The NURO R2 Autonomous Transport Vehicle Soon to be on the Road
NURO is a new class of vehicle designed to transport things, not passengers. NURO believes an autonomous vehicle can be a more nimble, narrower, and safer transportation system than vehicles driven by humans. It features thermal cameras, as well as lidar and radar for a comprehensive 360° representation of the road. NURO builds its own HD maps, and its AV stack combines engineered and machine-learned components. R2s can come to a quick emergency stop when necessary and use a redundant collision prevention system. The R2 is the first autonomous vehicle to receive an approved exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Using staffed Priuses, NURO has invested in mapping neighborhoods and extensively testing its vehicles on the road. Autonomous vehicles are only released when a neighborhood has been mapped and tested by NURO. NURO offers that R2s will support jobs, including:
• Grocery store employees to pick and pack fresh food for delivery
• Mechanics and technicians to assemble and maintain a new fleet of small electric vehicles
• Engineers to invent safer, lighter-weight parts and components
• Software developers to iterate and improve autonomous driving systems
• Fleet managers, environmental health and safety specialists, and community transportation planners
NURO vehicles are designed to operate exclusively on public roads like other cars and trucks, and not on sidewalks or bike lanes. R2 is fully licensed, registered, and insured to operate on public roads in each of the states where NURO operates. NURO was the first company to be granted a commercial deployment permit by the State of California, and notes it complies with applicable regulations for autonomous vehicle operations in each of its operating locations. For a comprehensive summary of NURO’s business model, see also this report at Robotics-World.com. Visit the NURO home page for more details.