A robotics company targeting the future of self-driving industrial vehicles has formed a new partnership to push its operations forward.
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Autonomous Solutions Inc. is forming a new joint venture with Tokyo-headquartered SoftBank Group Corp. to help the company develop and commercialize autonomous construction equipment for large infrastructure projects, according to a release.
SoftBank is also investing $225M in Utah-based ASI, whose products allow construction firms to deploy autonomous vehicles for tasks like on-site excavation and haulage.
ASI's equipment integrates an artificial intelligence-powered command and control platform with onboard computers to manage vehicle functions, sensors to spot and avoid obstacles, and communication technology including GPS, radio and cameras.
“This joint venture with SoftBank positions ASI at the forefront of autonomous construction innovation — built for scale, engineered for longevity, and open to every major equipment brand on the jobsite,” ASI CEO Mel Torrie said in a statement.
The firm is the latest in a string of construction tech companies to receive financial backing in recent years, with billions of dollars going into construction robotics and AI-powered tech each year, Construction Dive reported.
A series of firms have raised a total of $234M this summer alone, the outlet reported separately.
ASI isn’t the first construction tech company that SoftBank has thrown its weight behind. The investment firm participated in a Series A funding round in August for Gravis Robotics that raised $200M.
Construction firms are also beginning to deploy the tech on sites.
In early September, construction and mining equipment company Caterpillar announced a partnership with Field AI to run automated machines across jobsites for tasks including inspections and risk identification. That partnership followed two consecutive funding rounds where the firm raised a total of $405M, Construction Dive reported.
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