Autonomous driving's loss is the robotics ecosystem's gain. Last week, a pair of execs from Cruise signed on to C-level roles at Diligent, and on Wednesday, three former Waymo engineering lead are debuting a new construction tech startup.
Bedrock Robotics is the latest firm looking to drag heavy construction machinery into the 2020s. The Bay Area company’s Operator platform takes a page out the agricultural robotics playbook, retrofitting onto existing excavators and other heavy equipment.
It’s comprised of the roof rack pictured above, coupled with a compute system that lives inside the cab in a spot usually reserved for a human driver. The system delivers autonomy through the addition of LiDAR-equipped 360-degree cameras. There’s GPS navigation on board, as well, along with LTE connectivity that allows for remote monitoring.
Taken together, Operator gets a full picture of the surrounding terrain, along with an added safety layer to keep the 10-ton autonomous system from crashing in humans and fellow machines. Bedrock is offering same-day instillation to speed up deployment, which is reversible in case the platform fails to serve the needs of a construction site.
Bedrock was founded in 2024 by ex-Waymo engineers, Boris Sofman Kevin Peterson, and Ajay Gummalla, who now serve as the startup’s CEO, CTO, and VP of engineering, respectively. Former Uber Freight EVP has also signed on as COO.
The construction robotics firm has raised $80 million to date, through its seed and Series A rounds. It currently has more than 15 Operator systems deployed across three states.
