GM News: GM's Ultra Cruise ADAS To Debut On Cadillac CELESTIQ With View 360

[G. David Felt]

This story started back in January 2022 at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, where GM CEO Mary Barra revealed that the Cadillac CELESTIQ, the Halo top-of-the-line car for Cadillac, would debut the next generation of Super Cruise, Ultra Cruise.

To ensure maximum coverage of its surroundings, vehicles equipped with Ultra Cruise would use the following:

• High-resolution cameras
• Short and Long-range radar
• Sonar
• Lidar

Super Cruise a less sophisticated system is already available on almost all GM vehicles allowing for hands free driving on over 400,000 roadways that GM has mapped out.

GM is claiming that with Ultra Cruise, it will handle 95% of roadways, including those in dense urban settings. Ultra Cruise sensor Suite at the time of the announcement at CES.

 

With this information, GM announced today, March 7th, 2023, that Ultra Cruise will debut with a unique sensor suite, providing the system with a 360-degree view of the vehicle's surroundings.

Per the GM press release:

How Ultra Cruise’s sensor suite works:

GM is developing Ultra Cruise software in-house with a team of highly skilled software engineers worldwide. The company also works with suppliers who are experts in their relative spaces and integrates their sensing technologies with its homegrown software to bring Ultra Cruise to life.

• Driver attention system: This small camera, located on the top of the steering column, uses infrared light to help monitor the driver’s head position and/or eyes in relation to the road to help ensure driver attention.
• Compute platform: This is the physical hardware that enables Ultra Cruise. The system will be powered by a scalable compute architecture featuring system-on-chips (SoCs) developed by American semiconductor company Qualcomm Technologies.
• Long-range cameras: These seven, eight-megapixel cameras are located on the front, corners, back and sides of the vehicle, providing expanded fields of view for Ultra Cruise. They help the system detect objects such as traffic signs, traffic lights, other vehicles, and pedestrians.
• Short-range radars: Placed on the four corners of the vehicle, these radars help sense a radius of up to 90 meters, like pedestrians crossing the street or vehicles in surrounding lanes.
• Long-range radars: The three 4D long-range radars on the front and back of the vehicle allow for Adaptive Cruise Control speeds and lane change maneuvers at highway speeds by helping to detect an object’s location, direction and elevation relative to the speed of the vehicle. They also help the system determine safe stopping distances.
• LiDAR: The LiDAR, located behind the windshield, helps produce an accurate three-dimensional view of the scene, enabling more precise detection of objects and road features such as vehicles and lane markings, even in inclement weather conditions. Combined with other sensors, it can help create a robust perception of the environment around the vehicle for Ultra Cruise, increasing the system’s functional domain and performance.

GM chief engineer for Ultra Cruise, Jason Ditman stated the following:

“GM’s fundamental strategy for all ADAS features, including Ultra Cruise, is safely deploying these technologies.”  “A deep knowledge of what Ultra Cruise is capable of, along with the detailed picture provided by its sensors, will help us understand when Ultra Cruise can be engaged and when to hand control back to the driver. We believe consistent, clear operation can help build drivers’ confidence in Ultra Cruise.” 

GM's philosophy for the company is safely deploying advanced driver assistance (ADAS) technologies as a guiding strategy. The destination-to-destination hands-free system will use more than just cameras to “see” the world. Ultra Cruise uses a blend of cameras, short- and long-range radars, LiDAR behind the windshield, an all-new computing system, and a driver attention system to monitor the driver’s head position and/or eyes in relation to the road to help ensure driver attention. These systems work together through “sensor fusion” to provide Ultra Cruise with a confident, 360-degree, three-dimensional representation of the vehicle’s surroundings.

The all-new computing system GM mentions is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Automotive Platform. This is a power-efficient and customizable system designed for incredible speed for lightning-fast responses. Qualcomm built this system to be a connected, intelligent, aware platform that can be upgraded over the air (OTA) and grow as a company needs. 

