VOLVO, NVIDIA IN SELF-DRIVING DEALS
Autonomous driving cars set to hit market by 2021
SAN FRANCISCO
CHIPMAKER Nvidia Corp announced on Monday it was partnering with Volvo Cars and Swedish auto supplier Autoliv to develop self-driving car technology for vehicles due to hit the market by 2021.
Volvo is owned by China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.
The Silicon Valley-based Nvidia also announced a non-exclusive partnership with German automotive suppliers ZF and Hella for artificial intelligence technology for autonomous driving.
Nvidia came to prominence in the gaming industry for designing graphics processing chips, but in recent years has been a key player in the automotive sector for providing the so-called “brain” of the autonomous vehicle.
The company, whose many partners already include Tesla Inc, Toyota Motor Corp and tier one supplier Robert Bosch, announced its latest deals at an automotive electronics show in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
Nvidia’s Drive PX artificial intelligence platform is used by Tesla in its Models S and X and upcoming Model 3 electric vehicles. Volkswagen AG’s Audi is also using the system to reach full autonomous driving by 2020. Nvidia’s senior automotive director Danny Shapiro said carmakers and their main suppliers were moving away from the research and development phase of autonomous vehicles and into concrete production plans.
Volvo is already using the Drive PX for the self-driving cars in its “Drive Me” autonomous pilot programme.
Volvo’s production vehicles built on Nvidia’s platform, as announced on Monday, are planned for sale by 2021.