Nvidia Signs Up Auto Makers To Luxury Smart Car Vision

Connected cars could be about to get a lot more luxurious thanks to a new deal involving several of the world’s most prestigious auto manufacturers.

The likes of Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin, along with the famously tech-friendly Tesla, have all reportedly signed up for smart car development kits from chipmaker Nvidia. This includes a powerful graphics processor that helps vehicles ‘see’ the world around them, meaning they will be able to navigate around roads and even detect incoming threats.

“The system can, for example, detect the difference between a taxicab and a police car and will know that the driver has to pull over for the police car if it’s flashing lights at the driver,” Danny Shapiro, director of automotive operations at Nvidia, told the Wall Street Journal.

Super-powered

The stellar new signings follow Nvidia’s unveiling of its specially-designed in-car computing system, Nvidia Drive, which looks to make driving smarter and safer through technology, powered by the company’s new Tegra X1 processor.

The company found that the deep learning artificial intelligence technology needed for the cars to analyse the world around them runs much better on graphics processors, rather than ‘traditional’ computer chips.

This is due to the GPU in the chip holding many more processor cores than a CPU unit – with the Tegra X1’s GPU packing in 192 cores compared to just four in the CPU, meaning, it can process a lot more information, and at a much higher speed.

Nvidia’s new aprtners will use the Tegra X1 to create and develop ways to collect data on events happening every time they hit the road, so when a full-scale launch takes place, the vehicles will be able to recognise a larger range of situations.

Getting smart

Nvidia has also introduced a range of new platforms and initiatives targeting the smart car market, including DRIVE PX, an auto-pilot computing platform that processes video from up to 12 onboard cameras to provide a seamless 360-degree ‘Surround-Vision’ view around the car, as well as an Auto-Valet self-parking tool.

Also announced was DRIVE CX, a platform which looks to support the increasing need for advanced graphics from sources such as infotainment, head-up displays, virtual mirrors and rear-seat entertainment.

“We see a future of autonomous cars, robots and drones that see and learn, with seeming intelligence that is hard to imagine,” Company CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said at the launch. “They will make possible safer driving, more secure cities and great conveniences for all of us.”

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