USA – Late last year, it was announced that start-up software company, Aurora Innovations Inc of Mountain View, California, United States, released its latest beta 5.0 autonomous driving software (Aurora Driver) as it inches ever closer to commercial launch. The software has been integrated into the company’s testing fleet in Texas for pilot customers including Uber Freight, FedEx, Werner and Schneider. The upgraded software has added safety capabilities such as responding to emergency vehicles (fire trucks and ambulances etc) and an improved ability to re-enter traffic and navigate lane changes. Starting with the first Beta version in 2021, the company has continued to build and integrate more complex features into the platform. Once the software is feature complete, which is expected in late 2023, the software will then undergo an extensive validation phase before being launched in 2024. Aurora Driver is to underpin Aurora’s subscription-based autonomous trucking service, known as Aurora Horizon.

Chris Urmson, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Aurora, said: