Volvo teams with chip maker Nvidia to build self-driving cars

June 27 (UPI) -- Sweden's Volvo Car Group announced a collaboration Tuesday with two computer hardware makers to make self-driving cars available for sale by 2021.

Volvo will team with Autoliv AB, a Swedish-American supplier of automotive safety systems, and California-based computer chip manufacturer Nvidia Corp. Volvo's vehicles will use Nvidia's Drive PX computer, a hardware array that can process data from 12 video streams while also processing information from radar, lidar and ultrasonic sensors installed on a vehicle.

Nvidia and Volvo previously collaborated on an experimental self-driving car project referred to as Drive me, but the new initiative seeks to mass-produce vehicles for sale to customers. Zenuity, a joint venture between Volvo and Autoliv, will provide self-driving software.

"This cooperation with Nvidia places Volvo Cars, Autoliv and Zenuity at the forefront of the fast-moving market to develop next-generation autonomous driving capabilities and will speed up the development of Volvo's own commercially available autonomous drive cars," Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said Tuesday in a statement.