Open-source autonomous driving (AD) technology developer Tier IV has partnered with computer hardware specialist Axell Corporation to develop a new application-specific system-on-chip (SoC) and software platform for autonomous vehicles.
The project has demonstrated the performance advantages of the companies’ Autoware Accelerators – bespoke hardware accelerators designed specifically for the Autoware architecture.
Research was funded by the Innovative AI Chip and Next-Generation Computing Technology Development project, sponsored by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
The partnership’s latest SoC is optimized for integration with Autoware, an open-source software for autonomous driving (AD). The SoC has been developed to carry out a variety of AD algorithms with a high level of efficiency. The SoC will also be used to develop a complete Robo-Taxi system with an estimated power consumption of less than 150W.
The system also features hardware accelerators capable of managing high-load sensor data processing. To ensure the seamless execution of control system processing, a dedicated real-time operating system is integrated with a multitude of core processors, effectively mitigating fluctuations in execution time. With its focus on AI edge computing, the SoC aims to provide more efficient and reliable AD functions.
