torcrobotics
Software for autonomous heavy-duty trucking.
Company facts
- Founded
- 2005
- Employees
- 867
- Headquarters
- United States
- CEO
- Peter Vaughan Schmidt
- Type
- Private
- Funding
- Corporate Round · 2019
- Subsidiaries
- Algolux, Torc Europe GmbH
About
What began in 2005 as Torc Technologies, a venture by a group of Virginia Tech graduate students, has evolved into a leading name in autonomous vehicle technology. The mission from the outset was to continue their collegiate work on autonomous vehicle software, initially focusing on Tele-Operated Robotic Controls (TORC) and developing Level 4 autonomous technology. A significant early milestone came in 2007 when Torc, in partnership with Virginia Tech, secured third place in the DARPA Urban Challenge. This achievement involved their Ford Escape, 'Odin,' autonomously navigating 60 miles of urban and off-road environments. The company's journey continued with impactful projects, including a 2010 partnership with Virginia Tech for the National Federation of the Blind's Blind Driver Challenge, which earned them the National Instruments' 2010 Application of the Year. This project saw a blind driver independently operate Torc's modified Ford Escape on the Daytona Speedway in 2011. Torc's expertise also extended to defense, developing autonomous solutions like the Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate (GUSS) to assist military personnel. Over the years, Torc has been involved in various defense and heavy equipment applications, and participated in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. A pivotal moment arrived in March 2019 when Daimler AG, through Daimler Trucks North America, acquired a majority stake in Torc Robotics. This partnership shifted Torc's primary focus to commercializing autonomous trucks for long-haul applications in the United States. Torc is now an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG. The company has since expanded its operations, opening an engineering office in Austin, Texas, and a Technology and Development Center in Stuttgart, Germany in 2022, as well as facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Montreal, Canada. Torc continues to advance its 'physical AI,' enabling self-driving trucks to perceive, understand, and act in the real world, with a commercial launch targeted for 2027.
Director of Engineering, TorcOS
About the Company At Torc, we have always believed that autonomous vehicle technology will transform how we travel, move freight, and do business. A leader in autonomous driving since 2007, Torc has spent over a decade…
ML Engineer, II - App Engine
Develops a C++ SDK/framework for composing and running autonomous-truck software on embedded Nvidia devices, focusing on performance, safety, and resource constraints.
Staff, Software Engineer - Motion Planning (Unstructured Environments)
Leads development of motion planning algorithms for autonomous trucks, designing trajectory generation and optimization systems in C++ on Linux to ensure safe navigation in unstructured environments.
Senior, Product Cybersecurity Architect
Design and implement cybersecurity controls for autonomous truck software, embedding security into embedded Linux/QNX systems and automotive networks while collaborating with safety and autonomy teams.
Software Engineer, I - Data Engineering
Entry-level data engineer at Torc Robotics (autonomous trucking) building and supporting Linux- and AWS-based data pipelines for ingestion, ETL, and data lake storage that feed analytics, simulation, and ML training. Daily work centers on Python, Docker, Terraform, AWS managed services, and a business-hours on-call rotation.
Software Engineer, II - Data Engineering
Data engineer at Torc Robotics building AWS-native data ingestion, ETL, and storage pipelines that feed ML training, simulation, and analytics for self-driving trucks. Day-to-day work spans Python, Linux, Docker, Terraform, and AWS serverless services, with a business-hours on-call rotation.
Senior System Test Engineer - Simulation
Owns system-level simulation testing of Torc's autonomous driving software, planning and executing virtual V&V campaigns for perception and autonomy, maintaining the scenario library, and analyzing/triaging simulation results. Core stack includes OpenScenario-based scenarios, Python, YAML, and Linux.
Senior, Product Cybersecurity Archiect
Design and implement cybersecurity controls for autonomous truck software, embedding security into embedded OS, networking, and cryptographic systems while collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure safety-critical compliance.