Self driving trucking firm Kodiak Robotics has reduced the maintenance overhead on its autonomous trucks to the same level as conventional trucks of the same size. The company has formed a technical partnership with commercial truck maintenance company Southern Tire Mart and as part of this partnership has demonstrated that its pre-calibrated, pre-built SensorPods, which replace the truck’s stock side-view mirrors, can be completely removed and replaced by a mechanic without specialised training.

Kodiak identifies servicing and maintaining autonomous truck sensor systems as a significant barrier to adoption for many firms. The company reports that truck autonomous sensor maintenance typically requires significant time and specialised training, which complicates repairs since long-haul trucks can travel thousands of miles per trip and may need service in remote locations. According to Kodiak, this deployment environment makes it important that hardware be easily serviceable and maintainable if self driving trucks are going to be widely adopted.

“Every aspect of the technologies we build into our autonomous trucks is thoughtfully designed with fleet uptime, serviceability and scalability in mind,” said Don Burnette, Founder and CEO, Kodiak. “We know the value Kodiak is bringing to fleets by designing SensorPods that can be easily and quickly replaced by any mechanic as simply as they can change a tire. Working with our partners at Southern Tire Mart/Southern Tire Mart at Pilot, we’re collaborating to show that this hardware approach speeds the process of maintenance and service, increases truck uptime, and clears an important hurdle to commercialisation.”

Last year, Kodiak announced its patent-pending SensorPod which included one Hesai LiDAR, two ZF Full-Range 4D radars, and three cameras. Swapping out a SensorPod is as easy as removing and replacing the access cover and three bolts, and re-connecting three cables. The cable design is designed to simplify maintenance: one cable carries power and data, while the other two provide water and compressed air for en-route sensor self-cleaning.

Kodiak’s technical partner, commercial truck maintenance specialist Southern Tire Mart/Southern Tire Mart at Pilot has stated that the complexity of replacing the SensorPods is on par with that of replacing a tire, which is far less complicated than most autonomous system repairs.

“In spite of the new range of technologies incorporated into autonomous trucks, their commercialisation depends on third parties’ ability to perform maintenance on them and we are thrilled to be working with Kodiak to make this a reality,” said John Boynton, President, Southern Tire Mart at Pilot. “Forging this relationship with Kodiak allowed our mechanics to learn about autonomous technology while also showcasing just how simple it truly is to replace these innovative SensorPods. Kodiak’s thoughtful approach to hardware, which takes into account the critical issue of maintenance, is exactly the kind of engineering that will carry the industry forward.”