AI software company Zenseact launches a new generation of safety technology in the Volvo EX90
With the release of Volvo Cars’ fully electric flagship SUV – the Volvo EX90 – Zenseact introduces OnePilot: AI-powered software that will offer drivers a new level of safety.
OnePilot marks the start of Zenseact’s journey to autonomous driving, with both ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and AD (autonomous driving) functionalities. It’s a significant step in the company’s ambition to reduce traffic accidents and create safe roads for everyone.
The path to safe automation
Zenseact’s commitment to automation – to gradually turn cars into perfect drivers – is essentially based on understanding human behavior. The predictive safety principle, a set of threat assessment, decision-making, and verification practices that enhance traffic safety, frames the technology training the software to anticipate and avoid complex traffic situations, much like humans would.
This is done through continuous iterations where the software is fed data from real-life incidents recorded by cars equipped with OnePilot. The data will be stored and form the basis of machine learning and future updates. As a result, continuous deployment of improved software will make the Volvo EX90 safer over time.
“The launch of the Volvo EX90 featuring OnePilot is a milestone in automotive safety. Through its continuous data gathering, the Volvo EX90 will provide us with data from real-world in combination with simulated scenarios, helping us progress towards zero collisions faster,” Ödgärd Andersson, CEO at Zenseact, says.
A critical feature of OnePilot is the ability to handle driving in the dark; the new lidar-based safety technology in the Volvo EX90 can build a 3d point cloud of the environment around it – equally well in darkness and in light – at up to 250 meters ahead. It can thus detect pedestrians and other objects even when visibility is reduced. So lidar-based safety can offer you the chance to avoid the situation altogether.
Different modes for different moods
Moreover, OnePilot includes three modes of operation: Drive, Cruise, and Ride. ‘Drive’ mode is always on, assisting an active driver, while ‘Cruise’ involves autonomous driving elements under the driver’s supervision. ‘Ride’ mode is a fully autonomous solution installed in the car. Ride is currently at the data capture stage, but when validated and deployed, the Volvo EX90 is the first Volvo that’s hardware- and software-ready for unsupervised driving in the future.
As leading safety innovators, Zenseact and Volvo Cars share the mission of zero collisions on the roads. The Volvo EX90 offers a safer and smoother driving experience.
“Volvo Cars is proud to have Zenseact’s cutting-edge technology in the new Volvo EX90, helping to create an invisible shield of safety for drivers,” says Elsa Eugensson, Senior Program Manager AD & ADAS at Volvo Cars.
About Zenseact
Zenseact is an AI software company dedicated to revolutionizing car safety. By designing the complete software stack for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving, our ambition is to help eliminate car accidents and create safe roads for everyone. Zenseact was founded by Volvo Cars, and the teams are based in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Shanghai, China.
About Volvo Car Group
Volvo Cars was founded in 1927. Today, it is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales to customers in more than 100 countries. Volvo Cars is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange, where it is traded under the ticker “VOLCAR B”.
Volvo Cars aims to provide customers with the Freedom to Move in a personal, sustainable and safe way. This is reflected in its ambition to become a fully electric car maker by 2030 and in its commitment to an ongoing reduction of its carbon footprint, with the ambition to be a climate-neutral company by 2040.
As of December 2021, Volvo Cars employed approximately 41,000 full-time employees. Volvo Cars’ head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars’ production plants are located in Gothenburg, Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (US), Chengdu, Daqing and Taizhou (China). The company also has R&D and design centres in Gothenburg, Camarillo (US) and Shanghai (China).