Currently, the auto industry is producing
vehicles that have novel technological features. No longer solely products of conventional
manufacturing, these cars now have advanced autonomous and electric
capabilities – majorly due to the emergence of tech companies, who are developing
“technology-first” automobiles. To compete in the long run, traditional car
OEMs in this sector must take this shift into account and adapt with the
market.
Traditionally,
the auto industry has been dominated by manufacturing. Companies are
horizontally integrated, and they source various mechanical components of cars
from third parties (known as Tier-1 parts suppliers). After procurement, they integrate
each part together, as planned in ideation, into a finalized vehicle.
However, there are new entrants, in
the form of technology companies. Unlike traditional OEMs, these firms are
vertically integrated. All of their development, particularly within the realm of
tech innovation, occurs internally. Their cars are “technology-first” rather
than just being based solely on the assembly of various mechanical components.
As a result, the rate of innovation
has rapidly increased. Because OEMs normally outsource all AV technology
development to third parties, there exists a lack of innovation within the
companies themselves. On the flip side, technology companies are vertically
integrated – they develop their own AV technology and deploy it onto their own vehicles.
As a result, tech firms are bringing cars with advanced autonomous capabilities
to the hands of consumers exponentially faster than traditional OEMs.
Given this, traditional OEMs must
discover how to quickly enable self-driving capabilities in their cars. With the
constraints that come with horizontal integration, these firms must source a
third party that is developing a state-of-the-art platform to allow their
vehicles to be autonomous. Through this, they can develop “technology-first”
automobiles, allowing them to adapt with the industry as the rate of innovation
speeds up in the realm of vehicle autonomy.
As we drive, our brains use a data
center level of compute while consuming less power than a lightbulb. To mimic
this and facilitate the production of “technology-first” automobiles, cars must
be equipped with a platform that generates a minimum of 75
Tera-Operations-Per-Second (TOPS) of compute for every watt of power
consumption. This unsolved optimization barrier is known as the **visual perception
problem**.
Unlike incumbent solutions, which
are based on legacy technologies such as the GPU, a new one must be created,
purpose-built for autonomous vehicles. Because it will not be constrained from
a technological standpoint, it will allow AVs to flawlessly perceive their
surroundings in real time. Through leveraging key innovations in math, ASIC
architecture, and AI, this solution should solve the **visual perception
problem** outlined above. With these unique capabilities, traditional OEMs should
procure this in order to develop “technology-first” automobiles.
To learn more about Recogni, check out www.recogni.com
By Sidhart Krishnamurthi, Product Management @ Recogni
