cross pond high tech

Cleantechnica has compiled the event video plus tons of liveblogging highlights from the event : there is a trove of insight about where Tesla is going and how they are going there.

They have designed their own FSD (Full Self Driving system) that doesn't need a LIDAR and "learns" from shadow mode driving of the whole deployed Tesla fleet. This is how they will be able to deploy Robotaxi mode with just a software update.

 

For instance,

“Early testing of new FSD hardware shows a 21× improvement in image processing capability with fully redundant computing capability.

“This is all done at a modest cost while delivering a fully redundant computing platform to all of Tesla’s vehicles currently in production.”

General summary from Kyle: “Our shit is really, really fast and we built it better than anyone else.”

Elon notes that Tesla finished this design 1½–2 years ago and then started on the next system design. They are not talking about the next design now, but they’re about halfway through it.

Some additional technical notes from Chanan Bos:

“An enthusiast Intel desktop i7 processor with 8 cores has 3 billion transistors, Tesla’s new chip has 6 billion. But that is till less than some crazy 18 core Intel ships like Skylake-X which has 8.33 billion transistors. An iPhone has about 2 billion.

“So SRAM is much faster but is more expensive and has less storage compared to DRAM.

“Nvidia Xavier (available early 2018) had 30 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second). Tesla’s FSD chip has 144 TOPS.”

 

Delphi Automotive said it plans to acquire Boston-based autonomous vehicle software supplier NuTonomy in a deal that could be valued at $450 million.The acquisition, which is expected to close before the end of this year, will nearly double Delphi's 100-plus automated driving team with NuTonomy's 100 employees, including 70 engineers and scientists, the company said in a news release.NuTonomy will continue to operate in Boston, alongside Delphi's team in Boston, as well as in Delphi offices in Singapore; Pittsburgh; Santa Monica, Calif.; and in Silicon Valley in California.Glen De Vos, chief technology officer for Delphi, said the acquisition of NuTonomy allows Delphi access to the commercial truck market."We think this is the tip of the spear for automated driving," De Vos said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. "This dramatically accelerates our penetration in this marketplace."

A new highway in China is being built that will have dedicated lanes for autonomous vehicles. The lanes reserved for self-driving cars will be built on a new freeway connecting Beijing and the Xiongan New Area in Hebei province. The area is located about 60 miles southwest of Beijing.

The 100-kilometer (62 mile) freeway will be open to two-way traffic, with two of the eight lanes specially designed for autonomous vehicles, according to the Beijing Capital Highway Development Group Co. Construction on the project will begin this year. The speed limit on the highway will range from 62 to 74 mph.

The stretch of highway will also include intelligent road infrastructure and smart-toll facilities. This intelligent infrastructure system can acquire vehicle data and road information through wireless communication and internet technology, improving traffic flow and safety.

"It will be the most convenient freeway between Beijing and Xiongan," Zhou Xiaohong, deputy head of the group's department of technology and planning, was quoted as saying by Beijing Daily.

When the Beijing-Xiongan freeway is complete, travel time from the capital city of Beijing to Xiongan will be cut to one hour from the current two and a half hours, according to the outline.

The highway is one of several planned for the region. An outline for the Xiongan New Area lists four north-south freeways and three east-west expressways which will be built linking Xiongan with surrounding cities, including Beijing, Tianjin and cities in Hebei.