Why Volvo’s Gemini AI Is a Game-Changer for Your Next Car
▼ Summary
– Volvo is unveiling its new EX60 electric SUV, built on a new EV-only platform featuring advanced design trends like a cell-to-body battery.
– The vehicle’s new software-defined platform is named HuginCore, inspired by the Norse raven that gathered information for the god Odin.
– According to a Volvo executive, HuginCore collects data from the vehicle’s sensors to understand its surroundings and anticipate future conditions.
– The platform is a second-generation system that incorporates lessons learned from the challenging development and launch of the earlier EX90 model.
– The new SPA3 platform’s arrival does not mean Volvo will abandon support for existing vehicles using the previous SPA2 architecture.
Volvo’s upcoming EX60 SUV represents a significant leap forward in automotive technology, built upon a completely new electric vehicle platform designed from the ground up. This advanced foundation incorporates cutting-edge features such as a cell-to-body battery pack, large weight-saving castings, and a sophisticated electronic architecture powered by computers capable of over 250 trillion operations per second. This software-defined platform, named HuginCore, is central to the vehicle’s intelligence, drawing inspiration from Norse mythology where Hugin was one of Odin’s ravens sent to gather information from across the realms.
Alwin Bakkenes, head of global software engineering at Volvo Cars, explains the analogy. The company already features the “Thor’s Hammer” headlight design, and now HuginCore serves as the modern counterpart to the mythological raven. This platform collects data from every sensor and actuator in the vehicle, processes the surrounding environment, and enables the car to anticipate what lies ahead on the road. This capability is foundational to the new generation of Volvo’s driver-assistance and safety systems.
HuginCore is not Volvo’s first foray into this technology; it is a second-generation platform that incorporates hard-earned lessons from earlier models like the EX90. Bakkenes acknowledges the challenging journey of transforming into a tech company with full control over its hardware and software stack. The initial launch of the EX90 presented hurdles, but the insights gained have been directly applied to refine and enhance the development of the EX60, ensuring a more robust and capable system from the start.
The new architecture, known internally as Scalable Product Architecture 3 (SPA3), brings good news for current Volvo owners. The introduction of SPA3 and HuginCore does not mean that vehicles built on the previous SPA2 platform will be left behind. Volvo has emphasized its commitment to supporting its existing customer base, ensuring that over-the-air updates and continued software development will maintain the relevance and functionality of earlier models. This approach underscores Volvo’s strategy of building a cohesive and evolving ecosystem, rather than leaving older technologies obsolete as new ones arrive.
(Source: Ars Technica)
