NIO, a Chinese automobile manufacturer specializing in designing and developing electric autonomous vehicles, announced a strategic collaboration with Mobileye, a developer of vision technology for ADAS and autonomous driving, and an Intel company.
The companies will work together on the development of highly automated and autonomous vehicles (AV) for consumer markets in China and other major territories. As part of the planned cooperation, NIO will engineer and manufacture a self-driving system designed by Mobileye, building on Mobileye’s level-4 (L4) AV kit.
The L4 AV kit is a driverless technology solution designed to be integrated in vehicles with autonomous capabilities that help minimize automobile accidents.
- Hardware: Mobileye’s AV Series offers necessary hardware to enable full autonomy in vehicles, including cameras, radars, lidars, cables, modem, GPS and additional mechanical components, all powered by the 5th generation EyeQ system-on-chip. According to the company, it is purpose-built for low cost and low-power consumption, specifically for autonomous driving with premium deep learning and performance efficiency.
- Driving policy: Mobileye’s proprietary reinforcement learning algorithms enable driving skills for vehicle systems, which pair with the sight and reaction times possible through the technology’s sensing and computing platforms. Channeling Mobileye’s driving policy technology, vehicles equipped with the AV kit are able to negotiate with other human-driven vehicles on the road in complex situations.
- Safety software: Mobileye’s driving policy is complemented by its Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS) model, which helps ensure an autonomous vehicle will make safe decisions. RSS is an open and transparent formal model that provides safety parameters for AV decision-making, formalizing common sense human-centered concepts of what it means to drive safely. While the planning behind driving policy gets vehicles from Point A to Point B, RSS helps keep them safe along the way.
According to companies, this self-driving system will be the first of its kind, targeting consumer autonomy, engineered for automotive qualification standards, quality, cost, and scale. NIO will mass-produce the system for Mobileye and also integrate the technology into its electric vehicle lines for consumer markets and for Mobileye’s driverless ride-hailing services. This variant will target initial release in China, with plans to subsequently expand into other global markets.
Prof. Amnon Shashua, Intel. Sr. Vice President and President and CEO of Mobileye, said, “We are thrilled by the promise and potential of collaborating with NIO on electric autonomous vehicles, for both consumers and robotaxi fleets. We value the opportunity to bring greater road safety to China and other markets through our efforts and look forward to NIO’s support as Mobileye builds a transformational mobility service across the globe.”
Source: Press Release
