Autonomous driving technology company TuSimple announced today the launch of its domain controller product (TDC – TuSimple Domain Controller) designed and developed based on the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin SoC chip. The product is expected to start mass production and delivery by the end of 2023.
According to the introduction, this product is a self-developed autonomous driving computing platform that meets the vehicle-level standard by TuSimple. It integrates sensor input, high-performance computing, vehicle control unit (VCU), and autonomous driving application software, and can meet the autonomous driving computing needs from L2+ to L4 level.
After multiple rounds of software and hardware system iterations and actual road testing, the B-sample product has been delivered to customers for testing and verification. The C-sample is expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2023. The mass-produced version will cooperate with internationally renowned contract manufacturers, and is expected to be delivered to the Chinese market at the end of 2023, and is expected to gradually enter the European and American markets.
Through seamless cooperation with different configurations of sensors and TuSimple autonomous driving application software, TDC can achieve a series of autonomous driving solutions, summarized as follows:
- ADAS: Commercial vehicle L2+ and conditional L3 ADAS solutions to improve road safety and fuel efficiency.
- Perception fusion module: Software and hardware modules integrate various sensors to provide OEM customers with highly customizable and low-cost full-stack perception solutions.
- L4 autonomous driving: Provides computing power for L4 autonomous driving systems with main control and redundant computing units.
According to TuSimple, unlike most development models on the market that are based on NVIDIA modules, TDC is customized development based on the NVIDIA Orin system-level SoC chip, which can provide more fine-grained scene technology customization capabilities and reduce costs by about 25% compared to the module development model.
For example, TDC will support two cooling solutions, air-cooled and water-cooled, and provide 12V and 24V power supply support. Different combinations of solutions allow customers to choose more flexibly. It is worth mentioning that TDC’s 24V power supply solution can meet the power supply requirements of domestic heavy trucks, and is a unique power supply design solution of TuSimple.
In terms of underlying software, TDC products support AUTOSAR Classic Platform adaptation, AUTOSAR Adaptive Platform integration, and provide SOTA and FOTA solutions, as well as built-in CMOS sensor module and LIDAR driver programs commonly used in the market.
Design and development of TDC products adhere to commercial vehicle design standards, which offer higher stability and safety compared to passenger cars. TDC uses the ASIL-D level QNX operating system and integrates the ASIL-D level Infineon TC397 chip, achieving an overall product functional safety level of ASIL-D.
Source：IThome
