Collaboration to Accelerate Use of Autonomous Vehicles and AI Technologies
Expands to New Testing and Validation System
SINGAPORE—March 19, 2019—Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development (TRI-AD) and
NVIDIA today announced a new collaboration to develop, train and validate self-driving vehicles.
The partnership builds on an ongoing relationship with Toyota to utilise the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX
XavierTM AV computer and is based on close development between teams from NVIDIA, TRI-AD
in Japan and Toyota Research Institute (TRI) in the United States. The broad partnership includes
advancements in:
• AI computing infrastructure using NVIDIA GPUs
• Simulation using the NVIDIA DRIVE ConstellationTM platform
• In-car AV computers based on DRIVE AGX Xavier or DRIVE AGX PegasusTM
The agreement includes the development of an architecture that can be scaled across many
vehicle models and types, accelerating the development and production timeline, and
simulating the equivalent of billions of miles of driving in challenging scenarios.
“Our vision is to enable self-driving vehicles with the ultimate goal of reducing fatalities to zero,
enabling smoother transportation, and providing mobility for all,” said Dr. James Kuffner, CEO of
TRI-AD. “Our technology collaboration with NVIDIA is important to realising this vision. We
believe large-scale simulation tools for software validation and testing are critical for automated
driving systems.”
NVIDIA and Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development Partner
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang added, “Self-driving vehicles for everyday use and
commercial applications in countless industries will soon be commonplace. Everything that
moves will be autonomous. Producing all these vehicles at scale will require a connected
collaboration for all elements of the system. Our relationship with TRI-AD and TRI is a model for
that collaboration.”
AI, and specifically deep learning, has become a vital tool for the production of next-generation
automated vehicles, particularly because of the need to recognise and handle the nearly infinite
number of scenarios encountered on the road.
Simulation has proven to be a valuable tool for testing and validating AV hardware and software
before it is put on the road. As part of the collaboration, TRI-AD and TRI are utilizing the NVIDIA
DRIVE Constellation platform for components of their simulation workflow.
DRIVE Constellation is a data centre solution, comprising two side-by-side servers. The first
server — Constellation Simulator — uses NVIDIA GPUs running DRIVE SimTM software to
generate the sensor output from a virtual car driving in a realistic virtual world. The second
server — Constellation Vehicle — contains the DRIVE AGX car computer, which processes the
simulated sensor data. The driving decisions from Constellation Vehicle are fed back into
Constellation Simulator, aiming to realize bit-accurate, timing-accurate hardware-in-the-loop
testing.
This end-to-end simulation toolchain will help enable Toyota, TRI-AD and TRI to bring automated
vehicles to market.
About TRI-AD
Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development, Inc. focuses on the advanced development
of software for automated driving efforts. Its mission is to build the world’s safest automated
driving car, as well as strengthening coordination with Toyota Research Institute (TRI) and the
research and advanced development teams within the Toyota Group. Activities include
developing automated driving software, leveraging data-handling capabilities and creating a
straight line from research to commercialization. See more at www.tri-ad.global.
About TRI
NVIDIA and Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development Partner
Toyota Research Institute is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor North America under
the direction of Dr. Gill Pratt. The company, established in 2016, aims to strengthen Toyota’s
research structure and has four initial mandates: 1) enhance the safety of automobiles, 2)
increase access to cars to those who otherwise cannot drive, 3) translate Toyota’s expertise in
creating products for outdoor mobility into products for indoor mobility, and 4) accelerate
scientific discovery by applying techniques from artificial intelligence and machine learning. TRI
is based in the United States, with offices in Los Altos, Calif., Cambridge, Mass., and Ann Arbor,
Mich. For more information about TRI, see www.tri.global.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA‘s (NASDAQ: NVDA) invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming
market, redefined modern computer graphics and revolutionised parallel computing. More
recently, GPU deep learning ignited modern AI — the next era of computing — with the GPU
acting as the brain of computers, robots and self-driving cars that can perceive and understand
the world. More information at http://nvidianews.nvidia.com/.
