Outrider built what is said to be the industry’s first safety system designed for scalable, driverless movement of freight in mixed-traffic trailer yards. Outrider’s proprietary functional safety approach was determined to align with the AV Conformity Framework (AVCF) requirements of TÜV SÜD, a globally recognized independent testing and certification organization.
“Outrider pioneered the yard automation space with the goal of making autonomous yard operations inherently safer than present-day operations, and we have prioritized the safety system from day one,” says Andrew Smith, founder and CEO. “It is not hard to create a driverless demonstration. It is a major technical undertaking to design an 80,000-pound robot that operates amongst over-the-road trucks, delivery trucks, and warehouse personnel.”
Key takeaways:
· Leveraging state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI), the Outrider System handles the complex task of moving trailers in mixed-traffic logistics yards with a high degree of precision, versatility, and predictability. Recognizing that even the most advanced AI-driven systems can be susceptible to unexpected failures, Outrider has built a comprehensive, redundant safety system designed to mitigate hazards identified in its safety case. The combination of AI and safety system allows for unsupervised, fully automated operations.
· Outrider’s safety system includes 14 safety mechanisms that address over 200,000 safety hazards specific to yard operations. The Outrider System utilizes safety mechanisms, including redundant hazard detection, fail-safe hardware redundancies, and real-time health monitoring, to detect anomalies in the environment, override unsafe behaviors, and bring the autonomous vehicle to a stop when necessary.
· The Outrider System runs on top of Outrider-approved autonomy hardware and electric yard truck platforms from vendors. For safety-critical systems and components, partners work closely with Outrider’s development team to review and approve Outrider’s safety case for the use of their products in driverless operations.
“Given the lack of standards for yard automation, Outrider developed the safety approach that will set the standard in the industry,” says Vittorio Ziparo, CTO and EVP of engineering. “We used established standards for functional safety in road vehicles outlined in ISO 26262 and safety in autonomous vehicles outlined in ISO 21448, as the starting point for a proprietary and comprehensive safety approach for autonomous yard operations.”
