Kodiak Robotics Enhances Autonomous Trucks With AI System-on-Chip

January 4, 2023

Kodiak to exhibit self-driving truck at Ambarella event in Las Vegas during 2023 Consumer Electronics Show

Kodiak Robotics started a partnership with Ambarella, an edge AI semiconductor company, to integrate Ambarella’s CV2AQ AI perception system-on-chip (SoC) into its self-driving trucks for all camera data processing.

To kick off the partnership publicly, Kodiak will exhibit one of its self-driving trucks at Ambarella’s demo event in Las Vegas during the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

“Our focus on building the world’s safest and most reliable self-driving trucks requires us to seek out the best partners,” said Don Burnette, Founder and CEO, Kodiak. “Ambarella’s track record in building some of the market’s most advanced processors makes it an ideal partner for Kodiak. Ambarella’s focus on ADAS and autonomous technologies aligns our roadmaps even more closely. Lastly, Ambarella’s proven supply chain adds the confidence that its technology will be available to us when we need it.”

Taking a safety-first approach, Kodiak continually evaluates technologies and hardware that enhance its self-driving system. By incorporating the Ambarella CV2AQ SoC in Kodiak’s self-driving system, Kodiak is optimizing its camera data processing capabilities. The CV2AQ includes Ambarella’s proprietary CVflow® AI engine, and provides industry-leading AI performance per watt along with advanced imaging capabilities.

“We are excited to be working with Kodiak, to showcase our cutting-edge CV2AQ SoC family in their autonomous long-haul trucks,” said Fermi Wang, President and CEO, Ambarella. “We are providing the trucking industry with the processors it requires to commercialize higher levels of autonomy, and with Kodiak as a partner, we’re confident in our ability to serve this vital segment of the emerging self-driving industry.”

Kodiak is also exploring the integration of Ambarella’s new CV3-AD AI domain controller SoC family as a complete embedded compute solution for its next generation of autonomous trucks. The CV3-AD family provides single-chip processing for multi-sensor perception—including high-resolution camera, radar and lidar—as well as deep fusion for multiple sensor modalities and AV path planning.