Oct 29 2018
As revenues continue to rocket thanks to the ongoing adoption of cloud computing, NVIDIA is also settings its sights on self-driving vehicle technology
Graphics chip specialist NVIDIA's revenues are up once again as the California-based technology giant continues its move into cloud computing services, professional visualization, and, now, a scalable artificial intelligence powered platform for autonomous driving.
Buoyed by soaring data center and gaming tech revenues, Jensen Huang's $10 billion Santa Clara headquartered corporation has set its sights on artificial intelligence in the form of its scalable DRIVE AI platform for autonomous driving. On what the business calls 'the journey to zero accidents,' NVIDIA suggests that autonomous vehicles will transform the ways in which everyone lives, works, and plays, creating safer and more efficient roads, according to Lee Bressler.
A technologist with a focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, Lee Bressler explains how the company plans to realize these revolutionary benefits. "The car of the future will require a massive amount of computational horsepower, as NVIDIA puts it," he reveals. "By tapping into decades of experience in related technologies, NVIDIA intends its DRIVE hardware and software solutions to deliver industry-leading performance to help automotive manufacturers, suppliers, and groundbreaking startups to continue pushing forward with the autonomous driving revolution."
Intended to augment and, eventually, replace the human driver, the company's DRIVE software enables key self-driving functionalities. "These functionalities include sensor fusion and perception, for example," Bressler adds of the company's full-stack solution.
Features of DRIVE, according to NVIDIA, currently include toolkits, frameworks, libraries, source packages, and compilers with which vehicle manufacturers and suppliers can develop applications centered around autonomous driving.
Automotive partners at present include Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volvo, and Volkswagen. Solutions available extend to NVIDIA DRIVE, NVIDIA DGX SYSTEMS, DRIVE for Developers, DRIVE Constellation, NVIDIA DRIVE IX, HD Mapping, and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
One of NVIDIA's most significant advancements right now is in photorealistic simulation. "Photorealistic simulation offers a scalable solution for testing and validating self-driving platforms before they hit the road," Bressler explains. Part of this centers around what the company has titled 'Constellation' - a data center solution which integrates powerful GPUs and advanced visualization software to simulate cameras, radar, and lidar as inputs. "DRIVE Constellation then processes the data as if it were actually the result of driving on real roads," adds Bressler.
"As such," Bressler continues, wrapping up, "NVIDIA suggests that this fully-scalable system is capable of generating billions of miles of truly diverse autonomous vehicle testing scenarios to validate both hardware and software developments prior to deployment."
Source: https://www.nvidia.com/