Northstar Robotics Announces Partner Program to Accelerate Autonomous Development for Industrial Vehicles

Northstar Robotics (Northstar) today announces the launch of its partner program designed to accelerate autonomous innovation for industrial sectors, including snow removal, agriculture and turf management. The company has developed a complete platform for autonomous technology that is currently in use at a major international airport, and is now working with partners to deploy its technology across multiple industries.

According to Shawn Schaerer, Chief Executive Officer of Northstar, the timing was right for this launch. “Facing rising costs and a general shortage of skilled labor, industrial customers are demanding greater productivity without sacrificing safety,” said Schaerer. “With our proven platform and deep domain expertise, we are able to cost-effectively help partners accelerate their autonomous programs.” 

The Northstar autonomous vehicle platform offers industry-leading safety, security and innovation. Key features include:

• Safety and security: Northstar’s platform is built on Blackberry QNX, the safety-certified, secure operating system for connected vehicles, used by leading automotive manufacturers.   
• 3-D perception system: Through rigorous real-world testing, Northstar has identified and integrated the optimal combination of LIDAR, RADAR and cameras. Combined with machine learning algorithms for object detection and navigation, the solution delivers remarkable safety and situational awareness even under harsh weather conditions.
• Autonomous Navigation: Northstar provides extremely accurate navigation through multiband GPS and allows customers to define the drive path and geofence boundaries. Vehicles can operate fully autonomously or in lead-follow mode, where a lead operator guides a network of driverless vehicles. 

Northstar has partnered with Airport Technologies, Inc. (ATI) for the development and deployment of autonomous snow removal machines. “We have been extremely impressed with both the team and technology at Northstar,” said Brendon Smith, President, ATI. “We look forward to deploying more world-class autonomous solutions with them in the future.”

Northstar, a recent graduate of the Blackberry QNX/L-SPARK accelerator program, is also collaborating with partners in the agricultural sector for the development of new autonomous capabilities. For more information, visit northstar-robotics.com.