Cyngn Inc. and Columbia Vehicle Group yesterday announced that they have begun producing self-driving Columbia Stockchasers using Cyngn's Enterprise Autonomy software. The companies said their growing fleet will make autonomous industrial vehicles available to more customers.
“Customers have been looking for ways to automate their workflows for years, and we believe that the time is right to bring self-driving capabilities to Columbia vehicles,” said Greg Breckley, director of business development at Columbia. “By launching production of our first fleet, we’re bringing the full range of Stockchaser’s well-known capabilities and pairing it with autonomous driving technology for a new era of 'Built for Work' vehicles.”
Columbia Vehicle Group dates back to 1946 and manufactures industrial and commercial vehicles. The Reedsburg, Wis.-based company said its electric vehicles are designed to enhance productivity, comfort, and utility, as well as to optimize performance in transporting, carrying, and towing— all with zero emissions.
Columbia is part of the Nordic Group of Companies, a family-owned management and manufacturing business headquartered in Baraboo, Wis., with operations extending throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Europe.
Cyngn to add autonomy to Columbia fleet
Cyngn said its autonomous vehicle (AV) technology will address challenges including labor shortages, lagging technological advancements from incumbents, and high upfront investment requirements. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company said its Enterprise Autonomy Suite includes the DriveMod modular driving software.
It also includes the Cyngn Insight customer-facing software suite for monitoring and managing AV fleets and aggregating and analyzing data. The company said its Cyngn Evolve internal toolkit enablesit to use data from the field for artificial intelligence, simulation, and modeling.
Last year, Columbia and Cyngn partnered to enable select customers to become early adopters of autonomous industrial vehicles. Existing Columbia Stockchasers would be the first vehicles outfitted with Cyngn’s software. The companies said they plan to add autonomy to additional vehicles in Columbia’s portfolio through both retrofit and manufacture.
The new fleet will be equipped with the latest technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries with upgraded chargers and electrified vehicle controls. In addition, Cyngn and Columbia said they are jointly developing intellectual property and making end-of-line adjustments to streamline the build process.
Cyngn last year also partnered with Airbiquity Inc. to automate its existing materials handling fleets.
Global Logistics and Fulfillment verifies AV demand
“We are pleased to announce this next milestone in the adoption of autonomous industrial vehicles, which comes on the heels of our recent deployment at the Las Vegas warehouse of Global Logistics and Fulfillment [GLF], with whom we are thrilled to be working as their exclusive autonomous vehicle technology partner,” stated Lior Tal, chairman and CEO of Cyngn.
“GLF plans to expand self-driving capabilities to multiple U.S.-based facilities,” he added. “With the development of this new fleet of Cyngn-powered Columbia Stockchasers, we look forward to helping other organizations take advantage of the benefits of autonomous vehicles.”
“For us, the GLF announcement was a strong indication that our customers are hungry for autonomous vehicle technology,” said Breckley. “It is time to make this cutting-edge technology available to many more organizations”
“Our work with Columbia Vehicle Group and GLF has paved the way for expanded deployment of our products in support of the increased demand for autonomous vehicle solutions we are seeing in industrial material handling,” said Jordan Stern, director of product at Cyngn. “Production of this new AV fleet marks a major step forward in serving that demand.”
We look forward to tackling an even broader range of use cases for Columbia’s existing customers, as well as the new customers we will be onboarding together,” he said.
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