Vay, a Berlin-based provider of automotive-grade remote driving (teledriving) technology, is offering an alternative approach to autonomous driving.
Through the company’s app, a user can hail a car, and a professionally trained teledriver will remotely drive the vehicle to the customer’s location. Once the car arrives, the user manually drives it.
After completing their trip, the user can end the rental in the app and pull over to a safe location to exit the car, away from traffic flow. There’s no need to park the vehicle, as the teledriver will handle the parking or drive the car to the next customer.
This system offers sustainable, door-to-door mobility, with the unique advantage of having a human driver remotely controlling the vehicle in real time.
Vay’s technology is built on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX centralized compute platform, running the NVIDIA DriveOS operating system for safe, AI-defined autonomous vehicles.
These technologies enable Vay’s fleets to process large volumes of camera and other vehicle data over the air. DRIVE AGX’s real-time, low-latency video streaming capabilities provide enhanced situational awareness for teledrivers, while its automotive-grade design ensures reliability in any driving condition.
“By combining Vay’s innovative remote driving capabilities with the advanced AI and computing power of NVIDIA DRIVE AGX, we’re setting a new standard for remotely driven vehicles,” said Justin Spratt, chief business officer at Vay. “This collaboration helps us bring safe, reliable and accessible driverless options to the market and provides an adaptable solution that can be deployed in real-world environments now — not years from now.”
High-Quality Video Stream
Vay’s advanced technology stack includes NVIDIA DRIVE AGX software that’s optimized for latency and processing power. By harnessing NVIDIA GPUs specifically designed for autonomous driving, the company’s teledriving system can process and transmit high-definition video feeds in real time, delivering critical situational awareness to the teledriver, even in complex environments. In the event of an emergency, the vehicle can safely bring itself to a complete stop.
“Working with NVIDIA, Vay is setting a new standard in driverless technology,” said Bogdan Djukic, cofounder and vice president of engineering, teledrive experience and autonomy at Vay. “We are proud to not only accelerate the deployment of remotely driven and autonomous vehicles but also to expand the boundaries of what’s possible in urban transportation, logistics and beyond — transforming mobility for both businesses and communities.”
Reshaping Mobility With Teledriving
Vay’s technology enables professionally trained teledrivers to remotely drive vehicles from specialized teledrive stations equipped with industry-standard controls, such as a steering wheel and pedals.
The company’s teledrivers are totally immersed in the drive — road traffic sounds, such as those from emergency vehicles and other warning signals, are transmitted via microphones to the operator’s headphones. Camera sensors reproduce the car’s surroundings and transmit them to the screens of the teledrive station with minimum latency. The vehicles can operate at speeds of up to 26 mph.
Vay’s technology effectively addresses complex edge cases with human supervision, enhancing safety while significantly reducing costs and development challenges.
Vay is a member of NVIDIA Inception, a program that nurtures AI startups with go-to-market support, expertise and technology. Last year, Vay became the first and only company in Europe to teledrive a vehicle on public streets without a safety driver.
Since January, Vay has been operating its commercial services in Las Vegas. The startup recently secured a partnership with Bayanat, a provider of AI-powered geospatial solutions, and is working with Ush and Poppy, Belgium-based car-sharing companies, as well as Peugeot, a French automaker.
In October, Vay announced a $35 million investment from the European Investment Bank, which will help it roll out its technology across Europe and expand its development team.
Learn more about the NVIDIA DRIVE platform.