NI and Seagate work to improve autonomous car technology

NI and Seagate Technology Holdings have entered into a new collaboration with a shared focus on enhancing data storage and transfer services.

This includes an advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) record offering, a first for the industry.

The announcement was made during NI Connect, the test and measurement company's digital event for engineers.

The offering combines NI's Data Record System AD in-vehicle data logger for ADAS and autonomous vehicles with Seagate's Lyve Mobile edge storage and data transfer service.

This enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers to efficiently leverage data to ensure the safety and reliability of the next generation of autonomous vehicles, the companies state.

According to the companies, the latest autonomous vehicles require more real road data than ever before, making efficient data storage all the more important.

With this ADAS record offering, OEMs and suppliers can modernise their data storage strategy from self-managed to storage as a service (StaaS), leading to reduced costs and efficient storage.

NI senior vice president and general manager of the transportation business unit Chad Chesney says, "Seagate's Lyve Mobile helps avoid lengthy lead times and added cost for edge data storage hardware by moving from a CapEx to an OpEx model.

"As we announced at NI Connect, this collaboration with Seagate is a key component of how NI will accelerate the product life cycle for ADAS components and autonomous vehicles.

"Our open, partner-driven approach connects experts across an entire workflow to improve quality, speed and outcomes on the path to Vision Zero.

Seagate's Lyve Mobile accelerates access to the data collected by autonomous vehicles for analysis and algorithm optimisation. Lyve Mobile Array can be directly mounted to the vehicle's trunk and can store all the data in real time.

After the data logging ride has been completed, it can be transported to the closest edge data center and can directly transfer the data for immediate use.

Seagate vice president for Lyve Mobile solutions Melyssa Banda says,  "The combined offering from NI and Seagate provides a scalable model that significantly reduces the total cost of ownership of ADAS and automated driving data storage and transfer solutions.

The collaboration between NI and Seagate is positioned to grow beyond this initial offering. Together, they plan to build a comprehensive portfolio for data storage and transfer from the vehicle to the cloud, allowing OEMs to share data more efficiently and reduce development time and cost, according to a statement.

As NI's preferred partner for in-vehicle storage, Seagate intends to provide mass data storage solutions to complement and enhance NI's offerings.