Waabi introduces mixed reality testing system for autonomous truck safety

Waabi, an autonomous trucking technology leader, has introduced a new mixed reality testing (MRT) system that transforms the way autonomous vehicles are tested. The technology works by blending physical test environments with sophisticated virtual scenarios.

In an interview with FreightWaves, Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of Waabi, recently talked about how this technology creates virtual scenarios for autonomous trucks operating on physical test tracks.

“In the industry, we often talk about driving in the physical world as one type of testing, and we also discuss simulation, where we run scenarios in the cloud at scale,” said Urtasun. “But one aspect that’s discussed less is how safety testing is really done today, and that’s where mixed reality comes in.”

Traditional safety testing for vehicles has remained largely unchanged for a century. Testing teams bring vehicles to closed tracks and conduct a limited number of scripted scenarios that require complex coordination similar to movie stunts. A downside to this approach is that it yields minimal test diversity, offers poor repeatability and avoids truly dangerous scenarios to prevent damage to test vehicles. It’s also expensive.

Waabi’s MRT system overcomes these limitations by intercepting sensor data from the physical world and blending it with simulation. This creates an environment where autonomous trucks can safely encounter virtually unlimited dangerous situations without physical risk.

“Imagine putting goggles on a self-driving vehicle so it sees things that aren’t there but reacts to them,” Urtasun explained. “Suddenly, you can expose the system to unavoidable accidents and scenarios impossible to stage safely in the real world.”

In a blog post, Waabi adds that the technology enables instantaneous creation of complex scenarios including traffic jams, dangerous driving behaviors and unpredictable pedestrian movements.

The secret sauce is the use of generative AI and neural simulations rather than traditional physics-based simulation to achieve the required level of realism. This allows Waabi to create thousands of tests as vehicles drive continuously on a test track, generating precise performance metrics automatically.

This technology has significantly accelerated Waabi’s development process as the company reached feature-complete status earlier this year. Waabi’s autonomous system now has all capabilities needed to operate without a human driver. Only Waabi and Aurora have reached this milestone in long-haul trucking.

These developments come as Waabi announced back in February a strategic partnership with Volvo Autonomous Solutions to jointly develop and deploy autonomous trucks. To date, Toronto-based Waabi has raised a total of $280 million, with its most recent round, a $200 million Series B back in 2024, including participation from strategic investors Nvidia, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Scania Invest and Ingka Investments, among others.

The post Waabi introduces mixed reality testing system for autonomous truck safety appeared first on FreightWaves.

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