About Us

Company Story

Built from
deployments,
not demos.

Mach was founded to close the gap between lab prototype and production machine. While others ran pilots, Mach ran programs — embedding directly with OEMs to deploy autonomy into commercial equipment that had to work for a full season.

// Core belief

Autonomy that can't survive a full production season is not production-ready. Every Mach system is engineered to run when it matters most — not just when conditions are ideal.

That discipline shows in the stack. Every layer was designed not for controlled environments, but for vibration, dust, temperature extremes, intermittent connectivity, and unforgiving terrain. Today Mach operates across agriculture, construction, mining, solar, forestry, and defense — 260+ vehicles, 30+ platforms, 10+ countries.

Our History

Scalable Autonomy for the
World's Toughest Industries

Mach is the global leader in OEM off-road automation. Our foundation dates back to 2010 when as LSA Autonomy we began working in the government and defense sector to automate a variety of vehicles — a premier systems integrator specializing in optionally-crewed vehicle conversions and autonomous software for the US Army, Air Force, and NOAA.

Our portfolio included high-impact programs like the Mobile Detection Assessment and Response System, known as MDARS, and the HADA high-speed ground target drone. Leveraging field-proven R&D and SBIR Phase II innovations, we delivered cost-effective, mission-ready autonomy for critical defense and research installations.

As our product sets and team capabilities expanded, we began our first commercial OEM relationship with GUSS — now owned by John Deere. Beginning in 2018 we started commercializing what is one of the largest fleets of unmanned agriculture vehicles in the world. In 2022, Mach was formed through the merger of LSA Autonomy and Redshield Electronics.

Today we provide a complete, commercially proven technology stack that powers driverless operations in agriculture, construction, defense, and mining. Our unified solution combines ruggedized hardware (like Mach Nexus and RadX) with advanced software (Mission Control & Ops) to deliver safety and efficiency where it matters most — from the farm field to the mine field.

Partner with us to equip your machinery with the world’s most reliable autonomous navigation and control systems.

Why Mach Exists

The market problem
is real. The gap
was bigger.

Off-highway industries face compounding pressures that software alone cannot solve. OEMs need a partner who understands the machine, the environment, and the path to production

Labor Scarcity

Skilled operators are harder to find and more expensive to retain across agriculture, mining, construction, and defense. Autonomy is the only scalable answer — but only when it can actually be deployed at commercial scale.

Operational Safety

Off-highway equipment operates where safety incidents are serious. Removing operators from chemical exposure, heavy machinery, and remote terrain reduces risk at the source — not after the fact.

Production-Ready Autonomy

The industry is full of prototypes that never ship. OEMs need a partner who can take a system from concept to certified production hardware — managing the stack, the integration process, and ongoing fleet operations.

What Mach Builds

The complete
autonomy stack.

Every layer of the Mach platform is engineered to work together — from sensor fusion and path planning to fleet telemetry and OTA management. OEMs integrate a system, not components.

// Sensor Layer

MACH/Perception

See and understand the environment in real time

LiDAR, camera, GNSS, and IMU sensor fusion. Obstacle detection, terrain classification, and environment modeling built for real off-highway conditions.

// Guidance Layer

MACH/Command

Plan paths. Execute missions. Stay on task.

Autonomous path planning, geo-fence management, and mission execution. Handles adaptive decision-making between operator intent and machine movement.

// Control Layer

MACH/Pilot

Translate decisions into precise machine action

Real-time machine control via CAN bus, ISO 25119 safety watchdogs, and actuator interfaces. The bridge between the autonomy stack and the physical machine.

// Connectivity Layer

MACH/Nexus

Connect every machine. See every operation.

Telematics gateway with simultaneous LTE, Wi-Fi 5, and sub-GHz M2M mesh. MIL-STD-810 rated. IP67 sealed. GNSS tracking, OTA delivery, real-time fleet telemetry.

// Operations Layer

MACH/Ops

Run the fleet. Manage the mission.

Fleet-level operations platform for position tracking, mission dispatch, OTA management, diagnostics, and logistics coordination.

// Hardware Layer

MACH/RadX

Edge AI compute built for the field

Purpose-built edge AI compute in MIL-spec sealed enclosures. Designed for continuous factory installation in off-highway equipment. RadX and RadXL configurations.

Team & Culture

Built by people
who understand
the field.

Mach isn't built by people who theorize about off-highway environments. It's built by engineers, operators, and autonomy specialists who have stood next to the machines, debugged systems in the field, and shipped products into production seasons.

The team combines deep expertise in embedded systems, machine control, computer vision, and fleet operations with direct OEM integration experience. Close to the customer. Close to the machine

Colin Hurd

CEO

Colin has devoted his career to leading innovative companies in the machinery industry. In 2016, Colin founded his second company, Smart Ag, which developed the first retrofit driverless system to automate tractors. After funding and growing the company, he led Smart Ag successfully through an exit to Raven Industries (NYSE:RAVN) in 2019. Raven was then acquired by CNH Industrial in 2021 (NYSE:CNHI). Colin stayed with Raven and managed business development until forming Mach in 2022

Rhett Schildroth

CTO

Rhett has worked in the field of off-road mobile technology for over 20 years. His work includes early pioneering efforts at John Deere, including being part of the team that brought out the first auto guidance systems and Greenstar Displays. He has led product management and engineering teams at companies such as Topcon, Kinze Mfg, and 360 Yield Center. In 2017, Rhett founded Redshield Consulting (merged with Mach), which focused on applying machine vision and machine learning to the field of agriculture.

Jim Hollinger

Dir of Software Engineering

Jim has worked within the academic, commercial, and defense robotic sectors for over 30 years. He has led software engineering teams in the development of self-driving, off-road security vehicles, unmanned maritime survey launches, and autonomous agriculture equipment. In 2011 he co-founded LSA Autonomy (merged with Mach) to leverage the falling cost of commercial sensing technology with the goal of accelerating the commercialization of off-road autonomous vehicles. His specialities include off-road navigation in austere GPS environments, collision avoidance, and sensor fusion

Tom Schuster

Dir of Hardware Engineering

Tom brings immense value to our team with his wealth of experience and diverse skills. Tom is a hands-on design engineer who has worked across a wide range of areas, from transistor-level custom ASIC to system-level design. With extensive knowledge in various areas such as ECAD tools, digital/RF/analog design, qualification testing and vendor management, Tom brings a comprehensive perspective to our hardware engineering department.

Liz Crooks

Dir of Finance

Liz brings nearly 20 years of finance experience to Mach. Her career has included roles in businesses supporting healthcare, technology, and agricultural industries. Liz joined LSA Autonomy (now Mach) in 2016 and helped refine many of the firm's financial policies and procedures, including the implementation of the company's next generation accounting system. Liz also leverages her experience to improve her community, having served on the school board audit committee in her area.

Nicole Waier

Dir of Sales

Nicole brings over 24 years of experience in the hardware and software industries to Mach. An engineer by training, she discovered her passion for helping customers navigate complex technologies and build solutions that scale. Her career includes leading commercial initiatives at organizations such as Autonomous Stuff and Hexagon's Automotive Business Unit, where she developed strategic partnerships and helped bring advanced technologies to market. Nicole understands both the technical realities of autonomous systems and the business priorities of OEMs, making her instrumental in expanding Mach's reach and delivering proven autonomy solutions to customers around the world.

Built for the
Machines That
Move the World.

Built from
deployments,
not demos.

Scalable Autonomy for the
World's Toughest Industries

Quality Policy