Autonomous Driving Technology Leader Plus Adds H.E.L.P.® Alerts in Preparation for Launch of Commercial Driverless Trucking Operations
H.E.L.P.® Alerts notify oncoming vehicles if a driverless truck powered by Plus becomes disabled
Santa Clara, CA and Houston, TX – December 18, 2024 – Plus, a leading innovator in autonomous driving software solutions, announced today a strategic partnership to integrate H.E.L.P.® Alerts from Emergency Safety Solutions (ESS) with Plus’s Level 4 autonomous trucking solution, SuperDrive™. This collaboration is a part of Plus’s mission to ensure its self-driving technology is ready for safe and efficient driverless trucking operations.
Plus will incorporate ESS’s hardware into the SuperDrive autonomous driving fleet, enhancing safety protocols in the event a truck is inoperable due to a system or base vehicle issue.
“H.E.L.P. Alerts will contribute to our comprehensive incident management capabilities by expanding our sensor architecture and enhancing communications with road users and emergency services. This enhancement supports our progress toward completing our safety case, now at 75%, and achieving readiness for commercial driver-out operations soon,” said David Liu, CEO and Co-founder at Plus. “Autonomous trucks must excel in normal driving conditions and be prepared for the unexpected. This collaboration underscores Plus’s unwavering commitment to safety as the top priority across every level of our autonomous trucking technology and operations.”
Stephen Powers, COO and Co-Founder of ESS, added, “By combining H.E.L.P. advance warning communications with Plus’s industry-leading AI-based autonomous driving technology, we are advancing safety for autonomous trucks and improving road safety for everyone. It is exciting to be part of the transformative change that autonomous trucks will bring to our economy and society.”
H.E.L.P. Alerts introduce a distinctive emergency warning feature, known as H.E.L.P. Lighting Alerts, which activates high-frequency flashing of the truck’s and trailer’s lamps in emergency situations. This feature alerts nearby vehicles and drivers to the presence of a disabled autonomous truck and any potential hazards.
Additionally, H.E.L.P. Digital Alerts add an extra layer of advanced warning by broadcasting the real-time location of a stopped SuperDrive autonomous truck. These alerts are delivered through navigation apps and in-dash notifications, providing oncoming drivers with timely warnings to slow down and safely navigate around the disabled vehicle.
About Plus
Plus is an AI company whose mission is to build driving intelligence to power a safer and greener world. Plus’s autonomous driving solutions span from driver-out SuperDrive™ to driver-in, highly automated PlusDrive®, and model-based perception software PlusVision™. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with operations in the U.S. and Europe, Plus is named by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Plus’s large AI models are already powering vehicles in commercial use today. Partners including Bosch, DSV, Hyundai Motor Company, Iveco Group, Luminar, Scania/MAN/International of the TRATON GROUP, and Transurban are working with Plus to accelerate next-generation transportation solutions. For more information, visit www.plus.ai or follow Plus on LinkedIn and YouTube.
About Emergency Safety Solutions
Emergency Safety Solutions is a certified minority owned enterprise whose mission is to save lives by eliminating preventable crashes involving vulnerable vehicles that are disabled and stopped on or near active roadways. This growing safety issue affects nearly 125,000 people yearly in the U.S., with nearly 23,000 injured or killed. ESS’ patented and trademarked H.E.L.P.® solutions provide advanced lighting alerts and digital location-based alerts to greatly improve advance warning communications to drivers. For more information, visit www.ess-help.com.
