Aurora established operations in Texas in July 2020. Because of its location along the coast-to-coast Interstate 10 corridor, position in the weather-friendly Sun Belt and lax regulatory environment, Texas has emerged as a hotbed of self-driving truck activity. Competitors such as Kodiak Robotics, TuSimple, Waymo, Embark and others have footprints in the state.
The string of Aurora developments comes one week after the company unveiled the second iteration of its integrated self-driving software and hardware system. That system, Aurora Driver Beta 2.0, will be installed in both Aurora’s Toyota Sienna minivans and Class 8 trucks.
Its new features include the capability to navigate construction zones on highways, a competence Aurora says is central to establishing commercial services.