How 20 Self-Driving Demos Wowed GTC Europe with Diversity and Innovation

Auto Companies Showcase a Wide Range of Vehicles Powered by NVIDIA DRIVE.

From race cars to school buses to street sweepers, an autonomous vehicle for every need is on display at GTC Europe.

At the region’s premiere AI conference this week in Munich, NVIDIA DRIVE ecosystem partners demonstrated concepts and prototypes of an autonomous future. With more than 20 vehicles of all shapes and sizes at the event, it’s clear autonomy is spreading to virtually everything on wheels.

With a range of companies leveraging NVIDIA technology to make autonomous driving a reality, the possibilities for new forms of mobility are endless. Here’s a look at how a few NVIDIA partners are envisioning the new automotive era.

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Haulin’ MaaS

When there’s no need for a human driver, vehicle designs can provide more space for passengers. Additionally, driverless vehicles can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week without needing a break. This combination of roomier cars and increased availability facilitates more shared services for convenient and efficient transportation, a vision known as mobility-as-a-service (MaaS).

For urban transit, global supplier Continental is developing CUbE, the Continental Urban moBility Experience. The autonomous shuttle, which will be powered by the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Pegasus supercomputer, aims to increase efficiency in urban areas by enabling more shared rides and reducing space-consuming parking structures.

To provide a customized experience, Volkswagen has developed the Sedric driverless vehicle concept. The shuttle comes in various flavors, from an office-on-wheels to a roving dancefloor to a futuristic school bus — all serving to meet various travel needs in an autonomous age.

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A Clean Sweep for AVs

Removing the driver’s seat doesn’t only create more room for passengers, it also makes it easier to design vehicles for logistics and other labor-intensive tasks.

Einride is a Swedish startup developing self-driving vehicles for hauling cargo. Its first vehicle, the T-pod, is tailor-made to carry heavy loads of cargo pallets. Its sibling, the T-log, is designed to transport lumber, easing logistics bottlenecks in the timber industry. Both robotrucks will take advantage of the high-performance compute of the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platform to operate without a human driver.

Crowded conferences can create a mess in the neighborhood. Luckily, Enway brought along its autonomous street sweeper. Using deep neural networks, the Enway street sweeper can plan a path ahead and classify objects as trash, leaving clean pavement in its wake.

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Sleek Self-Driving

The Audi Elaine is a concept car for Level 4 autonomous driving, which doesn’t require any human intervention in defined conditions. The sporty vehicle would run a more advanced version of Audi’s zFas assisted driving platform, powered by NVIDIA.

Luxury carmaker Porsche is leveraging NVIDIA technology to create an even more premium experience in the vehicle, such as the Porsche Mission E. The automaker’s first all-electric vehicle, the Mission E is a sleek leader into the future of electromobility.

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