Vay, a supplier of automotive quality distance driving technologies, and Kodiak Robotics, manufacturer of autonomous trucks, announced a strategic partnership.
Thanks to this partnership, Vay’s technology contributes to the implementation of the Assisted Automy technology in Kodiak, according to a press release. Assisted Automy allows a human to remotely control a truck in certain low -speed and clearly defined scenarios which benefit from human intervention. Assisted Automy is one of the features of the Kodiak autonomous solution, the Kodiak Driver.
To support assisted autonomy, Kodiak has deployed Vay stations, as well as software tools that allow low latency communications between Vay stations and vehicles equipped with the Kodiak Driver system. This allows the Kodiak Driver system to manage a wider range of driving scenarios.
Kodiak uses Vay technology to provide autonomy assistance when necessary for Kodiak Driver trucks, which operate completely autonomous in western Texas and in the east of New Mexico, added the press release.
In addition, the Kodiak Driver calls on Vay technology to support the assisted autonomy with long -distance customers for starting and stopping trucks in customer installations and other low -speed driving scenarios, such as interpretation of the manual signals of the police.
“Assisted autonomy offers the Kodiak driver more flexibility to deliver the goods of our customers in a larger number of places and scenarios,” said Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak. “Whatever the maturity of an autonomous driving system, there are still scenarios that will benefit from human assistance, if only for help. Assisted autonomy can be useful in situations such as the interpretation of the manual signals of the police. Rather than reinventing the wheel in terms of remote assistance solution, we have chosen to associate ourselves with Vay, which in our opinion is the leader of the sector, which, in our opinion, will accelerate our ability to develop in complete safety. ”
Assisted autonomy is a hybrid approach that combines distance assistance and on -board autonomy in order to create a solution combining flexibility and security. It combines the value of human decision -making with rigorous security controls of the autonomous system.
“During last year, Vay demonstrated the use of remote driving, both in the B2C and B2B field. The strategic partnership with Kodiak will extend B2B use cases to trucks, ”said Thomas von der Ohe, co -founder and CEO of Vay. “We are delighted to associate ourselves with Kodiak to contribute to making road transport and the delivery of goods safer and more effective by combining the value of human decision -making with autonomous operations.”
View of almost 360 degrees around the truck
Thanks to this partnership, the stations and the VAY connectivity battery allow Kodiak to implement assisted autonomy and real -time dissemination of a view of almost 360 degrees from the area around Kodiak trucks. All Assisted Autonomy drivers in Kodiak hold a commercial driving license and are undergoing rigorous training. When they drive, they are seated at one of the Vay driving positions equipped with a steering wheel, pedals and other intuitive orders developed in accordance with the standards of the automotive industry.
Kodiak and Vay communicate with trucks using several redundant communication protocols, offering a unique driver’s solution that facilitates large operational capacities.
In 2023, Vay became the first and remains to date the only company known to circulate cars without human driver on board on European public roads. In January 2024, Vay launched its commercial services in Las Vegas, Nevada, offering residents and visitors the possibility of requesting a rental car delivered remotely to their location via the Vay application. Since its launch, users have carried out more than 10,000 commercial journeys.
