Aurora Innovation takes observers out of the driver’s seat with second generation hardware

PITTSBURGH — Completely driverless trucks developed in Pittsburgh are headed back out onto roads in the Sun Belt.

Strip District-headquartered Aurora Innovation Inc. became the first company to deploy a completely driverless truck on a public road last year. Shortly after, manufacturing partner PACCAR requested that the company place an observer behind the wheel as that generation of the vehicle had prototype parts. Now, the company has debuted its second-generation truck, putting vehicles with no one behind the wheel back on the road.

“Last year’s driverless launch proved our technology could operate safely on public roads, our new platform now provides the foundation to deliver at scale,” CEO and co-founder Chris Urmson said in a prepared statement. “Deploying our second-generation truck allows us to put hundreds of autonomous trucks on the road and ultimately into the hands of more customers.”