Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA announced on October 16 an expansion of their strategic partnership to develop the next generation of driver assistance and automated driving systems. The collaboration combines Mercedes-Benz’s automotive engineering and MB.OS operating system with NVIDIA’s computing architecture, driving software and safety technologies.
According to the companies, the combined systems are intended to support future advanced driver assistance functions and SAE Level 4 automated driving applications, including robolimousines. The announcement did not specify a launch date or identify particular production vehicles that will use the full technology package.
Integrating Vehicle Software, Computing and Safety Systems
The partnership brings together several technologies with distinct roles in the vehicle architecture.
Mercedes-Benz’s MB.OS operating system is designed to support vehicle functions and over-the-air software updates. It will work alongside NVIDIA Hyperion, a computing and sensor architecture intended to provide the hardware foundation for automated driving systems.
NVIDIA’s Alpamayo Stack provides full-stack driving software with AI reasoning capabilities. The companies identify urban point-to-point driving assistance, active safety and automated parking among its intended applications.
NVIDIA Halos adds a safety framework to the system. The companies said a parallel safety stack provides additional redundancy and safeguards alongside the existing Mercedes-Benz safety architecture.
The partnership is intended to integrate these elements into a broader platform for developing and deploying automated driving functions.
Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA Highlight Existing Cooperation
Jörg Burzer, member of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and chief technology officer for development and procurement, described NVIDIA as a key partner in the automaker’s automated driving work.
“NVIDIA is our most important strategic partner in automated driving,”
Burzer said.
“Together, we developed the first Mercedes-Benz assistance system for urban point-to-point driving for the western world.”
Ali Kani, NVIDIA’s vice president of automotive, said the expanded collaboration would build on the companies’ existing work.
“building on NVIDIA Hyperion to bring that intelligence and full-stack safety to the road and make autonomous driving an everyday reality.”
The companies did not provide additional technical specifications or a detailed deployment schedule for the next-generation systems in the announcement.
Cooperation Extends to Vehicle Development and Manufacturing
The Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA partnership also covers engineering simulation and digital manufacturing.
Mercedes-Benz uses NVIDIA technologies in vehicle engineering simulations and in MO360, its digital production ecosystem. These applications support activities ranging from virtual factory planning to AI-based manufacturing processes.
The companies said they are continuing to work on improving efficiency, flexibility and quality across Mercedes-Benz’s global production network.
The expanded automated driving collaboration therefore forms part of a wider relationship covering vehicle software, engineering and production technologies.
