OREANDA-NEWS. April 05, 2017. For the second time in three years, NVIDIA received this week a coveted PACE Award – the automotive industry’s equivalent to the Academy Award – this time for the DRIVE PX 2 AI car computer, a platform for building self-driving cars.

The PACE Awards, are judged by a panel of independent industry experts and given by Automotive News. They recognize “superior innovation, technological advancement and business performance,” according to the publication.

A total of 13 awards were given at a black-tie gala in Detroit to a dozen international companies. NVIDIA, the only non-traditional auto supplier to be honored, is seen as a transformative force in the transportation industry, leading the way toward safer, more enjoyable driving.

DRIVE PX 2 enables automakers and tier 1 suppliers to accelerate production of automated and autonomous vehicles. It scales from a palm-sized, energy efficient module for AutoCruise capabilities, to a powerful AI supercomputer capable of autonomous driving.

It can understand in real-time what’s happening 360 degrees around the vehicle, precisely locate itself on an HD map, and plan a safe path forward by combining deep learning, sensor fusion, and surround vision.