What’s Happening: TuSimple, a leading autonomous driving technology company, has announced the introduction of its TuSimple Domain Controller (TDC). The TDC is a central compute unit designed for autonomous trucks, providing a single-box, central compute platform for advanced commercial mobility.
Why It Matters: The proprietary TDC is part of a larger trend in the industry, moving from edge computing to centralized platforms that can process more data, fuse multiple sensor modalities, and enable complex driving operations. It aims to offer a range of autonomy solutions, including next-generation ADAS, perception fusion modules, and L4 autonomy. The TDC’s benefits include better integration, lower power consumption, faster development cycles, and reduced costs for end-users.
Key Points:
- The TDC is a result of a multi-year project that began in January 2022, following the announcement of using NVIDIA technology to develop a proprietary domain controller.
- B-sample units are currently being tested and validated, while C-sample units are expected to ship in Q2 2023, and production units in Q4 2023.
- The TDC is powered by the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin™ SoC and supports next-generation ADAS projects for commercial vehicles in the Chinese market, with potential expansion to the US and European markets.
- TuSimple intends to use the TDC for computational redundancy in powering its L4 autonomous driving solution and expects the next generation TDC to replace the primary computational system for OEM production-ready L4 autonomous vehicles.
Bottom Line: TuSimple’s introduction of the TuSimple Domain Controller marks a significant advancement in autonomous driving technology. The TDC will provide OEMs, partners, and customers with a fully integrated, low-cost, and high-performance autonomy solution, paving the way for further innovations in the commercial vehicle industry.
