In 2019, Walmart began partnering with a company called Gatik to test autonomous vans on a two-mile route between a fulfillment center and a store in Bentonville, Arkansas. After those vehicles traveled more than 70,000 miles with a human driver there to make sure nothing went wrong, Walmart and Gatik say they are ready for a new challenge. There will be no human drivers in the trucks next year.
That milestone makes Gatik one of the first companies in the space to operate a fully autonomous route in this way. Since the startup itself is quick to point, it owes its simplified approach to performance. By keeping its autonomous vehicles on specific routes, it can limit the kinds of factors that can paralyze them with indecision. “It’s an approach we call structured autonomy,” said Gautam Narang, Gatik’s CEO. “It’s safe and efficient because it allows us to mitigate the challenge of autonomy, greatly optimizing our delivery routes and minimizing edge cases.”