Mercedes-Benz accelerates robotaxi development

Mercedes-Benz has announced plans to develop a robotaxi ecosystem based on the new S-Class, partnering with technology companies including Nvidia and Momenta, with mobility providers Uber and Lumo planning to operate the vehicles in multiple regions. The automaker said the S-Class integrates redundancies for steering, braking, compute, and power supply to enable fail-safe operation, with its MB.OS operating system serving as the platform for driverless shuttle services in America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Nvidia will implement its Drive Hyperion architecture and Drive AV Level 4 software for the ecosystem being developed with Mercedes-Benz and Uber. Mercedes-Benz and Momenta announced a separate Level 4 project at the end of last year to develop a robotaxi experience based on the S-Class, with mobility provider Lumo—a subsidiary of technology company K2—planning to operate shuttles initially in Abu Dhabi. The first S-Class robotaxi test vehicles will be deployed on roads in Abu Dhabi later this year.

In a statement, Jörg Burzer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Chief Technology Officer, Development and Procurement, said: “The next step on our roadmap is to enable a robotaxi experience based on the new S-Class. To accomplish our goal, we have strong industry-leading partners at our side. For us, these partnerships mark the beginning of our entry into the robotaxi market with the S-Class and MB.OS as the ultimate platform.”

Source: Mercedes-Benz