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Volvo Cars Leverages AI And Virtual Environments To Enhance Vehicle Safety Software
Volvo Cars is leveraging AI-generated virtual worlds to advance its safety software, including driver assistance systems (ADAS), aiming for enhanced vehicle safety. By synthesising incident data from advanced sensors in their vehicles, they can reconstruct and explore these incidents in innovative ways to prevent future occurrences. This process is facilitated by Gaussian splatting, a computational technique that creates realistic 3D scenes from real-world visuals.
With Gaussian splatting, Volvo Cars can manipulate virtual environments by altering road users or traffic behaviours to produce varied outcomes. This enables the exposure of safety software to diverse traffic scenarios at unprecedented speed and scale. The company can now develop software that effectively handles complex and rare 'edge cases,' reducing the time needed for exposure from months to mere days.
Volvo Cars' collaboration with Zenseact, an AI and software firm founded by Volvo, aids in developing these virtual environments. These environments are used alongside real-world testing for training, development, and validation of software due to their safety, scalability, and cost-efficiency. The project is part of a PhD programme with leading Swedish universities exploring neural rendering techniques for future safety initiatives.
The initiative receives sponsorship from the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP). Alwin Bakkenes, Head of Global Software Engineering at Volvo Cars, stated: "We already have millions of data points of moments that never happened that we use to develop our software." He added that Gaussian splatting allows them to expand rare scenarios into thousands of variations for model training and validation.
Volvo Cars has a longstanding history of using data to enhance vehicle safety. Since the 1970s, their Safety Research team has been pivotal in developing world-renowned safety features. Initially using basic tools like measuring tapes at accident scenes, they gathered crucial data inspiring innovations such as the Whiplash Injury Protection System.
Today’s advanced technology enables smarter data usage to prevent risky situations. The integration of NVIDIA technology allows Volvo Cars to explore techniques like Gaussian splatting further. Their new generation electric cars utilise NVIDIA accelerated compute for better sensor data collection and understanding of car surroundings.
NVIDIA Collaboration
An AI supercomputing platform powered by NVIDIA DGX systems contextualises this data, unlocking insights and training future safety models. This platform is part of a significant investment by Volvo Cars and Zenseact in establishing one of the largest data centres in the Nordics. It aims to improve AI development speed and efficiency.
The exploration of Gaussian splatting and generative AI was featured at the NVIDIA GTC conference. This presentation is available live or on demand through a provided link.
Volvo's Financial Achievements
In 2024, Volvo Car Group achieved a record-breaking core operating profit of SEK 27 billion. Their revenue reached an all-time high of SEK 400.2 billion with global sales hitting 763,389 cars. Founded in 1927, Volvo Cars is now one of the most respected car brands worldwide with sales across over 100 countries.
The company trades on Nasdaq Stockholm under "VOLCAR B" and aims for full electrification while reducing its carbon footprint towards net-zero emissions by 2040. As of December 2024, Volvo employed around 42,600 full-time staff with headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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