HIBT Lab! Nuro: Dave Ferguson

How I Built This · 19 Jan 2023 · 39m

What this episode covers

Dave Ferguson, co-founder of Nuro, explains how he and co-founder Jia Zhu pivoted from Google's self-driving car project to build autonomous vehicles designed exclusively for goods delivery. Ferguson details the company's evolution from a garage startup to scaling production with partner BYD, highlighting the design of the R1 and R2 vehicles and the strategic decision to remove passenger constraints to improve safety and efficiency. The episode covers Nuro's pilot partnerships with Kroger and Domino's Pizza, the regulatory exemptions required for their zero-occupant vehicles, and the operational challenges of scaling manufacturing and autonomy technology in a challenging funding environment.

Mentioned

Companies
Nuro, Google, Waymo, Kroger, Domino's Pizza, Uber Eats, Intel, Carnegie Mellon, BYD, Tesla, Cruise
Products
R1, R2, Herb
Also
Dave Ferguson, Jia Zhu

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Robot Talk · 33m

    Episode 158: Autonomous robot deliveries - Ahti Heinla

    Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies, discusses the company's AI-powered autonomous delivery robots, which have completed over 10 million deliveries across dozens of cities in the UK, US, and Europe. He explains the industrial design choices that prioritize a neutral, friendly aesthetic to integrate into neighborhoods, and details the technical architecture where most safety-critical decisions are made on-board while cloud infrastructure handles long-tail routing optimization. Heinla highlights the regulatory progress in countries like Finland and Estonia, noting how forward-looking policies enabled nationwide scaling, and describes the company's transition from early prototypes to a mature, cost-efficient operation that is now optimizing for higher capacity and smoother user experiences.

  • Embedded.fm · 59m

    52: Maximize the Sonic Boom

    Micheal Worry, CEO of Nuvation Engineering, explains how his 100-person design firm takes clients from marketing requirements to shipping products, emphasizing their 'gut check' process to align budget and schedule early. He details the development of Disco Fish, an autonomous Burning Man vehicle, and the E-Rex electric race car, which served as testbeds for their Nuvation Autopilot and battery management systems. Worry discusses the importance of 'first-time right' engineering, the distinct skills required for FPGA versus embedded work, and how Nuvation Garage fosters innovation through passion projects like the air hockey robot.

  • The Robot Report Podcast · 44m

    Nuro navigates to fully autonomous driving

    Andrew Clare, CTO of Nuro, explains the company's pivot from solely operating autonomous delivery vehicles to licensing its 'Nuro Driver' technology to automotive OEMs and mobility providers. He details the technical differences between urban and highway driving, emphasizing that highway autonomy requires long-range perception and rapid reaction to off-nominal events, whereas urban driving demands handling complex dynamic behaviors like pedestrians and cyclists. Clare highlights Nuro's safety culture, its federal exemption for occupantless vehicles, and its redundant sensor stack of LiDAR, camera, and radar, while clarifying that the company's North Star remains Level 4 autonomy rather than pursuing unrestricted Level 5.

  • The Robot Report Podcast · 56m

    6 River Systems talks Shopify acquisition; Gatik on autonomous vehicle development

    Chris Cacioppo, co-founder of 6 River Systems, discusses the company's acquisition by Shopify for nearly $500 million, explaining how the deal supports their mission to democratize automation for small businesses through their Chuck mobile robots and cloud-based software. Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik, details his company's Level 4 autonomous vehicle strategy for middle-mile logistics, highlighting their partnership with Walmart and their decision to restrict vehicles to the rightmost lane to ensure safety and commercial viability. Both founders emphasize a problem-first approach, with 6 River focusing on user experience and remote deployment, while Gatik focuses on solving the driver shortage in retail supply chains through constrained autonomy.

  • Just Gonna Send It · 57m

    Garrett McCurrach and Canon Reeves (Co-Founders, Pipedream Labs)

    Garrett McCurrach and Canon Reeves, co-founders of Pipedream Labs, explain their strategy of building an underground automated logistics network to enable hyper-fast urban delivery. They discuss why they became their own first customer by launching a private-label grocery store to validate the system and attract enterprise partners. The founders also recount their origin story, from Canon’s educational robotics startup to their serendipitous meeting via Twitter, and detail the physical challenges of installing their first 0.75-mile pipe network in Georgia.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by How I Built This. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.