Nvidia has announced what is possibly the most powerful computer intended for cars in the new Drive PX 2. Intended to provide the necessary computing power for autonomous vehicles, the Nvidia Drive PX 2 is as powerful as 100 Macbook Pros combined; and that’s just the beginning.
As far as the hardware goes, the Nvidia Drive PX 2 sports 12 CPU cores, and is rated at 8 teraflops of computing power; which is roughly as powerful as six Titan X cards. Nvidia claims that it was complete up to 24 million calculations a second, giving it the deep learning capabilities it needs to operate on the road. After all, the goal of the liquid cooled computer is to develop an AI smart enough to navigate cities without hitting anything.
The Drive PX 2 is designed to handle input from 12 video cameras, plus lidar, radar and ultrasonic sensors. This network is managed by Nvidia’s Driveworks, which is “a suite of tools, libraries, and modules that accelerates development and testing of autonomous vehicles.” It essentially makes it easier for automotive companies to implement artificial intelligence in their vehicles.
Nvidia is making the Drive PX 2 development engine available in the fourth quarter of 2016; although its early access development partners will be receiving it in the second quarter. Swedish carmaker Volvo is already planning to unleash a fleet of 100 Drive PX 2 powered XC90 SUVs next year as part of its Drive Me autonomous-car programme.
[Source: Nvidia]
