Torc Robotics

Torc Robotics, Inc. is an American autonomous driving software company headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, operating as an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck. Founded in 2005 by Virginia Tech graduate students including Michael Fleming, the company's name originally stood for Tele-Operated Robotic Controls. Torc gained early recognition by placing third out of 35 teams in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, where its autonomous Ford Escape named Odin completed a 60-mile urban course and won a $500,000 prize. The company also completed military robotics work, including the Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate (GUSS) autonomous vehicle for the U.S. Marine Corps, and delivered an advanced sensor fusion system to the Department of Defense for high-speed obstacle detection.

In March 2019, Daimler Trucks North America announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Torc Robotics (transaction closed August 2019), making Torc the first autonomous vehicle software company to enter an OEM partnership with a major truck manufacturer. Torc operates as an independent subsidiary while being deeply integrated with Daimler Truck's hardware and production planning.

Torc's primary product is TorcDrive, an SAE Level 4 autonomous driving software stack designed exclusively for long-haul Class 8 trucking on U.S. highways. The software encompasses middleware, operating system, perception, prediction, planning, motion control, and mission control modules. The system is designed to be map-free — it relies on sensor-based perception and generalized environmental representations rather than pre-built HD maps. In 2025, Torc introduced its AV 3.0 framework, which combines TorcDrive software, an advanced data loop, and a generative AI simulation infrastructure.

The virtual driver runs on the Flex Jupiter high-performance embedded compute platform powered by NVIDIA DRIVE AGX technology. The sensor suite on the autonomous Freightliner Cascadia includes radar, short-range LiDAR (InnovizTwo from Innoviz Technologies, the selected series-production LiDAR partner), long-range LiDAR, and cameras, with a perception range of approximately 1,000 meters.

Torc is focused exclusively on the Daimler Freightliner Cascadia, the top-selling Class 8 heavy-duty truck in North America. In October 2024, Torc completed driver-out validation testing on a multi-lane closed course in Texas at full operating speeds of up to 65 mph for over five hours. Daimler Truck and Torc have a stated target of commercial market entry in the U.S. at SAE Level 4 by 2027.

In May 2025, Torc opened its first commercial hub on the I-35 corridor between Laredo and Fort Worth, Texas. Technology partners include Amazon Web Services, Innoviz Technologies, Applied Intuition, and Luminar Technologies. Freight and logistics partners include Schneider, Covenant Logistics, Penske Truck Leasing, Ryder System, and C.H. Robinson, organized under the Torc Autonomous Advisory Council (TAAC). Torc maintains offices in Blacksburg VA (primary R&D hub), Ann Arbor MI, Albuquerque NM, Austin TX, Montreal Canada, and Stuttgart Germany.