The Snapdragon system has the following features:

• Optional integrated super-fast LTE Advanced connectivity
• Automotive heterogeneous compute processor with machine learning
• 64-bit Qualcomm® Kryo™ CPU architecture – high performance with support for ARM V8/Hypervisor
• Qualcomm® Adreno™ 530 GPU with improved performance for advanced graphics and 4K resolution
• Support for multiple camera sensors and high-resolution 4K displays
• Zeroth Machine Intelligence Platform supporting cognitive computing and computer vision for real-time recognition of potential hazards on the road
• Scalable platforms allowing integrated driver assistance features such as turn-by-turn navigation overlaid on live camera data.

Those that are tech-focused and want to learn more can click here for additional information on the Snapdragon Automotive Platform.

While Super Cruise, GM's first hands-free driving system, was a Level 2 autonomous driving system, Ultra Cruise will be moving forward to be a full-functioning Level 3 and above system as GM pushes out OTA updates to the system.

Debuting on the Cadillac CELESTIQ in 2024, Ultra Cruise will be offered to start in 2025 on all top-of-the-line EV models, with Super Cruise covering the rest of the automaker's portfolio.

GM's Super Cruise and Ultra Cruise autonomous technology is developed and field-tested through their Cruise subsidiary. This unit is the first company authorized to serve ride-hailing customers in San Francisco.

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[Drew Dowdell]

Ok look... it goes faster than 35mph

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Ok look... it goes faster than 35mph

Right, not only the speed, but unlike Tesla that says they can do Level 5 with cameras only, seems cameras, radar, lidar and 20 plus sensors will be in play to ensure safety for the occupants that cover 95% of North American roads.

Will be interesting to see who is next to get where GM is, but I do not expect anyone soon.

[oldshurst442]

I...um...appreciate the technology.  I TOTALLY get it why this technology exists and is lauded by many. 

But..um...

 

I hate what it represents for actual humans driving and I hate what it will eventually become for EVERYONE driving even though I dont think autonomous driving will EVER be a thing.  I HATE that this technology even exists. I HATE that this technology was even thought of in the first phoquing place.  I have NO intentions of EVER using this technology.  Maybe when Im old and feeble and cant drive for myself but as long as Im a capable human being, there is NO phoquing way that I will EVER give in to this technology because I KNOW where THIS technology will eventually lead us too.   

[Drew Dowdell]

11 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

I...um...appreciate the technology.  I TOTALLY get it why this technology exists and is lauded by many. 

But..um...

 

I hate what it represents for actual humans driving and I hate what it will eventually become for EVERYONE driving even though I dont think autonomous driving will EVER be a thing.  I HATE that this technology even exists. I HATE that this technology was even thought of in the first phoquing place.  I have NO intentions of EVER using this technology.  Maybe when Im old and feeble and cant drive for myself but as long as Im a capable human being, there is NO phoquing way that I will EVER give in to this technology because I KNOW where THIS technology will eventually lead us too.   

I have a love/hate relationship with it.

I love to drive, but all the idiots out there ruin it for me.  I would much rather everyone else be using autonomous driving. Let them march along like lemmings and I'll finally get to enjoy driving again.

But then when I need to go on a long trip, I'll switch it on while I'm eating my burger.

[oldshurst442]

4 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I have a love/hate relationship with it.

I love to drive, but all the idiots out there ruin it for me.  I would much rather everyone else be using autonomous driving. Let them march along like lemmings and I'll finally get to enjoy driving again.

But then when I need to go on a long trip, I'll switch it on while I'm eating my burger.

I think I will have to adopt your opinion on this.  I like how you justify it and I soooooo agree with this: 

7 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I love to drive, but all the idiots out there ruin it for me.  I would much rather everyone else be using autonomous driving. Let them march along like lemmings

 

 

I just hope that governments and insurances do NOT impose this technology on us and FORCE us to let computers drive for us.  But like I said, I do NOT think that autonomous driving will EVER be a thing as I do NOT think A.I. will EVER be intelligent enough to drive us free will and free thinking humans. Unless of course we (free willing and free thinking humans) allow insurances, governments, corporations and all other oppressive forces take away our free will and free thinking liberties...  

