Self-driving truck provider Plus.ai will test its autonomous driving system with the Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC), an independent vehicle test facility that operates a proving ground track in Ohio, the company said today.
Located at TRC’s facility in East Liberty, Ohio, the program will use a multi-vehicle test approach to simulate complex, real-world driving conditions as Cupertino, California-based Plus.ai prepares to roll out the industry’s first self-driving trucks, the company said. Those scenarios will include highway driving in both free-flowing and stop-and-go traffic, construction zones, disabled vehicles, bicycles, and other scenarios that are all repeated for variations in weather, visibility, and lighting.
“We’re proud of the premier infrastructure that we have developed in Ohio to enable the advancement of self-driving vehicles. Plus.ai was the first autonomous trucking company to be authorized to test in Ohio, so we appreciate their continued focus on safety and welcome their ongoing partnership,” Patrick Smith, interim Executive Director at DriveOhio, said in a release.
In 2019, Plus.ai launched a similar partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to measure its vehicles' performance in tough winter conditions. At the time, that deal marked the state agency's first partnership with an autonomous trucking company to test on MnDOT's MnROAD cold-weather pavement testing facility.
Overall, Plus.ai’s testing program builds upon the existing protocols created by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), and standards developers such as the Society of Automotive Engineers.
