Kroger; Algolux & Firefly Aerospace

Autonomous trucks and out of space delivery

Author

Okerosi Davis
March 20, 2023

The now & future of logistics

With the acceleration of robotic delivery, the logistics industry is going to space. Kroger is tapping into autonomous trucks with the Gatik collaboration. Daimler Trucks AG’s subsidiary strikes an agreement to acquire Algolux.

In today’s edition; 

  • Firefly Aerospace & NASA

  • Gatik & Kroger

  • Troc Robotics & Algolux

Here is the breakdown.

In the Box

Kroger collaborate with Gatik for autonomous delivery

The American leading grocer giant; Kroger has partnered with Gatik - the leading middle-mile logistics trucks company.

The goal as per Gatik CEO; Gautam Narang is that Kroger is committed to redefining customer service with autonomous trucks for grocery delivery.

“We are so excited to see Gatik trucks starting to deliver groceries throughout our Dallas division,”

“These autonomous box trucks will help us continue our commitment to creating a seamless shopping experience - where customers can access their favorite fresh foods, with zero compromise on value or convenience.

Raúl Bujalil, VP Supply Chain Strategy, and Technology Enablers.

Region of operation: Gatik’s meddle-mile autonomous box trucks will deliver groceries across Dallas, Texas to Kroger’s distribution networks.

Launch date: Q2 of this 2023

Side note: Gatik provides Autonomous Transportation as a service (ATaaS) to its customers across Ontario, Arkansas.

Notable partners: Walmart, Isuzu, Pitney Rowes, press details

Technology

Torc Robotics to commercialize self-driving with Algolux acquisition

In 2019, Daimler Trucks AG acquired a majority stake in Torc Robotics to boost its efforts to develop self-driving trucks in the U.S. market.

Torc Robotics is now set to acquire Algolux for its award-winning intellectual property and expertise in the areas of computer vision and machine learning.

Torc CEO Peter Vaughan Schmidt said in the announcement, that they are thrilled to welcome Algolux to the Torc family. The CEO added:

“Algolux’s technology, at the intersection of deep learning, computer vision, and computational imaging, will help Torc strengthen key capabilities toward our commercialization of Level 4 autonomous trucking.”

Torc is committed to building robust technology that powers autonomy that saves lives. Algolux CTO; Felix Heide added that the acquisition brings an end-to-end AI stack from protons to behavior to the Torc family.

Inbox News

Firefly Aerospace lands $112m for commercial lunar delivery

The delivery is targeted for 2026 through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative, and part of the agency’s Artemis program.

The contract was awarded by NASA in collaboration with European Space Agency (ESA)

The commercial lander will deliver the following;

  • Two agency payloads

  • A communication and data relay satellite for lunar orbit.

Firefly responsibility: for end-to-end delivery services, including payload integration, delivery from Earth to the surface and orbit of the Moon, and NASA payload operations for the first lunar day.