Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a leading self-driving trucking company headquartered in Mountain View, California, demonstrated on June 8, 2022, how its proprietary SensorPods hardware simplifies autonomous truck maintenance and increases truck utilization by eliminating the need for a specialized technician to replace AV sensors.
As part of its technical partnership with Southern Tire Mart/Southern Tire Mart at Pilot, Kodiak demonstrated that its pre-calibrated, pre-built SensorPods—which replace the truck’s stock side-view mirrors—can be completely removed and replaced by a non-specially trained mechanic.
It’s no secret that servicing and maintaining most autonomous truck sensor systems is a time-consuming operation requiring significant time and specialized training. It complicates repairs since long-haul trucks can travel 1,000s of miles per trip and may need service in remote locations.
As such, any hardware that is easily serviceable is a boon to creating scalability for autonomous trucking operations.
“Every aspect of the technologies we build into our autonomous trucks is thoughtfully designed with fleet uptime, serviceability and scalability in mind,” said Don Burnette, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kodiak. “We know the value Kodiak is bringing to fleets by designing sensor pods that can be easily and quickly replaced by any mechanic as simply as they can change a tire. Working with our partners at Southern Tire Mart/Southern Tire Mart at Pilot, we’re collaborating to show that this hardware approach speeds the process of maintenance and service, increases truck uptime, and clears an important hurdle to commercialization.”
In 2021, Kodiak announced its SensorPods—which included one Hesai LiDAR, two ZF Full-Range 4D radars, and three cameras.
To swap out the SensorPods, a mechanic only needs to remove and replace the access cover and three bolts before reconnecting three cables.
The cable design is part of Kodiak’s continued commitment to simplify future maintenance operations for autonomous vehicles—one cable carries power and data, while two others provide water and compressed air for enroute sensor self-cleaning.
Kodiak’s partnership with Southern Tire Mart/Southern Tire Mart at Pilot underscores the universality and maintainability of Kodiak’s SensorPods.
Southern Tire Mart/Southern Tire Mart at Pilot has expertise in commercial vehicle maintenance, including both preventive maintenance and as-needed service.
The partnership between the companies is focused on determining the service and maintenance protocols related to autonomous trucks equipped with Kodiak technology, including best practices for replacing SensorPods.
Southern Tire Mart/Southern Tire Mart at Pilot has confirmed that the complexity of replacing the SensorPods is on par with that of replacing a tire, which is far less complicated than most autonomous system repairs.
“In spite of the new range of technologies incorporated into autonomous trucks, their commercialization depends on third parties' ability to perform maintenance on them and we are thrilled to be working with Kodiak to make this a reality,” said John Boynton, the President of Southern Tire Mart at Pilot. “Forging this relationship with Kodiak allowed our mechanics to learn about autonomous technology while also showcasing just how simple it truly is to replace these innovative sensor pods. Kodiak’s thoughtful approach to hardware, which takes into account the critical issue of maintenance, is exactly the kind of engineering that will carry the industry forward.”
Kodiak will continue to work with Southern Tire Mart/Southern Tire Mart at Pilot to build expertise around autonomous truck maintenance. Southern Tire Mart/Southern Tire Mart at Pilot aims to develop an understanding of the maintenance needs of autonomous trucks, and to evaluate potential new business models and revenue streams to solve the needs of the self-driving trucking industry.
A brief video showcasing the swap of the mirror-based SensorPods can be seen below:
Kodiak SensorPods
Kodiak Robotics' new SensorPods technology is easy maintenance.
Learn more about Kodiak at https://kodiak.ai.