Volvo is expanding its nearly decade-long partnership with Nvidia to build a hands-free, point-to-point driving system for complex urban roads. The automaker says the setup will be Level 2++, able to handle traffic lights, stop signs, and unprotected left turns without the driver taking the wheel for every move, in the same supervised category as Tesla’s Full Self-Driving.
The stack mixes Nvidia’s Hyperion sensor and compute platform with Alpamayo reasoning models and the Halos safety layer. There is no lidar in the baseline plan, though Volvo could add it later. Nvidia’s Ali Kani compared the approach to the Nvidia-powered system Mercedes recently put on the CLA. Volvo’s Alwin Bakkenes said the company wants the feature across its lineup, from entry models up, but would only pin the debut to “before the end of the decade.”
The deal also tries to clean up Volvo’s recent automated-driving messes. Ride Pilot Level 3 never cleared US regulators, and a lidar plan collapsed after supplier Luminar went bankrupt. Connected hazard sharing between Volvo cars is meant to stretch what a single car’s sensors can see.
— via The Verge