New venture bringing artificial intelligence to self-driving vehicles

A new tech venture will create the next generation of vehicle safety systems, probably within five years.

It can utilise deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence (AI), to recognise objects in their environment, anticipate potential threats and navigate safely.

The AI technology will be integrated into next generation, level four autonomous cars expected to be available from 2021.

Vehicles operating under level four automation will monitor the driving environment and will maintain control even if the driver does not intervene when advised by the car, Volvo NZ general manager Coby Duggan says. This represents a significant advance on the technology currently available to Kiwi consumers, he says.

“The most advanced vehicles on our roads today are operating at level two or partial automation,” Duggan says. “This is where the automated system executes accelerating, braking, and steering. However, the driver is still required to interact with the vehicle and intervene if necessary as they are ultimately responsible for how the vehicle behaves.”

Duggan says the development of advanced AI is a key element of building a software platform for self-driving cars and offers significant benefits to Kiwi motorists.

“Already some vehicles have self-driving functionality allowing them to perform tasks like parking themselves, negotiating around oncoming vehicles and automatically stopping ahead of objects that move into their path.

“This new venture will speed up the development of advanced automotive AI significantly, bringing level four self-driving vehicles to market in the next five years.

“For consumers, this means our roads will be safer, more environmentally sound and less congested.”

The systems will compare real-time situational awareness with a known high-definition map, enabling them to plan a safe route and drive precisely along it, adjusting to ever-changing circumstances.

They can also perform other critical functions such as stitching camera inputs to create a complete surround-view of the car.

The tech venture will be formed between Volvo, automotive safety company Autoliv and visual computing specialist NVIDIA.