Argo AI Eyes AV expansion With New Product Launch

Argo AI has revealed details of the product line-up it will offer businesses who want to use its automated driving system.

The Pittsburgh-based firm, backed by Volkswagen and Ford, has produced a comprehensive suite of products and services designed to support robotaxi and delivery operations.

And it says its ecosystem is fully customizable depending on the specific needs of a company.

For simplicity, the product lineup has been split into four distinct groups. The core element is the Argo Autonomy Platform, which is further subdivided into four products: Argo Drive, the self-driving hardware and software that delivers 360-degree perception and is used to direct a vehicle; Argo Lidar, the company’s proprietary long-range sensor; Argo Map, a high-definition mapping network; and Argo Hub, a back-end cloud-based tool that supports autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the field and can provide remote troubleshooting and guidance.

The Autonomy Platform is complemented by three other products. The first of these, Argo Connect, is described as the “gateway to Argo’s product ecosystem” and leverages a suite of intuitive application programming interfaces (APIs) that let businesses integrate Argo-powered AVs into their operations.

This allows them to reliably schedule when they deploy AVs, for example – obviously important for ride-hailing or deliveries. It is already being used by Lyft in Miami, Florida and Austin, Texas.

Argo Autonomy Solutions comprises operational and fleet management tools that help enable day-to-day functionality and can be used for customer service and maintenance. And finally, Argo Autonomy Data and Analytics is a data-gathering tool that can provide insights into traffic, roads and more.

While the products have all been designed to work in tandem with each other, the company acknowledges that some customers may choose to take up only some of the options. But it feels it is important to offer customers a comprehensive menu.

“By creating this full suite of products and services, Argo offers businesses across a broad range of industries everything they need to take advantage of self-driving technology at scale,” said Brett Browning, chief technology officer and executive vice president of product development. “We know from our integrations with several businesses that customers want more than autonomous vehicles to feel confident in incorporating autonomy into existing services. They require corresponding tools and solutions that can be tailored to solve their day-to-day operational needs.”

Until now, Argo AI has focused heavily on testing, with programs in eight cities – Austin, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Palo Alto, Pittsburgh, Miami, Munich and Hamburg – and its tech fitted to vehicles such as the Ford Fusion, Ford Escape and Volkswagen ID Buzz. As well as the pilot with Lyft, it has also worked on a delivery service with Walmart.

This latest announcement suggests it is ready to ramp up business with a new focus on commercialization.