Called the Autonomous Technology Group (ATG), it is headed by Dr Peter Vaughan Schmidt (pictured), who is currently Daimler’s head of strategy.
The ATG is effective from 1 June. Backed by a EUR 500 million investment, its remit is to put highly automated trucks (SAE level 4) into series production and on the roads within a decade.
Schmidt says: “With the Autonomous Technology Group, we are bringing together our global experts and their vast knowledge in automated trucking.
“In the first stage, we will focus on use cases of highly automated driving in defined areas and between defined hubs in the USA. In doing so, we will work closely together with customers whose business matches this automated driving application. We will not only develop the respective technology but also set up the required operations infrastructure and network.”
ATG’s focus will be software development, chassis redundancy, sensor kit integration and development of operations and network infrastructure.
The group will also include software developer Torc Robotics, a company recently acquired by Daimler.