Hyundai Motor and its subsidiary Kia Motors announced on Tuesday that they will use the autonomous driving technology of the American technology giant Nvidia in some models, further deepening their cooperation with the American technology giant in the field of future mobility solutions.
Hyundai Motor Group said in a press release that under the cooperation agreement, the two Korean automakers will integrate their respective software-defined vehicle (SDV) technologies with Nvidia's L2+ autonomous driving capabilities to jointly develop next-generation autonomous driving systems.
The group said it will leverage Nvidia's data platform and artificial intelligence (AI) technology and systematically integrate accumulated data into a unified learning process.
The group will also work with Nvidia through its U.S.-based autonomous vehicle joint venture Motional to further enhance Motional's L4 self-driving taxi capabilities.
"The expanded collaboration with NVIDIA marks an important step forward for Hyundai Motor Group in realizing its vision of safe and reliable autonomous driving technology," said Kim Heung-soo, executive vice president and director of the Global Strategy Office of Hyundai Motor Group.
"Through a unified group collaboration framework, we will enhance our technological competitiveness - from L2 and above autonomous driving systems to L4 driverless taxi services."
The group said it will build an integrated autonomous driving architecture that can be extended to L2 to L4 levels based on the NVIDIA Drive Hyperion platform.
The L2 level autonomous driving system requires the driver to remain focused throughout the entire process, continuously monitor the surrounding environment, and be ready to take over control of the vehicle at any time.
L3 autonomous vehicles can perform certain driving tasks, such as lane changes, without driver intervention under certain conditions. L4 vehicles can operate autonomously in limited environments, but cannot operate if necessary conditions are not met. Level 5 vehicles can drive fully autonomously under all conditions without human intervention.
"Future mobility will be based on artificial intelligence and software," said Rishi Dhall, vice president of Nvidia's automotive business. "We will combine Hyundai Motor Group's leadership in vehicle engineering with Nvidia's accelerated computing and artificial intelligence technology to create a safe, intelligent autonomous driving system based on the Nvidia Drive platform."