Nvidia is all for a self-driving future. The company already has a growing partnership with Bosch and it is now ready to delve into self-driving trucks as well. Along the same, it has announced a brand new partnership with PACCAR.
In case you are unaware of it, PACCAR is one of the world’s largest makers of transport trucks. Considering that every major vehicle manufacturer is looking to grab a slice of the self-driving pie, it was but natural that PACCAR made a move in the direction as well.
The truck manufacturer has decided to jump in with a partnership with Nvidia and towards the same, the two presented a proof-of-concept vehicle as well. The truck is level 4 — which is pretty advanced considering that level 5 systems are on par with a competent human driver — and the two even showed off the capabilities of the truck upon a closed road.
The vehicle was powered by Nvidia’s Drive PX 2 platform, and the neural network was fed by data of humans driving semis-tractors. As the video above shows, the vehicle managed to navigate through the track pretty smoothly.
Meanwhile, the technology has a huge, huge potential. Which is why it has seen a slew of companies like Otto and Embark mushroom despite the relatively larger costs involved in purchasing and fitting a truck with the requisite hardware and software to make it autonomous. Together, Nvidia and PACCAR hope to bring disruption to the same niche.
And there is a lot of disruption to be had. Imagine a future where drivers take over the truck only when they are in the cities, leaving them to make their way through the highways on their own. A huge increase in the efficiency of the trucks as well as a decrease in the cost of carting stuff from one place to the other can be expected.
