Five AI, part of Bosch Mobility, has announced plans to develop simulation technology aimed at helping automotive manufacturers and suppliers develop autonomous vehicles more safely, quickly and cost-effectively.
Backed by UK government funding through the CAM Pathfinder program, this new technology combines Gaussian scene reconstruction and generative AI techniques to create highly realistic digital representations of real-world environments. The company has been creating and using simulation software for automotive manufacturers since 2015.
Gaussian scene reconstruction converts images captured from the real world into photorealistic 3D environments that can be rendered efficiently in a simulation. It allows developers to recreate roads, junctions and other driving environments with a level of realism that is otherwise difficult to achieve at scale.
The project will also apply diffusion-based AI models to modify and enrich these digital environments. This enables the rapid generation of variations in lighting, weather and other scene conditions, allowing autonomous vehicle systems to be tested across a much wider range of scenarios than could be collected manually.
Many cars on the road today use Level 2 driver assistance, where the car can control the steering and speed but the driver must remain alert at all times. Level 3 is also available in some cars. This new technology will be used to develop technology for cars that will use Level 2++ and Level 3 automation. Five’s simulation tool will work with others within Bosch Mobility to create a comprehensive platform. In addition to Gaussian scene reconstruction and diffusion, it will use state-of-the-art artificial intelligence to reconstruct photorealistic digital twins of the world. It will be possible to create scenarios and evaluate how the car handles them. Ultimately, the simulation will be able to train and validate L4 autonomous vehicle systems.
Dave Buffey, head of Bosch Mobility UK, said, “This testing software will be an important cutting-edge innovation that will be developed by Five AI’s team. Our strategy is to work closely with Five to solve the complex challenges that our car manufacturer partners are tackling as they incorporate the latest autonomous driving tech into their vehicles. This is one of the biggest challenges in today’s automotive industry.”
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