Big Step For Self-Driving Semis As Starsky Tests Unmanned Robo-Truck On Florida Highway

Starsky Robotics, a San Francisco startup trying to commercialize automated truck technology, said it’s the first company to test an unmanned 18-wheeler on a stretch of U.S. highway–and doing so by combining an onboard self-driving system with a remote operator standing by to guide the vehicle when necessary. 

Testing of a Volvo semi-truck loaded up with cameras and radar began June 16 on a 9.4-mile stretch of the Florida Turnpike in Orlando, connected to a Starsky “teleoperations” center in Jacksonville, said CEO and co-founder Stefan Seltz-Axmacher. The truck navigated a highway rest area, merged onto the Turnpike and changed lanes, maintaining an average speed of 55 miles an hour during. 

“This is literally the first time anyone has taken the person out of the vehicle on public highway,”  Seltz-Axmacher told Forbes. While the initial run wasn’t a revenue-generating one, “probably the next time you hear about it it will be hauling a load.” 

Starsky’s approach to automated trucking differs from that of rivals like Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo, TuSimple and a host of startups including Embark, Kodiak and Ike, all of which are working to perfect automated on-board systems that combine vision sensors, software and computing power robust enough to handle highway driving. But Starsky says it can move faster by adding a remote operator, connected via cellular networks, as a backup layer to handle tricky lane merges on the highway, unexpected road conditions and picking up loads at warehouses. 

Competitors don’t rely on remote operation citing concerns about latency, the potential for delays in cell signal transmission. Starsky’s system uses teleoperations mainly at lower speeds and in situations where latency isn’t an issue.

The remote operator sits in front of a bank of video monitors that show everything the truck’s cameras see. There’s a small, video-game style steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedals and other controls that let operators take over whenever necessary.

“It’s easiest and most effective in places where driving is most difficult,” Seltz-Axmacher said. 

There’s been a big uptick in investment and overall activity in automated trucks this year, perhaps as the challenges of deploying fleets of self-driving cars and robo-taxis appears to have grown more challenging. In part that’s because highway driving is viewed as easier to master, owing to the absence of pedestrians, bicyclists and the complex intersections of urban streets. 

Waymo recently announced stepped-up testing of its self-driving trucks in suburban Phoenix, where it also operates a small, commercial robo-taxi service; TuSimple just completed a pilot program with the U.S. Postal Service hauling mail from Phoenix to Dallas in its automated semis; and Volvo Trucks this month formed an autonomous tech alliance with Nvidia to create robotic commercial vehicles.  

Starsky also differs from rivals in that the company operates as a conventional trucking service, hauling loads in Florida and elsewhere often relying solely on human drivers. As a result, it’s now generating revenue that helps fund ongoing development of its high-tech trucks, in addition to the $22 million its raised so far from initial investment rounds. 

“We’re in the neighborhood of half a million dollars a month,” Seltz-Axmacher said, declining to comment on whether Starsky has additional fundraising plans. The company has a fleet of 40 trucks, both automated and non-automated, and 80 employees, about half of whom are truck drivers.