Robotics & Automation News

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How deep learning enables autonomous vehicles to understand their environment

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Humans are constantly taking in data from the world around them using five primary senses. You hear your phone ring, see a notification on your computer screen or touch something hot.

However, without perception, there’s no way to decipher those inputs and determine what’s relevant. That you should answer the call, know there’s an email to respond to or pull away your hand before it’s burned.

Now imagine driving on a highway, where a constant stream of information surrounds you. From lane markings and street signs to lane-splitting motorcyclists, merging trucks and traffic jams – the ability to make instant, informed decisions is not just a skill, it’s an imperative.  [Read more…] about How deep learning enables autonomous vehicles to understand their environment

Driverless race car becomes first to complete uphill event

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The dynamics of racing — a human driver guiding a powerful machine to reach the finish line as fast as possible — haven’t changed much since the Goodwood Festival of Speed was founded a quarter century ago. Until now.

The Roborace Robocar, a futuristic vehicle designed for the new era of driverless transportation, became the first car to complete the Goodwood hillclimb without a human at the wheel.

The innovative race car, powered by the Nvidia Drive autonomous vehicle computing platform, wowed 55,000 spectators by navigating with ease around trees, hay bales and tight curves.

[Read more…] about Driverless race car becomes first to complete uphill event

Maxim collaborates with Nvidia on autonomous driving

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Maxim Integrated has collaborated with Nvidia to support the industry’s first Level 5 full-autonomy system, the Nvidia Drive Pegasus platform, as well as Nvidia Drive Xavier for Level 4 driving.

Maxim’s Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) solutions and high-performance analog integration, which include next-generation gigabit multimedia serial link (GMSL) serializer and deserializer (SerDes) technology, as well as a power system monitoring solution, provide the flexible foundation necessary to meet functional safety requirements for Nvidia’s autonomous driving platform, says the company.

To address consumer concerns about driver safety in autonomous vehicles, automakers have increased their focus on safety requirements for ADAS applications. Safety-critical systems, which require redundancy and fault diagnostics, have stringent ASIL requirements.

[Read more…] about Maxim collaborates with Nvidia on autonomous driving

Nvidia reveals new computing platform for ‘fully autonomous robotaxis’

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Nvidia has revealed a new computing platform which it says is being used by more than 25 companies to develop “fully autonomous robotaxis”. 

The new Nvidia Drive PX Pegasus is said to be the world’s first artificial intelligence computer designed to drive fully autonomous robotic taxis.

Experts say autonomous robotic taxis are the next step for globally popular ride-sharing apps such as Uber and many others.  [Read more…] about Nvidia reveals new computing platform for ‘fully autonomous robotaxis’

Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead

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The whole world seems set on a course which will take everyone into a highly automated, robotic and artificially intelligent future. 

And much of the hardware used in the vehicles driving us to that utopia-like future is being supplied by Nvidia.

By many expert accounts, the chipmaker has taken a clear lead in the chip market and its processors are often the first choice for engineers building solutions in virtually all the current breakthrough technologies – from blockchain and cryptocurrencies to advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous cars.  [Read more…] about Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead

Nvidia partners with Hella and ZF to improve safety of self-driving vehicles

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Nvidia has formed a strategic partnership with ZF and Hella to deliver AI technology with the New Car Assessment Program safety certification for the mass deployment of self-driving vehicles. 

ZF, one of the industry’s largest automotive suppliers, and Hella, a leading tier 1 supplier of camera perception software and sensor technologies, will provide customers with a complete self-driving system that integrates front camera units, as well as supporting software functions and radar systems.

Using the Nvidia Drive PX AI platform, the partnership aims to produce the highest NCAP safety ratings for passenger cars, while also addressing commercial vehicle and off-highway applications.  [Read more…] about Nvidia partners with Hella and ZF to improve safety of self-driving vehicles

Nvidia developing self-driving technology with truckmaker Paccar

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Nvidia is working with Paccar, a truck manufacturer, on developing solutions for autonomous vehicles. (See video below.)

The collaboration was shared by Nvidia founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang during his keynote at the Bosch Connected World conference in Berlin.

Separately, he provided details of Nvidia’s partnership with Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier, on self-driving car technology.

“This is probably the largest single mass of a product that we’ve helped make,” said Huang, addressing a crowd of more than 2,000 executives, developers and others attending the event.  [Read more…] about Nvidia developing self-driving technology with truckmaker Paccar

Nvidia and Bosch launch artificially intelligent self-driving car computer

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One of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, Bosch, provided a massive stage today for Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang to showcase its new artificial intelligence platform for self-driving cars.

Speaking in the heart of Berlin to several thousand attendees at Bosch Connected World — an annual conference dedicated to the Internet of Things — Huang detailed how deep learning is fueling an AI revolution in the auto industry.

The small AI car supercomputer was unveiled last week in the opening keynote address by Bosch CEO Dr Volkmar Denner, who focused on how his company, which had €73 billion in revenue last year, is pushing deeper into the areas of sensors, software and services.  [Read more…] about Nvidia and Bosch launch artificially intelligent self-driving car computer

Nvidia launches new board for robotics development

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Company says its IoT platform for manufacturing, industrial, retail will be made possible by Nvidia’s artificially intelligent-powered Jetson 

Nvidia has unveiled the Nvidia Jetson TX2, a credit card-sized platform that it says delivers AI computing at the edge – opening the door to “powerfully intelligent” factory robots, commercial drones and smart cameras for AI cities. 

Jetson TX2 offers twice the performance of its predecessor, or it can run at more than twice the power efficiency, while drawing less than 7.5 watts of power. This allows Jetson TX2 to run larger, deeper neural networks on edge devices.

The result: smarter devices with higher accuracy and faster response times for tasks like image classification, navigation and speech recognition. [Read more…] about Nvidia launches new board for robotics development

ZF unveils AI driving system which could be used for forklift trucks, while Toyota adopts the fuel cell

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toyota fuel cell forklift truck

ZF teams up with Nvidia on artificial intelligence system for autonomous cars, trucks and industrial applications

ZF says its ProAI system for automated driving is built on high-performance Nvidia Drive PX 2 AI computing platform, and will enable vehicles to “see, think, and act”. 

ZF is one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers and a global leader in active and passive safety technology, and has been working with Nvidia to develop artificial intelligence systems for the transportation industry for some time.

The two companies are looking at various sectors, including:

  • automated and autonomous driving systems for passenger cars;
  • commercial trucks; and
  • industrial applications.

The ZF ProAI for highway automated driving is ZF’s first system developed using Nvidia AI technology.  [Read more…] about ZF unveils AI driving system which could be used for forklift trucks, while Toyota adopts the fuel cell