-driving software program, monitoring, and replace providers.
“We combine APIs into [the customer’s transportation management system] that enables Atlas to make use of their current instruments to successfully inform the driverless vehicles the place to go,” Burnette mentioned. “However extra importantly, they management the logistics. We’re not concerned in that. We simply guarantee that whereas the vehicles are working, that they’re up, they’re wholesome, they’re secure, and if there are any points, we are able to step in and carry out upkeep.”
Atlas, which operates throughout the 75,000-square-mile Permian Foundation in Texas and New Mexico, plans to scale its driverless trucking deployments over the course of the yr, so Kodiak has established an workplace in close by Odessa, Texas to help Atlas’ operations — an 18,000-square-foot facility with a workforce of 12 Kodiak workers. Kodiak intends to develop that quantity to about 20 folks by the tip of the primary quarter.
autonomous vehicles,Kodiak Robotics,off-road autonomous automobiles
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