Gatik gets independent safety validation from TUV SUD for autonomous logistics

TUV SUD has audited the Safety Case Evaluation and functional safety for Gatik’s self-driving trucks. Source: Gatik

Gatik AI Inc. aims to set the bar high for autonomous truck safety. The company today announcing that it has received independent validation for the Safety Case Evaluation and Functional Safety phases of its Safety Assessment Framework from TÜV SÜD. It claimed that this third-party audit was the first of its kind and that it marks a significant milestone toward commercialization of self-driving freight operations.

“We strongly believe that the future of autonomous vehicles will be defined by those who prioritize safety above all else,” stated Gautam Narang, CEO of Gatik. “This independently validated audit of our Safety Case and Functional Safety methodology represents a radical departure from the self-certified safety audits that have become the industry norm.”

“By engaging TÜV SÜD to provide this validation from an external vantage point, Gatik is setting a new benchmark for the industry — one that puts safety and transparency at the forefront of the autonomous vehicle revolution,” he asserted.

Founded in 2017, Gatik has developed autonomous vehicles (AVs) for middle-mile and short-haul logistics. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company launched its first driverless commercial transportation service with Walmart in 2021 and Kroger in 2023.

Isuzu Motors, Cummins, Ryder, and Goodyear are among Gatik’s partners. Its medium-duty autonomous trucks are operating in Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, and Ontario.

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TÜV SÜD conducted a thorough evaluation

While self-certification has become the accepted standard for safety in the AV industry, Gatik said it has gone above and beyond in terms of traceability and transparency with its Safety Assessment Framework.

“We don’t have to to do this. The automotive and trucking industries self-certify,” said Dr. Adam Campbell, Gatik’s head of safety. “In autonomous trucking, its essentially the same, testing for what’s minimally expected.”

“We made the choice to conduct a rigorous level of evaluation,” he told The Robot Report. “It’s what our customers want and what the typical roadway user wants. Trust is not easy to come by in this industry, and it’s easily lost.”

“The independent validation that we have pursued at Gatik meets the level of transparency that policymakers, first responders, business partners, and everyday drivers expect and deserve,” added Campbell. “External validation is our way of assuring the public and all stakeholders that we’re doing the right thing.”

Gatik said its Safety Assessment Framework identifies more than 700 portfolios to address key pillars of AV safety. They include organizational safety culture, engineering quality (functional, behavioral, and operational safety of the self-driving system), cybersecurity, vehicle safety, and Safety Case conformity to UL4600 and other industry standards.

“We provided documentation, test results, and personnel to be interviewed,” recalled Campbell. “For example, TÜV SÜD looked at peer development and design validation.”

“Another step was having information translated into something that’s human-readable to be audited,” he explained. “That translation was quite an exercise. Results might make sense to our engineering team, but we needed to make it digestible and readable.”

Munich, Germany-based TÜV SÜD has testing locations across the U.S. The company‘s Autonomous Vehicle Conformity Framework involved an end-to-end review of Gatik’s Functional Safety portfolios. It looked at the following:

• Operational design domain (ODD)
• Item definition
• Testing
• Hazard analysis and risk assessment (HARA)
• Coverage/safety analysis
• Safety Culture

These and other items related to safety support a comprehensive Safety Case allowing for appropriate oversight of the entire system, said Gatik. TÜV SÜD concluded that the company’s approach demonstrated “substantial rigor and compliance” with its requirements under the Autonomous Vehicle Conformity Framework.

“This is a process that no other company to our knowledge has taken,” said Campbell. “We’ve learned a lot about what audit readiness looks like. Safety is a journey and an addition to our engineering process. We believe we’re on the right path.”

Click here to enlarge. Source: Gatik

Gatik plans to launch freight service at scale

Gatik said it also plans to publicly share further information on its progress toward completion of the Safety Assessment Framework prior to deployment of freight-only operations at scale this year. The company last month said it plans to accelerate mass production of SAE Level 4 autonomous trucks using NVIDIA in-vehicle compute.

“TÜV SÜD’s assessment represents a tremendous vote of confidence in our approaches to scaling safety in our Safety Assessment Framework,” said Campbell. “We’ve been in conversations with state and federal governments, explaining why we’ve conducted the most extensive operating safety plan and audits for autonomous systems to date.”

“This will help us get ahead of permitting programs,” he acknowledged. “We want to share our perspective of what we believe the high water mark should be for the industry. Our customer base includes some of the largest shipping companies in North America.”

Since Gatik has co-developed and operated its self-driving trucks with partners, the company has a clear understanding of their safety needs, Campbell said. This includes the interactions among vehicles, goods, and staffs at distribution centers and stores.

“Law enforcement is also integral to scaling deployment of our technology,” said Campbell. “We provided police in Texas with a training video and hands-on opportunities. We don’t want to surprise anyone, which is why we’re so diligent in showing all parties that our use case is fully scoped, including documentation to justify safe operations.”

Where is Gatik autonomous freight rolling to next?

“We’re working to densify networks that have already been validated, adding more trucks and stores within those networks,” replied Campbell. “This allows us to use the testing and validation work that has already been done to scale safely.”

“We’re looking to grow into many other jurisdictions; we need both scale and safety to meet commercial demand,” he added. “This milestone doesn’t mean that we can sit back and relax, but it frees the flywheel of innovation to develop more products.”

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