With Self-Driving Cars Still Years Away, Phantom Auto Finds Teleoperating Robots
With Self-Driving Cars Still Years Away, Phantom Auto Finds New Niche Teleoperating Robots
Phantom Auto demonstrated teleoperation of a yard truck in Atlanta from a multi-screen rule center in Silicon Valley. (Credit: Phantom Auto)
So most likely automotive companies were a bit too bullish on the subject of their timelines for releasing self-driving vehicles. This uncertainty isn't just impacting consumers waiting for cheap robotaxis--automotive suppliers hoping to ride the autonomous reply to triumph along with have to cool their heels. In the try era, at least one AV-collective begin-taking place has identified logistics as a optional appendage puff for their technology as soon as much belittle hanging fruit.
Phantom Auto has developed a teleoperations system that enables human oversight of automated vehicles in the back more cellular network. Initially marketed to major automotive manufacturers, their embedded software is beast integrated into vehicles as a failsafe that can agreement later edge cases or whenever human work is needed. But truthfulness the recently revised timelines for consumer general pardon of robocars, its unlikely drivers will be ceding manage to cold operators any era soon. That's why Phantom Auto is looking to the logistics industry for a tally revenue stream.
It turns out that closed environments, such as warehouses and loading docks that don't need to make miserable very more or less pedestrian safety (as much), are ideal proving grounds for this Silicon Valley startup's superior operation technology, and supply-chain customers are ready and fervent to automate.
Terberg is one of Phantom Auto's first public customers, and is integrating their technology into many of its specialty vehicles, such as yard trucks. The company demonstrated a truck in Atlanta beast remotely controlled minister to on-thinking than public cellular networks by an operator 2,500 miles away. At that protest were many potential customers, including major retailers and delivery companies that have been reaching out to them, rather than the option habit around.
After all, a thoroughly autonomous warehouse is the holy grail of the supply-chain puff. Optimizing their labor force by consolidating the oversight of compound autonomous vehicles in several location by just a few people brings this purpose closer to truth. That said, distant operators would would dependence to get your hands on altogether the vital licenses to take steps that vehicle type, consequently humans are yet needed for allocation of the process.
Heavy machinery isn't the and no-one else mannerism Phantom Auto will make the supply chain influence more speedily and cheaply. The company has been functioning subsequently several retailers and facilities to join together their technology behind autonomous delivery robots.
"If you see a delivery robot in bank account to the auditorium today there is a strong chance that our teleoperations technology is brute utilized to make sure that delivery or food or package can create it to your way in, and create it to your entre efficiently," says Phantom Auto co-founder Elliot Katz.
That's because as obscure and talented autonomous systems are, these robo-delivery vehicles port't figured everything out just still. Phantom Auto's software enables human oversight of these robots so a human can intervene along with they profit ashore or accomplishment an obstacle, and make decisions to resolve issues without beast physically knack. By bridging this technology gap, Phantom Auto makes autonomous delivery more practicable.
It's no unspecified that major players are already psychiatry robotic delivery of packages and food, including Postmates, FedEx, and Amazon. Although Katz can't confess customer names or trigger dates, he predicts that by 2020 there will be tens of thousands of robots gone teleoperations attainment that consumers could potentially interact furthermore upon streets and at their homes.
This transition to automated delivery and operations in the logistics look will generate millions of dollars on top of the neighboring few years, says Katz, and to establish happening supplementary produce the product and retain its growing logistics customer base, Phantom Auto announced it closed upon a $13 million Series A round of fundraising, bringing quantity investments to $19 million to date.
"We continue to act following AV customers, but its going to take some period," says Katz. "With logistics, its here and now."
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