Bell Trucks America and Pronto AI have announced a partnership to deliver the first commercially available self-driving off-road trucks powered by artificial-intelligence-powered autonomy.
The autonomous haulage system A to B by Pronto enables the Bell trucks to safely and efficiently navigate mine sites, avoiding collisions with traffic and pedestrians.
Workers aren’t removed from the equation entirely. As seen in the demonstration video below, mine employees will receive a notification via a mobile app when the truck encounters an obstacle. The worker then determines if it is safe for the truck to resume its course, or if further attention is needed. The technology uses sensors on the vehicle and does not require infrastructure changes to the site itself.
“The opportunity to bring this technology to the market with a partnership between Pronto AI and Bell is extremely exciting for us. This is new ground for our dealers and customers to explore, and for many, we see this as a game changer in cost-per-ton haulage. Autonomy provides consistency in every area of the job scope; production, safety, operation and maintenance and provides flexibility in operations to ensure a competitive edge and increased profitability,” says Mitch Nevins, CEO of Bell Trucks America.
As part of the partnership, Pronto’s advanced autonomous driving and driver safety technologies will be available to all Bell customers in the U.S. and Mexico on both new Bell truck purchases and existing fleets via Bell’s network of more than 75 dealerships and service centers.
“We’re thrilled and honored that Bell Trucks America has chosen Pronto as its exclusive autonomy technology partner,” said Anthony Levandowski, CEO of Pronto. “We started Pronto out of a desire to build real applications for autonomy technology today, and our partnership with Bell Trucks America is confirmation that our technology and strategy are providing solutions to real world problems.”
Founded in 2018, Pronto.ai Inc. is an autonomy and safety technology company led by a team of artificial intelligence-powered autonomous vehicle technology experts. Pronto was the first company whose technology successfully completed a coast-to-coast autonomous drive without a single human driver input.
