First European demonstrations of Ambarella’s fully autonomous EVA (Embedded Vehicle Autonomy) car to take place on public roads in Parma, Italy
Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA) a leading developer of low-power, HD and Ultra HD video processing semiconductors, is today commemorating the twenty-year anniversary of MilleMiglia in Automatico, one of the world’s first tests of an autonomous vehicle on public roads. With this test, VisLab S.r.l., then part of the University of Parma and today an Ambarella company, was first to use vision technology to autonomously drive a car utilizing only low-cost camera and computing solutions.
To commemorate the anniversary, Ambarella will offer its first European demonstrations of EVA (Embedded Vehicle Autonomy), the company’s recently unveiled, fully-autonomous car. Demonstrations will take place on public roads in Parma, Italy. EVA utilizes high-resolution stereovision cameras to deliver the 360-degree short- and long-distance viewing capability required for advanced perception and precise self-location. The cameras use Ambarella’s CV1 embedded computer vision SoCs based on Ambarella’s CVFlow™ architecture, which automotive manufacturers can leverage to develop their own autonomous vehicles.
“It’s exciting to see that our early vision technologies are now considered among the most promising sensing technologies for autonomous driving,” said Dr. Alberto Broggi, founder of the VisLab group and now General Manager of Ambarella, Italy. “I feel fortunate to have had the chance to participate in shaping autonomous driving technology in its early years, when very few people understood this opportunity. Twenty years later, we are quite pleased to be showcasing CV1 to European automakers for their consideration in the development of their own autonomous vehicles.”
About VisLab’s MilleMiglia in Automatico Test
VisLab’s MilleMiglia in Automatico was held on June 1-6, 1998. Led by Dr. Alberto Broggi, VisLab engineers equipped ARGO, their autonomous car, with off-the-shelf cameras and a PC loaded with their computer vision algorithms. ARGO was capable of detecting lane markings and any obstacle or vehicle in front of the car. For the test, ARGO successfully drove itself in regular traffic, over the course of six days, on the route of the historic Italian MilleMiglia.
This pioneering test is still considered a milestone in the history of intelligent vehicles and established VisLab as a key player in the early stages of the autonomous driving arena. It not only helped improve perception technology by exposing it to many different scenarios in different countries, but the acquisition of all data throughout the trip marked another important step in autonomous driving: the database created by VisLab was a precursor of current big data, now widely used for deep learning.
The vision technology initially developed for ARGO in 1998 progressed over the years and became the basis for other unique VisLab challenges. These challenges include the world’s first intercontinental autonomous vehicle trek, which began in Parma, Italy and traversed roads to Shanghai, China, and the world’s first truly “driverless” open road test, conducted in downtown Parma by VisLab in 2013.
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About Ambarella
Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA), is a leading developer of low-power, high-definition (HD) and Ultra HD video compression, image processing and computer vision solutions. The company’s products are used in a variety of IP security, sports, wearable, drone and automotive video cameras. Ambarella’s solutions leverage over 20 years of pioneering research in computer vision to enable future generations of intelligent cameras, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and autonomous vehicles. For more information about Ambarella, please visit www.ambarella.com.
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