GM announced this week that it will work with American semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. to power its new hands-free driver-assist system, Ultra Cruise.
As a result of the collaboration, GM will be the first automaker to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride Platform for advanced driver assistance technologies. Earlier this week, Volvo announced that it would use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Cockpit Platform for its infotainment technology.
The hardware that powers Ultra Cruise will be about the size of two laptops stacked one on top of the other and will be available in vehicles like the Cadillac Celestiq starting in 2023. It will contain two Snapdragon SA8540P SoCs and one SA9000P artificial intelligence accelerator to deliver low-latency control functions on 16-core CPUs. It will also be able to deliver high-performance AI compute of more than 300 Tera Operations Per Second for camera, radar, and LiDAR processing.
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“Despite its relatively small size, Ultra Cruise’s compute will have the processing capability of several hundred personal computers,” said Ken Morris, GM vice president of Electric, Autonomous, and Fuel Cell Vehicle Programs. “It will take qualities that have distinguished GM’s advanced driver assist systems since 2017 to the next level with door-to-door hands-free driving.”
In addition, GM has integrated Ultra Cruise’s software on an optimal hardware design. That overlays cameras, radar, and LiDAR, which provides favorable detection and classification of data for the best performance.
GM has also opted to air-cool the hardware pack, in order to make it lighter. The automaker says it was able to get rid of the heavy and inefficient thermal cooling lines thanks to the Snapdragon Ride Platform’s high-efficiency design.
All of which, GM says, will allow Ultra Cruise to get you from door-to-door hands-free in 95 percent of scenarios.
“We are very proud of our collaboration with General Motors on one of the industry’s first uses of our Snapdragon SoCs in an automated driving system,” said Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. senior vice president and GM, Automotive. “Ultra Cruise powered by Snapdragon Ride on Cadillac vehicles will be an experiential and technological leap forward for the industry.”
