I was raised in Virginia, so I have a strong interest in anything Virginia-based.
Torc Robotics is a Virginia-based startup with extensive roots in autonomous vehicle research. The team is a spin-out from Virginia Tech that placed third in the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2006. Like many Virginia-based companies, Torc has done extensive defense contract work, but with the self-driving car boom, Torc is returning to its autonomous vehicle roots.
Udacity students often ask if it’s possible to work on self-driving cars outside of Michigan, Germany, and the Bay Area. While those are the current centers of autonomous vehicle development, there are lots of companies in unexpected places around the world working on self-driving cars.
If you’d like to work on self-driving cars and live in Blacksburg, Virginia, (which sounds pretty nice to me) Torc is there for you.
David Silver 