Outrider releases next generation of warehouse yard autonomous operations

BRIGHTON — Robotically driven delivery equipment can learn to play nice with other vehicles it might find in the warehouse yard.

Brighton-based Outrider Technologies Inc., a developer of autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, has released its latest AI-driven perception technology. “Trained by millions of data points collected from Fortune 500 customer distribution yards, Outrider’s yard automation gear understands, anticipates, and interacts with the diversity of fixed and moving actors in the yard. The updated perception system allows Outrider to achieve critical safety and performance objectives for commercial driverless operations in 2024,” the company said in a press statement. 

“Because distribution yards are complex outdoor environments, Outrider’s autonomous system is designed to work side-by-side with many types of actors, including other yard trucks, over-the-road semi-trucks, trailers, delivery trucks, golf carts, pallets, personnel, and more,” Andrew Smith, Outrider founder and CEO, said in a written statement. “Our latest perception technology enables Outrider’s system to autonomously move customer trailers and containers with greater levels of efficiency and safety than ever before.”

The AI-driven equipment identifies characteristics of yard actors, such as orientation, position, and velocity, anticipates their trajectories, and responds to their actions using predictable, human-like behaviors. Data collection from a wide variety of distribution yards feeds Outrider’s proprietary models, which create the neural networks for the autonomous system to automate yard tasks with increasing intelligence and precision. 

“The Outrider system is constantly learning from real-world experience and applying that knowledge to how it operates in those environments,” said Luciano Spinello, senior director of autonomy and artificial intelligence at Outrider. “Our latest perception technology draws from the largest data set in the industry to enable our system to operate in more complex traffic scenarios and move trailers at the highest degree of safety and speed over 24-hour operating periods.”

The new system increases sensor capability by a range of three times and uses 10 times the sensor data. The latest release also includes fully autonomous trailer movement, including hitching, backing, trailer brake line connection, yard inventory tracking, as well as integration with warehouse, yard, and transportation management systems.

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