[241001] #May Mobility #Vueron Technology #NVIDIA

1. Inceptio Technology Makes Landmark Single Delivery of 400 Autonomous Heavy-Duty Trucks to ZTO Express

• Inceptio Technology delivered 400 autonomous heavy-duty trucks to ZTO Express, marking the largest global delivery of intelligent trucks.
• The trucks, developed in collaboration with Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle, are equipped with Inceptio’s Autonomous Driving System, supporting the commercialization of autonomous logistics.
• This delivery enhances ZTO Express’ logistics operations by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and optimizing safety.
• Inceptio’s autonomous trucks are widely used across various logistics sectors, including line-haul logistics, express delivery, LTL transportation, and contract logistics.
• ZTO Express aims to strengthen its fleet and expand its presence in the domestic logistics market with the addition of these autonomous trucks.
• Inceptio’s CEO, Julian Ma, highlighted the company’s commitment to revolutionizing logistics and improving safety, efficiency, and profitability with its data-driven R&D and autonomous systems.

2. Autonomous vehicle research gets turbo boost

• NYU Tandon and May Mobility have introduced the MARS dataset, offering real-world driving data collected from multiple autonomous vehicles across repeated trips.
• The dataset provides a unique opportunity to study how autonomous vehicles perceive their surroundings and interact over time in real-world conditions.
• MARS includes over 1.4 million frames of sensor data, collected from May Mobility’s fleet of autonomous Toyota Sienna vehicles operating in a 20-kilometer area.
• The dataset focuses on “multitraversal” observations, capturing data from 67 specific locations under different weather conditions and times of day.
• MARS is expected to accelerate autonomous vehicle research, particularly in collaborative perception, mapping algorithms, and 3D scene reconstruction.
• This collaboration between academia and industry sets a precedent for data-sharing to foster innovation and improve autonomous vehicle safety and reliability.
• May Mobility’s FleetAPI enabled NYU Tandon to access real-time and historical vehicle data, further enhancing research opportunities.
• Initial experiments on visual place recognition and 3D scene reconstruction demonstrate the dataset’s potential in advancing autonomous driving technologies.

NYU Tandon and May Mobility’s MARS dataset delivers valuable multitraversal driving data from real-world operations, advancing autonomous vehicle research in safety and collaboration.

3. Vueron Technology secures US$17million in Series-A funding

• Vueron Technology raised $17 million in Series-A funding, bringing total investment to $25 million.
• New investors include Shinhan Venture Investment, T.S. Investment, Industrial Bank of Korea, and others.
• Despite a challenging investment climate, Vueron’s LiDAR-based technology and ADAS solutions gained strong recognition.
• The company is collaborating with global automakers and Tier 1 suppliers in markets like South Korea, the U.S., Japan, and Europe.
• With new funding, Vueron will expand its workforce and advance mass production technology, focusing on software reliability.
• Vueron’s ‘VueOne’ autonomous driving solution is used in cars, trucks, robots, and Urban Air Mobility (UAM).
• The company received a CES 2024 Innovation Award for its crowd management solution, ‘VueTwo.’
• CEO Joseph Kim targets a 2026 IPO to solidify Vueron’s global leadership in LiDAR solutions.

4. Ready to Roll: Nuro to License Its Autonomous Driving System

5. Autonomous driving startup Forterra closes $75M investment

• Forterra (Robotic Research OpCo LLC) raised $75 million in Series B funding, surpassing its initial goal by over 2.5 times.
• The funding round was led by Moore Strategic Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital, and Hedosophia, with multiple returning investors.
• Forterra’s AutoDrive hardware module enables vehicles to achieve autonomous driving in both on-road and off-road environments, handling low visibility, bad weather, and no GPS conditions.
• AutoDrive features include obstacle detection, avoidance, and a convoy capability for energy-efficient travel of multiple autonomous vehicles.
• The U.S. defense sector is the primary user of Forterra’s technology, with partnerships with Oshkosh Corp. and General Dynamics to develop autonomous military vehicles.
• Forterra is also expanding into commercial applications such as ports and distribution centers, with a collaboration with Kalmar USA to develop autonomous yard trucks.
• The new funding will help broaden the adoption of its technology across the defense and industrial sectors.