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e-con Systems unveils ‘advanced multi-camera solutions’ for Qualcomm Robotics Kit

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e-con Systems, a designer and manufacturer of OEM cameras, has launched an “advanced and extensive” multi-camera solution which it says will “fully unlock” the power of the Qualcomm RB5 Robotics Development Kit’s potential.

This solution allows connecting up to six cameras (MIPI or GMSL2 or a combination of both) simultaneously.

econ Systems’ cutting-edge camera solution, along with Qualcomm’s high compute power of 15 TOPS, low power consumption, and thermal dissipation, is the perfect choice for applications such as drones, delivery robots, and autonomous shopping systems. [Read more…] about e-con Systems unveils ‘advanced multi-camera solutions’ for Qualcomm Robotics Kit

Nvidia unveils Isaac Nova Orin to accelerate development of autonomous mobile robots

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Next time socks, cereal or sandpaper shows up in hours delivered to your doorstep, consider the behind-the-scenes logistics acrobatics that help get them there so fast.

Order fulfillment is a massive industry of moving parts. Heavily supported by autonomous mobile robots, warehouses can span 1 million square feet, expanding and reconfiguring to meet demands.

It’s an obstacle course of workers and bottlenecks for hospitals, retailers, airports, manufacturers and others. [Read more…] about Nvidia unveils Isaac Nova Orin to accelerate development of autonomous mobile robots

Startup awarded $5 million to build autonomous car that ‘runs on light’

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Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), an agency of the US military akin to Darpa, is funding a $4.8 million project spearheaded by Boston University College of Engineering, the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Lightmatter, a startup developing “photonic supercomputing” chips.

Electro-photonic computing, or optical computing, is thought to hold the promise of solving one of the biggest technical hurdles that self-driving cars face today – delivering high performance, low latency computing power that is also energy efficient.

At the end of the IARPA-funded experiment, the scientists hope to have “a fully functioning prototype of a self-driving car that runs on light”. [Read more…] about Startup awarded $5 million to build autonomous car that ‘runs on light’

DXC Luxoft and AWS partner to accelerate autonomous driving industry with Robotic Drive Cloud

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DXC Luxoft has entered into a collaboration with Amazon Web Services to accelerate the autonomous driving industry with DXC Luxoft’s Robotic Drive Cloud offering on AWS.

The Robotic Drive tooling and services provide reduced development and test times with unmatched total cost of ownership (TCO) to customers building autonomous driving systems.

The new relationship offers a tangible competitive advantage to customers by accelerating the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving. [Read more…] about DXC Luxoft and AWS partner to accelerate autonomous driving industry with Robotic Drive Cloud

AVCC releases two key technical reports for the autonomous vehicle compute industry

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The Autonomous Vehicle Computing Consortium (AVCC), a global collaboration of automotive and technology industry leaders in automated and assisted driving compute solutions, has released two key technical reports, developed to provide the basis for a common autonomous vehicle language, conceptual system architecture, as well as use cases for automated and assisted driving compute systems.

Paul Hughes, chair of AVCC technical committee and lead system architect and distinguished engineer at Arm, says: “The path to a truly autonomous future is paved with foundational technology and computing challenges requiring industry collaboration.

“The new technology reports from the AVCC are a result of key industry players working together to establish a common language and frame of reference for critical autonomous applications, taking us a step closer to a safe, truly autonomous future.” [Read more…] about AVCC releases two key technical reports for the autonomous vehicle compute industry

Key industry organisations partner to develop global standards for autonomous vehicles

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The Autonomous Vehicle Computing Consortium, a global group of automotive and technology industry organisations, has agreed what is described as a “key liaison” with SAE International, the association of more than 200,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries.

The two organisations’ shared goal is to help expedite the development of autonomous and assisted driving solutions through shared technical references, recommendations, design benchmarks and marketing initiatives.

Jack Pokrzywa, ground vehicle standards director, SAE International, says: “For more than a century, SAE Standards have created the safe, reliable and consistent use and adoption of technologies to advance the mobility industry for the benefit of humanity. [Read more…] about Key industry organisations partner to develop global standards for autonomous vehicles

Startup company building autonomous trucks on Nvidia platform already has ‘more than 10,000 pre-orders’

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The autonomous trucking industry is about to get what is described by Nvidia as “a major new addition”.

Self-driving truck company Plus announced that its upcoming autonomous vehicle platform will be built on Nvidia Drive Orin.

This software-defined system will “continuously improve upon the safety and efficiency of the delivery and logistics industry with high-performance compute and AI algorithms that can be updated over the air”, says Nvidia. [Read more…] about Startup company building autonomous trucks on Nvidia platform already has ‘more than 10,000 pre-orders’

2020 saw ‘significant organizational growth and progress in autonomous vehicle market’, says industry group

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2020 saw “significant organizational growth and progress” in the autonomous vehicle market, according to the Autonomous Vehicle Computing Consortium, a global group of automotive and technology industry leaders cooperating to help accelerate the delivery of automated and assisted driving compute solutions.

AVCC members have finalized two key foundation documents, new working groups have kicked off work, and critical topics such as cybersecurity are now being addressed. Additional work and liaisons are kicking off in 2021, and new members are invited to help drive these initiatives forward.

Armando Pereira, president of AVCC, says: “The need for AVCC’s guidance for autonomous vehicle computing has gained importance over the past year, and we are proud of our technical committees’ work to unite and build consensus around industry recommendations. [Read more…] about 2020 saw ‘significant organizational growth and progress in autonomous vehicle market’, says industry group

Xilinx launches ‘industry’s first’ 20 nanometer space-grade FPGA chip

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Chipmaker Xilinx claims it has achieved “lift-off” with the launch of what it says is the industry’s first 20 nanometer space-grade FPGA for satellite and space applications.

Xilinx, which invented field-programmable gate array chips, says the new FPGA provides full radiation tolerance and ultra-high throughput and bandwidth performance for satellite and space applications.

The new 20nm Radiation Tolerant Kintex UltraScale XQRKU060 FPGA provides true unlimited on-orbit reconfiguration, over a 10x increase in digital signal processing (DSP) performance – ideal for payload applications – and full radiation tolerance across all orbits, says Xilinx. [Read more…] about Xilinx launches ‘industry’s first’ 20 nanometer space-grade FPGA chip

NXP becomes lead partner for Arm Ethos U-55 machine learning accelerators

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NXP Semiconductors has agreed a lead partnership role with Arm for Ethos-U55 microNPU (Neural Processing Unit), a machine learning accelerator targeted at resource-constrained industrial and IoT edge devices.

As an industry-leading innovator of microcontrollers (MCUs), NXP intends to implement Ethos U-55 in its Cortex-M based microcontrollers, crossover MCUs and real-time sub-systems in applications processors.

The expansion builds on the company’s growing ML offerings including the recently announced i.MX 8M Plus applications processors with a dedicated NPU. [Read more…] about NXP becomes lead partner for Arm Ethos U-55 machine learning accelerators