Volvo Cars will use the NVIDIA's DrivePX 2 deep learning- based computing engine to power a fleet of 100 Volvo XC90 SUVs in the carmaker’s autonomous car pilot programme.

Autonomous technology is an important contributor to Volvo’s Vision 2020 – its guiding principles for creating safer vehicles.

“Our vision is that no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo by the year 2020,” said Marcus Rothoff, director of the autonomous driving programme at Volvo Cars.

“NVIDIA’s high-performance and responsive automotive platform is an important step towards our vision and perfect for our autonomous drive program and the Drive Me project.”

Volvo’s Drive Me autonomous pilot programme will equip the luxury cars with the NVIDIA Drive PX 2 engine, which uses deep learning to navigate the complexities of driving.

The cars will operate autonomously on roads around Gothenburg, the carmaker’s hometown, and semi-autonomously elsewhere.

The NVIDIA Drive PX 2 engine enables cars to utilise deep learning – a form of artificial intelligence – to recognise objects in their environment, anticipate potential threats and navigate safely.

With eight teraflops of processing power – equivalent to 150 MacBook Pros – it processes data from multiple sensors in real time, providing 360-degree detection of lanes, vehicles, pedestrians, signs and more, to enable a variety of autopilot functions.