Collaboration to Accelerate Use of Autonomous Vehicles and AI Technologies Expands to New Testing and Validation System
SINGAPORE—March 19, 2019—Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development (TRI-AD) and NVIDIA today announced a new collaboration to develop, train and validate self-driving vehicles.
The partnership builds on an ongoing relationship with Toyota to utilise the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX XavierTM AV computer and is based on close development between teams from NVIDIA, TRI-AD in Japan and Toyota Research Institute (TRI) in the United States. The broad partnership includes advancements in:
• AI computing infrastructure using NVIDIA GPUs
• Simulation using the NVIDIA DRIVE ConstellationTM platform
• In-car AV computers based on DRIVE AGX Xavier or DRIVE AGX PegasusTM
The agreement includes the development of an architecture that can be scaled across many vehicle models and types, accelerating the development and production timeline, and simulating the equivalent of billions of miles of driving in challenging scenarios.
“Our vision is to enable self-driving vehicles with the ultimate goal of reducing fatalities to zero, enabling smoother transportation, and providing mobility for all,” said Dr. James Kuffner, CEO of TRI-AD. “Our technology collaboration with NVIDIA is important to realising this vision. We believe large-scale simulation tools for software validation and testing are critical for automated driving systems.”
NVIDIA and Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development Partner
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang added, “Self-driving vehicles for everyday use and commercial applications in countless industries will soon be commonplace. Everything that moves will be autonomous. Producing all these vehicles at scale will require a connected collaboration for all elements of the system. Our relationship with TRI-AD and TRI is a model for that collaboration.”
AI, and specifically deep learning, has become a vital tool for the production of next-generation automated vehicles, particularly because of the need to recognise and handle the nearly infinite number of scenarios encountered on the road.
Simulation has proven to be a valuable tool for testing and validating AV hardware and software before it is put on the road. As part of the collaboration, TRI-AD and TRI are utilizing the NVIDIA DRIVE Constellation platform for components of their simulation workflow.
DRIVE Constellation is a data centre solution, comprising two side-by-side servers. The first server — Constellation Simulator — uses NVIDIA GPUs running DRIVE SimTM software to generate the sensor output from a virtual car driving in a realistic virtual world. The second server — Constellation Vehicle — contains the DRIVE AGX car computer, which processes the simulated sensor data. The driving decisions from Constellation Vehicle are fed back into Constellation Simulator, aiming to realize bit-accurate, timing-accurate hardware-in-the-loop testing.
This end-to-end simulation toolchain will help enable Toyota, TRI-AD and TRI to bring automated vehicles to market.
About TRI-AD
Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development, Inc. focuses on the advanced development of software for automated driving efforts. Its mission is to build the world’s safest automated driving car, as well as strengthening coordination with Toyota Research Institute (TRI) and the research and advanced development teams within the Toyota Group. Activities include developing automated driving software, leveraging data-handling capabilities and creating a straight line from research to commercialization. See more at www.tri-ad.global.
About TRI
NVIDIA and Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development Partner
Toyota Research Institute is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor North America under the direction of Dr. Gill Pratt. The company, established in 2016, aims to strengthen Toyota’s research structure and has four initial mandates: 1) enhance the safety of automobiles, 2) increase access to cars to those who otherwise cannot drive, 3) translate Toyota’s expertise in creating products for outdoor mobility into products for indoor mobility, and 4) accelerate scientific discovery by applying techniques from artificial intelligence and machine learning. TRI is based in the United States, with offices in Los Altos, Calif., Cambridge, Mass., and Ann Arbor, Mich. For more information about TRI, see www.tri.global.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA‘s (NASDAQ: NVDA) invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined modern computer graphics and revolutionised parallel computing. More recently, GPU deep learning ignited modern AI — the next era of computing — with the GPU acting as the brain of computers, robots and self-driving cars that can perceive and understand the world. More information at http://nvidianews.nvidia.com/.
