An autonomous vehicle technology startup called Nuro has received a $940 million investment from Softbank’s Vision Fund.
Founded in 2016 by Jiajun Zhu and Dave Ferguson, both of whom were former principal engineers at Google’s self-driving car project now known as Waymo, the engineers state that they founded Nuro in order to “harness the power of robotics and artificial intelligence to solve new challenges at a global scale”.
“We started Nuro to make products that will have a massive impact on the things we do every day,” said Ferguson. “Our world-class software, hardware, and product teams have spent the past 18 months applying their expertise to deliver on this mission. The result is a self-driving vehicle designed to run your errands for you.”
Developing a fully autonomous, 100% electric R1 vehicle capable of transporting a total payload of around 250 pounds in its two compartments at a top speed of 40 km/h (25 mph), the design of R1 is inspired by the Formula 1 racing helmet.
“Making eye contact is what people do to connect, both emotionally and to communicate instantaneously,” said Ben Julian, a member of the design team. “The thing about the R1 is that it’s not just driverless- there are no people in it at all. Other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, use eye contact with vehicles to communicate. We incorporated this facial feature into R1’s front fascia design; R1’s headlight cut-out resembles a helmet visor framing a driver’s eyes. It conveys the feeling of something familiar but safe, a quick glance of connection between two road users.”
As of December 2018, Nuro in partnership with supermarket chain Kroger has been conducting grocery delivery tests to customers in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“Our safe, reliable, and affordable service, combined with Kroger’s ubiquitous brand, is a powerful first step in our mission to accelerate the benefits of robotics for everyday life,” said Ferguson.
Ferguson has also stated that after receiving feedback from its real-world tests, a new design for R1 is currently in the works. “It’s not an amazing experience if you go to get your groceries and you bang your head on the door,” he said.
With Nuro’s new financing, it will be used to expand its fleet, service new regions, improve R1’s design, and refine the self-driving technology.
“Nuro’s world-class team has successfully scaled their self-driving technology out of the lab and into the streets,” said Michael Ronen, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “In just two years Dave, Jiajun and team have developed Nuro from a concept into a real business using robotics to connect retailers to customers.”
“We believe that great technology should benefit everyone,” said Nuro. “We’re pushing the boundaries of robotics to improve human life.”
To learn more about Nuro, click the link below.
