TuSimple is collaborating with Lidar specialist AEye on the development of fully autonomous heavy-duty trucks for the Volkswagen Group. 

The collaboration is part of a joint development by TuSimple and Navistar to develop Level 4 self-driving trucks for the VW TRATON Group. AEye will develop long-range Lidar as part of this effort. The autonomous trucks are expected to be ready for production in 2024.

AEye Lidar has a range of a kilometre (0.62 mile), which the company says is twice the range and over double the resolution of any competing Lidar. Its system features a solid-state MEMS scanner which can scan through rain and other weather conditions. The system is software-configurable, allowing hardware to be optimised for different applications.

“TuSimple has the world’s most advanced autonomous driving system, with the industry’s best long-range perception,” said Chuck Price, Chief Product Officer at TuSimple. “AEye’s adaptive Lidar complements our solution, with its ultra-long range, high performance enabling object acquisition and avoidance capabilities at highway speeds that are imperative for safe autonomous trucking implementations. AEye’s software-configurable hardware enables us to utilise a single sensor for both low speed, wide Field-of-View cut-ins and high speed, long-range, small object detection – flexibility that is incredibly powerful for addressing the wide scope of trucking corner cases.”

“We are pleased to partner with TuSimple in advancing reliable highway autonomy for long-haul trucks,” said Blair LaCorte, CEO at AEye. “AEye’s high performance Lidar system enables detection of road debris, pedestrians, vehicles, and more at extremely long ranges, with software-configurable control that enables TuSimple’s full stack to navigate complex environments at speed. We look forward to a rich partnership with TuSimple, deploying the next generation of autonomous solutions for the trucking industry.”