Volvo, NVIDIA Orin Team-Up to Produce Self-Driving Cars

Earlier this week, Volvo Cars announced that it would be expanding its collaboration with tech juggernaut NVIDIA in order to utilize NVIDIA Drive Orin system-on-a-chip (SoC) technology to power the autonomous driving computer in next-gen Volvo vehicles.

Large amounts of computing power are needed in order to successfully pull-off safe autonomous driving. The NVIDIA Drive Orin system is an industry-leading AI-computing platform in the automotive world. It is capable of an unprecedented 254 tera (254 trillion) operations per second. 

This added computing power and graphics processing tech will enable a number of advanced sensor suites needed for autonomous driving. This includes state-of-the-art LiDAR technology, which is currently in development at Luminar, another technology partner of the Volvo brand.

The NVIDIA DRIVE Xavier-powered core computer will handle core functionalities inside the car, including base-software, energy management, and driver assistance. It works alongside the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin-powered autonomous driving computer, which is responsible for computer-intensive work like vision and LiDAR processing.

Through this partnership expansion, Volvo aims to be the first automaker with a global footprint to use the NVIDIA Drive Orin system in its next-generation models. Based on forthcoming SPA2 modular vehicle architecture, the Volvo XC90 has been tapped as the first car to feature this SoC technology. Volvo plans to reveal the vehicle next year.

“We believe in partnering with the world’s leading technology firms to build the best Volvos possible,” said Henrik Green, chief technology officer. “With the help of NVIDIA DRIVE Orin technology, we can take safety to the next level on our next generation of cars.”