Volvo partners with Nvidia to develop AI for self-driving cars

No one will get mown down by a Volvo by 2020, promises Swedish car maker's Marcus Rothoff

Volvo has selected Nvidia's in-car artificial intelligence and deep-learning platform as part of an autonomous vehicle scheme that the car maker ultimately hopes will make driving safer.

The announcement of the partnership, made at the Consumer Electronics Show 2016 (CES 2016) in Las Vegas, Nevada, revealed that Volvo Cars will use Nvidia's Drive PX 2 deep-learning computing engine in a fleet of 100 Volvo XC90 cars as part of the Swedish manufacturer's "Drive Me" self-driving car pilot programme.

Volvo's partnership with Nvidia comes shortly after the vehicle manufacturer revealed it's working with big data analytics company Inrix to provide drivers with what they call "the first live, real-time traffic service" to help "better tackle the challenges of daily driving".

According to Volvo, which is owned by China's Geely Automotive, the Nvidia driverless vehicle pilot fits in with what the company describes as its "Vision 2020" to create safer vehicles with advancements in autonomous and semi-autonomous transport.

"Our vision is that no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo by the year 2020," said Marcus Rothoff, director of the autonomous driving programme at Volvo Cars.

He added: "Nvidia's high-performance and responsive automotive platform is an important step towards our vision and perfect for our autonomous drive programme and the Drive Me project."

Volvo's Drive Me pilot scheme will see cars equipped with deep learning capabilities designed to "navigate the complexities of driving", with autonomous vehicles being tested on the roads around the Swedish manufacturer's Gothenburg headquarters.

The cars will be equipped with artificial intelligence intended to enable them to recognise objects in their environment, anticipate potential threats and navigate safely, while processing and learning from the generated data in real time.

Rob Csongor, vice president and general manager of automotive at Nvidia, welcomed the partnership with Volvo. "Volvo's Drive Me project is the ideal application of our Drive PX 2 engine and deep learning," he said. "We are bringing years of work by thousands of Nvidia engineers to help Volvo achieve its safety goals and move self-driving cars from Gothenburg, Sweden to the rest of the globe."

Volvo isn't the only high-profile car manufacturer experimenting with artificial intelligence in vehicles. Toyota, the world's largest car manufacturer, recently announced plans to invest $1bn into artificial intelligence and robotics through the creation of a new research and development company.