Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology is heading to the mainstream, says NVIDIA at CES. The NVIDIA DRIVE ecosystem showcased significant milestones toward widespread intelligent transportation. Growth is occurring in vehicle deployment plans as well as AI solutions integrating further into the car.
Foxconn joined the NVIDIA DRIVE ecosystem. The world’s largest technology manufacturer will produce electronic control units based on the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin systems-on-a-chip and build its electric vehicles using the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion platform.
The Polestar 3, which is powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin, made its U.S. debut, showcasing its new driver-monitoring system. Working with intelligent sensing company Smart Eye, the automaker is using AI to improve in-cabin safety and convenience.
Also appearing stateside for the first time was the Volvo EX90 fully electric SUV. Volvo Cars’ new flagship vehicle features centralized, software-defined compute powered by DRIVE Orin and NVIDIA DRIVE Xavier, and will begin deliveries in early 2024.
Elsewhere on the show floor, NVIDIA DRIVE ecosystem members such as Aeva with Plus, Imagry, Infineon with Lucid, u-blox and Valeo showcased the latest innovations in intelligent transportation. These announcements mark a shift in the autonomous vehicle industry, from early stages to global deployment.
Foxconn Enters the AV Arena
Building safe, intelligent vehicles with highly automated and fully autonomous driving capabilities is a massive endeavor. NVIDIA DRIVE offers an open, AI-enabled AV development platform for the industry to build upon. By adding Foxconn as a tier-one platform scaling partner, NVIDIA can greatly extend its efforts to meet growing demand.
In addition, Foxconn’s selection of DRIVE Hyperion will speed time to market for its state-of-the-art EVs with autonomous driving capabilities and lower its time-to-cost strategy. The DRIVE Hyperion sensor suite is already qualified to ensure diverse, redundant real-time processing, which increases overall safety.
Inside AI
The industry is placing greater focus on interior safety and convenience features as AI takes over more driving tasks. Driver monitoring is a key part of Polestar’s broader driver-understanding system, which includes features such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist and pilot assist as standard. These coordinated systems run simultaneously on the centralized DRIVE Orin AI compute platform.
