Tesla has partnered with NVIDIA to bring out the best in its semi-autonomous driving system. Electrek reports that the new Tesla Vision includes NVIDIA’s CUDA parallel computing platform.
Tesla using NVIDIA’s tech to improve Autopilot
Citing sources close to the Tesla Vision program, Electrek said the company plans a full parallel computing platform on NVIDIA’s CUDA platform to support autonomous vehicle features instead of developing a vision module system-on-a-chip (SoC). No confirmation or details about the system have come from the EV firm as yet. However, it sounds as if it will use NVIDIA’s graphics processing units (GPUs) to process images captured by Tesla’s growing suite of sensors, cameras and radar.
It makes sense for Tesla to incorporate NVIDIA components in its Autopilot hardware for several reasons, notes Digital Trends. Tesla’s media control units and instrument clusters for the Model S and X already use NVIDIA processors. Several of NVIDIA’s autonomous and semi-autonomous driving platforms are even more strategic, of which the NVIDIA Drive PXd 2 is the latest.
Another reason is that NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang is a huge Tesla fan, owning several Tesla models himself. Previously, Tesla used Mobileye’s vision system for its Autopilot semi-autonomous platform, but the partnership ended shortly after a fatality in which a Model S driver and the Autopilot system failed to notice a truck crossing the road from the left.
After the split, many thought that Tesla would consider developing a vision system of its own. CEO Elon Musk is a firm believer that component development, manufacturing, and control should all be brought in-house. Hence, it made sense for Tesla to create its own vision component.
Atieva’s first electric car similar to Model S
Along with this good news, there is one bit of bad news for the EV firm. Atieva is working on an EV that will compete with Tesla’s Model S and will unveil it in early December, as per Recode. Recode use public record requests to obtain exclusive images of the car’s design and initial manufacturing facility
Atieva will name its first vehicle Atvus, according to the documents, which were filed with the State of California last year. The design render shows a conventionally streamlined four-door sedan much like a Model S, says Recode.
On Thursday, Tesla shares closed down 0.63% at $200.24. Year to date, the stock is down almost 16%, while in the last year, it is down more than 9%.
