Automotive

Autonomous BMW iNext steps closer to 2021 production with new partnership

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Intel, Mobileye and BMW bigwigs alongside BMW's precursor to the iNEXT
Intel, Mobileye and BMW bigwigs alongside BMW's precursor to the iNEXT
BMW wants to have an autonomous car on the market by 2021
The iNext will rely on Intel processing power 
The cabin of BMW's forward-looking concept
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As the race to release a fully-autonomous car to consumers gets hotter, BMW is one of the first manufacturers to set a concrete date on when it plans on delivering. The iNEXT is set to hit the market in 2021, a goal edging closer with the announcement of a partnership between BMW, Intel and Mobileye.

The goal of this collaboration is to develop "future-proof" solutions allowing drivers to switch off completely behind the wheel. That means successfully developing technology allowing drivers to push through eyes off (level 3 automation) and mind off (level 4 automation) stages of driving, to the point where they can be totally disengaged from the process.

The iNext will rely on Intel processing power 

So, what does each part of the team bring to the table? Well, BMW's role is fairly obvious. Intel will be supplying processors capable of handling the constant stream of information flowing in from sensors and cameras around the car.

"Highly autonomous cars and everything they connect to will require powerful and reliable electronic brains to make them smart enough to navigate traffic and avoid accidents," says Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. "This partnership between BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye will help us to quickly deliver on our vision to reinvent the driving experience. We bring a broad set of in-vehicle and cloud computing, connectivity, safety and security, and machine-learning assets to this collaboration enabling a truly end-to-end solution."

The cabin of BMW's forward-looking concept

Meanwhile, Mobileye, which developed the technology behind Tesla's AutoPilot system, will help BMW develop systems capable of creating an accurate picture of what's going around the car using sensors and cameras.

"Mobileye is proud to contribute our expertise in sensing, localization and driver policy to enable fully autonomous driving in this cooperation," says Mobileye co-founder Professor Amnon Shashua. "The processing of sensing, like our capabilities to understand the driving scene through a single camera already, will be deployed on Mobileye's latest system-on-chip. In addition, Mobileye Road Experience Management (REM) technology will provide real-time precise localization and model the driving scene to essentially support fully autonomous driving."

The news comes as the NHTSA opens an investigation into Tesla, after a driver was killed while under Autopilot control.

Source: BMW

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1 comment
bobflint
It will be interesting to see what went wrong with that recent Tesla fatality. Granted that system is not fully autonomous, but it sounds like not seeing the broad side of a tractor trailer is hopefully within the parameters of the sensors, if the system was actually engaged, and functioning properly....