Two former engineers from Google’s self-driving car division introduced their first self-driving vehicle today as they formally launched their new company. Silicon Valley-based Nuro will focus on applying and developing new robotics and artificial intelligence technologies for everyday challenges.
To start things off, Nuro’s first product is a fully autonomous vehicle that can basically “run errands for you,” according to a release. At least so long as that errand involves moving goods from one place to another. Like picking up groceries or other products.
“We started Nuro to make products that will have a massive impact on the things we do every day,” said Nuro Co-founder Dave Ferguson.
“Our world-class software, hardware and product teams have spent the past 18 months applying their expertise to deliver on this mission. The result is a self-driving vehicle designed to run your errands for you. It is poised to change the way that businesses interact with their local customers.”
Related Search Topics (Ads)
The Nuro team designed the yet-to-be-named vehicle specifically to move goods between businesses, neighborhoods and homes.
Nuro says the company will create partnerships with a variety of businesses to explore new ways to cost effectively transport goods.
Indeed, it isn’t a stretch to imagine this Nuro vehicle rolling down neighborhood streets filled with packages from Amazon.
Toyota unveiled a similar concept at the 2018 CES. The Toyota e-Palette Alliance concept is a mobility device that combines ride-sharing, delivery, retail and all sorts of other commercial enterprises.
According to a release the Nuro vehicle is about half the size of a passenger car. And designers constructed it with ultra-light materials. However, the company claims these elements make the vehicle “one of the safest vehicles on the road.”
The company also announced today that they had raised $92 million in two Series A rounds of financing.
The introduction of Nuro’s self-driving vehicle did leave a few unanswered questions. In particular the business model behind the product.
Would individual households purchase a vehicle to do their bidding? Would a business own one or more of the devices to provide services for customers? Or would the company itself put fleets of their cars in cities to function as a type of riding-sharing delivery service?
Also, there is no word on a timeline for a commercial launch of the new self-driving vehicle.
Related Search Topics (Ads)
