JIDU Auto sees a brilliant future ahead for intelligent electric vehicles.
The EV startup, backed by tech titan Baidu, took the wraps off the Robo-01 concept vehicle last week during its virtual ROBODAY event. The robot-inspired, software-defined vehicle features cutting-edge AI capabilities powered by the high-performance NVIDIA DRIVE Orin compute platform.
The sleek compact SUV provides a glimpse of JIDU’s upcoming lineup. It’s capable of level 4 autonomous driving, safely operating at highway speeds, on busy urban roads and performing driverless valet parking.
The Robo-01 also showcases a myriad of design innovations, including a retractable yoke steering wheel that folds under the dashboard during autonomous driving mode, as well as lidar sensors that extend and retract from the hood. It features human-like interactive capabilities between passengers and the vehicle’s in-cabin AI using perception and voice recognition.
JIDU is slated to launch a limited production version of the robocar later this year.
Continuous Innovation
A defining feature of the Robo-01 concept is its ability to improve by adding new intelligent capabilities throughout the life of the vehicle.
These updates are delivered over the air, which requires a software-defined vehicle architecture built on high-performance AI compute. The Robo-01 has two NVIDIA DRIVE Orin systems-on-a-chip (SoC) at the core of its centralized computer system, which provide ample compute for autonomous driving and AI features, with headroom to add new capabilities.
DRIVE Orin is a highly advanced autonomous vehicle processor. This supercomputer on a chip is capable of delivering up to 254 trillion operations per second (TOPS) to handle the large number of applications and deep neural networks that run simultaneously in autonomous vehicles and robots, while meeting systematic safety standards such as ISO 26262 ASIL-D.
The two DRIVE Orin SoCs at the center of JIDU vehicles will deliver more than 500 TOPS of performance to achieve the redundancy and diversity necessary for autonomous operation and in-cabin AI features.
Even More in Store
JIDU will begin taking orders in 2023 for the production version of the Robo-01, with deliveries scheduled for 2024.
The automaker plans to unveil the design of its second production model at this year’s Guangzhou Auto Show in November.
Jam-packed with intelligent features and room to add even more, the Robo-01 shows the incredible possibilities that future electric vehicles can achieve with a centralized, software-defined AI architecture.