In a collaborative effort, Ambarella, an edge AI semiconductor company, and Kodiak Robotics, a leader in autonomous vehicles focused on trucking and defense applications, have unveiled Kodiak’s selection of Ambarella’s CV3-AD685 AI domain control system-on-chip (SoC) as the integral embedded compute solution for its upcoming generation of autonomous vehicles.
This SoC serves as a comprehensive embedded solution, driving Kodiak’s multi-sensor perception, fusion, and path planning by executing neural networks and processing data from various cameras, lidars, and radars.
Capitalising on the achievements of their existing partnership, Kodiak has already accumulated over 300,000 miles leveraging Ambarella’s CV2 AI perception SoC, successfully delivering more than 875 loads. This collaboration underscores the resilience of Kodiak’s Driver, reinforced by Ambarella’s hardware, in the demanding conditions of highway trucking.
The CV2 has proven its capability to deliver premium image quality in challenging weather conditions such as rain, fog, and darkness, ensuring Kodiak’s timely and secure freight deliveries.
Ambarella president and CEO Fermi Wang said: “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Kodiak as we pave the way together for the future of autonomous trucking.
“Our CV3-AD685 SoC provides the autonomous vehicle industry with the processing performance needed to set new benchmarks in AI-based autonomous safety, efficiency and innovation.”
For Kodiak’s forthcoming self-driving truck platform, the CV3-AD685 SoC from Ambarella will be instrumental in optimising hardware factors, including cost, reliability, size, and robustness, while concurrently enhancing safety and performance.
Following Ambarella’s “algorithm first” approach, the 5nm SoC is purposefully crafted to provide a high-performance compute solution within a compact form factor, facilitating the implementation of Kodiak’s modular autonomous vehicle platform across diverse environmental conditions.
The Ambarella CV3-AD685 AI domain controller stands out for its distinctive blend of highly efficient AI processing, advanced image signal processing, and ultra-low power consumption.
Featuring a next-generation CVflow AI engine with a neural vector processor engine that outpaces the previous generation CV2 SoCs by 20 times, along with a general vector processor, it delivers the comprehensive performance necessary for complete autonomous driving stacks.
Kodiak founder and CEO Don Burnette said: “The CV3-AD685 enables the Kodiak Driver, Kodiak’s autonomous system, to turn sensor data into actionable insight with lower latency, lower power consumption, and higher reliability.
“We are excited to exhibit a Kodiak autonomous truck at Ambarella’s invitation-only event during CES for the second year in a row, demonstrating how our partnership furthers the mission of autonomous trucking.”
