Kodiak Robotics has announced a strategic and technological collaboration with Atlas Energy Solutions to conduct operations with autonomous truck technology in the Permian Basin of West Texas in the United States.
Autonomous truck technology
This region, with its network of private dirt roads, offers an almost ideal setting for testing and deploying Kodiak’s autonomous technology. With reduced traffic and average speeds of less than 20 miles per hour, conditions are favorable for the transit and use of autonomous technology.
For the past six years, Kodiak has been working on turning its technology into an ideal, marketable product. Between their daily operations in the southern United States they have provided valuable insight into “how customers can implement the Kodiak Driver and the requirements for operating and maintaining an autonomous fleet.” The partnership with Atlas will allow Kodiak to enhance its expertise in autonomous operations and demonstrate the safety of its technology.
From a personal perspective, this breakthrough is extremely important to Kodiak Robotics founder and CEO Don Burnette. Throughout his career, he has witnessed the progress of autonomous vehicles from the lab to the real world. Now, it’s the opportunity to implement the first driverless product that performs repetitive, tedious and even dangerous driving tasks.
In 2022, the company began working with the U.S. Army to adapt its technology to defense applications, operating in off-road vehicles. In early 2024, Kodiak became the first autonomous truck company in the U.S. Army to first autonomous truck company to build a to build a platform with all the specifications necessary for safe driverless deployment.
Kodiak Robotics and Atlas Energy Solutions
Kodiak has made its first driverless delivery in partnership with Atlas Energy Solutions, a leading logistics provider in the Permian Basin. Atlas operates an extensive network of private dirt roads, enabling it to service critical energy infrastructure. Automation is vital to Atlas as it completes the Dune Express, a 42-mile electric transportation system that will facilitate the movement of sand.
The Permian Basin is a challenging place for truckers due to its arid and adverse conditions. In the past 2021, this region accounted for 7% of traffic fatalities in Texas, despite having less than 2% of the state’s population. To provide a solution, the trucks are equipped with Kodiak’s Gen6 hardware, which is completely platform-independent.
As such, working with Atlas is a natural extension of Kodiak’s advances. By integrating their long-haul transportation product with expertise gained in defense applications, they have created an ideal system with the ability to operate on Atlas’ private road network. In addition, the mapping technology allows them to create new routes quickly, increasing Atlas’ operational flexibility.
The new era of autonomy and autonomous truck technology. Source: Kodiak
Don Burnette has worked on autonomous vehicles for more than 15 years, starting as a doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon University. Throughout his career, he has seen the technology evolve from academic theory to practical reality. In 2018, he founded Kodiak with the goal of creating a product that solved real customer needs and was profitable.
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Source and photo: Kodiak Robotics
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