 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Autonomous robotics (robotics, manufacturing, logistics) |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Defunct | March 19, 2020 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco |
Key people |
|
| Website | starsky |
Starsky Robotics was an autonomous truck company founded in 2016. It developed trucks to drive without a person in the vehicle. The company started in 2015 and had raised $21.7 million by 2018. It failed to find further investors in November 2019, and shut down by March 2020. [1]
In 2017, Starsky Robotics announced that it had raised $5 million from Y Combinator, Sam Altman, Trucks VC, and Data Collective to create an autonomous trucking company. [2] In 2018, company closed a $16.5 million Series A, led by Shasta Ventures. [3]
In February 2018, Starsky Robotics completed a 7-mile fully driverless trip in Florida without a single human in the truck. [4] Starsky is the first company to publicly test an empty cabin for autonomous trucks. [5]
In June 2019, Starsky Robotics become the first company to operate fully unmanned on public highways at 55 miles per hour without a human backup driver in the cab. [6]
In November 2019 over 85% of staff were laid off after the company failed to find further investment, due to concerns over the financial stability of its freight-hauling arm. [7] By March 2020 the company sold off the remaining assets, including patents relating to operating remote vehicles. [1]
The company developed proprietary technology that allowed drivers to remotely pilot trucks from a central headquarters. [8] [9] The company successfully completed full deliveries with 85% autonomy. [10] [11] Starsky Robotics’ system worked to solve the issue of final-mile delivery by removing drivers from the cab entirely and putting them in an office where they could remotely operate the truck from terminal to delivery. [12]
A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car, driver-less car, or robotic car (robo-car), is a car that is capable of traveling without human input. Self-driving cars use sensors to perceive their surroundings, such as optical and thermographic cameras, radar, lidar, ultrasound/sonar, GPS, odometry and inertial measurement units. Control systems interpret sensory information to create a three-dimensional model of the surroundings. Based on the model, the car identifies appropriate navigation paths, and strategies for managing traffic controls and obstacles.
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