Nvidia showcased its latest innovations and partnerships for automotive and robotics at CES 2024 today. The company highlighted its collaborations with various automotive partners, demonstrating the transformative power of AI in automotive design, engineering, and performance.
Generative AI and software-defined computing are rapidly gaining traction in the automotive sector, driving innovations that are set to redefine the driving experience in the coming year. This trend is also becoming popular in robotics.
One of Nvidia’s major partners, Mercedes-Benz, showcased a variety of software-driven features and advancements within the Mercedes-Benz MB.OS, which is featured in several cars. The Concept CLA Class, equipped with Nvidia Drive Orin as its core platform for automated driving, was a key highlight. Nvidia’s Omniverse digital twin capabilities are being used for production, revolutionizing the development and operation of manufacturing and assembly facilities.
Ansys demonstrated its use of Nvidia Omniverse to accelerate autonomous vehicle development. Ansys AVxcelerate Sensors, available within Nvidia Drive Sim, emphasize the importance of sensor data for car safety and more.
Cerence introduced CaLLM, a large language model designed for the automotive industry, forming the foundation for its next-gen in-car computing platform, powered by Nvidia Drive. Cipia debuted Cabin Sense, a driver and occupancy monitoring system ready for serial production this year, offering enhanced safety features.
Kodiak’s autonomous truck uses Nvidia GPUs for high-performance computing, processing vast amounts of data from its sensors to enable autonomous driving. Lenovo also unveiled its vehicle computing roadmap, featuring innovative products based on Nvidia Drive Thor, designed for advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomous driving.
Pebble showcased Pebble Flow, an electric semi-autonomous travel trailer powered by Nvidia Drive Orin, marking a significant leap in recreational vehicle technology. Polestar’s Polestar 3, powered by the Nvidia Drive Orin central core computer, emphasizes cutting-edge automotive computing capabilities and a partnership with Google.
Electric vehicle makers such as Great Wall Motor (GWM), Zeekr, Li Auto, and Xiaomi have also adopted the Nvidia Drive Orin platform to power their intelligent automated-driving systems. Nvidia Drive Thor, a next-generation centralized car computer, integrates a wide range of intelligent functions into a single AI compute platform, delivering autonomous driving and parking capabilities, driver and passenger monitoring, and AI cockpit functionality.
Xiaomi has two EV models coming, with one offering a driving range of up to 415 miles on a single charge and another with a range of up to 497 miles. The SU7 will be officially launched in the first half of 2024.
Danny Shapiro, vice president of automotive at Nvidia, noted that the transportation industry is undergoing a significant shift driven by breakthroughs in accelerated computing, generative AI, and digital twins. The software and hardware are based on the Nvidia Drive platform, and vehicle design is happening in the Nvidia Omniverse platform, which connects 3D worlds in a shared virtual universe.
Nvidia Isaac robotics has 1.2 million developers. Gerard Andrews, product marketing manager for robotics at Nvidia, mentioned that generative AI is coming to Nvidia’s Isaac and Jetson robotics platforms. Companies like Boston Dynamics will use it to give robots more flexibility for solving problems in places like warehouses. Deepu Talla, vice president of robotics and edge computing, highlighted that generative AI in robotics is speeding up the transition from proof of concept to real-world deployment.