Intel working with Waymo on 'fully autonomous' vehicles

Intel wants to get inside your car, despite missing out on mobile

Semiconductor giant Intel is working with Google's Waymo self-driving development unit in a bid to build technology that can be used in fully-autonomous - fully self-driving - vehicles.

The two companies have been working together for some time, according to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich revealed. Since 2009, when Google first launched its car programme, Intel's tech has been the driving force behind Waymo's autonomous vehicles, revealed Krzanich.

Waymo's self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans, which are operating on public roads in Arizona and California, feature Intel-based technologies "for sensor processing, general compute and connectivity, enabling real-time decisions for full autonomy in city conditions", and the two companies have logged three million miles of real-world driving - more than any other autonomous fleet in the US.

Intel's announcement marks the first time Waymo has acknowledged a collaboration with a supplier, and in its own blog post, the Google offshoot noted that it worked with Intel from the design stage of its latest vehicle to integrate Intel technology into its platform.

The compute platform on the Chrysler Pacifica minivan is designed entirely in-house, the company said, as are its LiDAR, radar and vision systems.

Intel and Waymo will more closely in the future, Krzanich said, in order to develop vehicles capable of driving in any condition without human intervention.

"Given the pace at which autonomous driving is coming to life, I fully expect my children's children will never have to drive a car," Krzanich said.

"That's an astounding thought: Something almost 90 per cent of Americans do every day will end within a generation. With so much life-saving potential, it's a rapid transformation that Intel is excited to be at the forefront of along with other industry leaders like Waymo."

Intel, which earlier this year acquired Mobileye, an Israeli firm that develops vision-based technology for autonomous vehicles, says that it will be able to equip Waymo's fleet of vehicles the advanced processing power required for level 4 and 5 autonomy.

This is described as "the driving mode-specific performance by an automated driving system of all aspects of the dynamic driving task, even if a human driver does not respond appropriately to a request to intervene".

Last month, Intel announced plans to build 100 self-driving vehicles which will arrive on streets before the end of the year.