About eating hamburgers while driving but letting the car do most of the lifting.  Yeah...I think that is waaaay safer  so I would probably bend my opposition to this tech and give in.   But I dont usually eat and drive or do anything of a distracting nature to begin with while I drive...so...  I repeat, I will probably be one of the last humans to adopt and adapt to this tech. 

[G. David Felt]

@Drew Dowdell @oldshurst442

I see both sides here and while I am a tech lover, I for local driving have no use for the autonomous driving part as I enjoy driving, Love to handle my own auto and enjoy pushing the limits of the auto on a great road trip.

The flip side of this, is that sadly, we have way more Lemmings that do not want to be responsible for driving from point A to point B. These are the ones that really need this tech as they are terrible dangerous drivers. I cannot tell you how many Tesla especially but all manners of EV or ICE autos that have damage due to the stupidity of the drivers/owners who just do not pay attention to what is around them. 

Just today, I almost got hit in the Costco parking lot due to an oblivious person gets in their auto, starts up and starts backing out without looking. I leaned on my horn as I was behind their auto and they finally stopped and just looked at me and the wife with a blank expression on their face. 

Autonomous driving is for the idiots that cannot seem to think about responsible driving. For the rest of us that enjoy driving, we will ignore it except for two clear points. Eating on a road trip as Drew points out, perfect case for Ultra Cruise. Long road trips where you need to keep going and need a break from the actual driving. I see value in this, especially for long haul truckers where a Level 5 driving over the long interstates makes total sense to me.

[riviera74]

Am I the only one who thinks the new Celestiq looks like it came straight from a 1980s hatchback?  I am sure that the tech is great, but I hope Cadillac will put that tech into a more conventional looking vehicle.  I cannot stand the overall shape of the Celestiq.  Then again, who is the target audience for this 2020s version of a 1980s hatchback?

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, riviera74 said:

Am I the only one who thinks the new Celestiq looks like it came straight from a 1980s hatchback?  I am sure that the tech is great, but I hope Cadillac will put that tech into a more conventional looking vehicle.  I cannot stand the overall shape of the Celestiq.  Then again, who is the target audience for this 2020s version of a 1980s hatchback?

I have always liked the Hatchback look as long as I could fit inside. One of the things I like about the mid 80's Monte Carlo SS Areo.

[oldshurst442]

For me, the way the rear is proportioned, the Celestiq is reminiscent of the Porsche 928.

 

And this would be the Taycan Cross Turismo EV

 

And Rolls Royce's boutique EV that is the Celestiq's closest competitor price wise and possibly market niche.  Celestiq is a sedan while the Spectre is a coupe. 

 

What Im trying to say is that, while the Celestiq is not a handsome car in a classic Cadillac kinda way that we all want to love and adore like say a late 1960s El Dorado or any big black sleek land yacht Cadillac sedan of yore.  It is a par for the course modern EV sedan luxo-barge that is actually quite stylish and better lookin' that what the competition is doing.  The rounded back end that also happens to be a hatch is quite polarizing.  And I think that is the idea Cadillac is going for. To not blend in.  And its not ugly  per se.  Its stylish in a good way.   Its not drop dead gorgeous.  But its not BMW, big slab of  3 box design ugliness either.   Ironically enough, I also like this new 7 Series Bimmer.  BECAUSE its a big ugly slab of horrendousness.  

 

PS:  The Spectre has grown on me.  I like that EV too, now.  At first, I didnt. But now, I do!!!

PSS:  I  much MUCH prefer the Celestiq though.  

The Audi E-Tron GT first. And the Celestiq in second place.  

 

[G. David Felt]

@oldshurst442 those are all good reminders too, when I first saw it, I thought of the 944 Porsche that I always liked.