The supercomputer for a self-driving car: Nvidia shows off the first of its intended series Roborace
Nvidia is diving in the world of automobiles. Specifically, it has developed a new supercomputer that will be used for the Roborace, a line of autonoms racing cars.
Dubbed as the Roborace cars, this new line of racing vehicles will be using Nvidia’s liquid-cooled Drive PX 2 computers. According to Gizmodo, the computer can operate through 24 trillion AI commands per second.
What’s even more amazing about the technology from Nvidia is that it’s a small as a lunchbox. As a comparison, the company stated that its capacity for computing can be equal to as many as 150 MacBook Pros.
This is all thanks to the two Tegra processors and two discrete GPUs, enabling the computer to get data from 12 video cameras, process streams of information and make use of the lidar, radar, GPS and other features so that it can maneuver itself on the track. And as though straight from a sci-fi experience, Nvidia’s car-specific computer also allows the car to learn better moves with each race.
The Roborace cars are not being developed on a whim, though. In fact, there is already a plan to create a racing series for autonomous cars a la Formula E, Gizmag reported. The planned timeline is set for a 2016 – 2017 season.
Apart from the cutting-edge technology for self-driving race cars, design-wise, these cars may also receive some revamps. Since the driver’s cockpit is now an unnecessary part of the car, Roborace cars can have more freedom in terms of design, which could now focus on making the cars even more aerodynamic.
“We’re living in a time where the once-separated worlds of the automobile and artificial intelligence collide with unstoppable force. My goal was to create a vehicle that takes full advantage of the unusual opportunities of having no driver without ever compromising on beauty,” said Roborace’s Daniel Simon to Gizmag.
More than a new racing event, Roborace is also looking to push autonomous cars on the public roads. Speaking to PC World, Kinetik founder Denis Sverdlov said that Roborace was developed by the company to show the capability of self-driving cars on the road.
