Crystal Group RACE accelerates autonomous vehicle, UAS development in $7T market

HIAWATHA, Iowa. Crystal Group Inc., a designer/manufacturer of rugged computer hardware for industry and defense, is introducing the first product in the new Crystal Group Rugged Autonomous Computer Equipment (RACE) line engineered to accelerate autonomous vehicle (AV), automated driving system (ADS), and unmanned vehicle projects, including those involving unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) also known as drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The Crystal Group RACE0161 high-performance, rugged computer is designed to help engineers shorten development time, and bring autonomous vehicle innovations to market ahead of their competitors – which can be critical in the fast-paced autonomous technology market, which is estimated to be worth trillions of dollars.

Crystal Group’s latest autonomous vehicle computer, the RACE0161 provide autonomous vehicle (AV) and automated driving system (ADS) developers with impressive compute power, data-handling capabilities, and storage capacity in a compact, rugged solution capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions, such as extreme temperatures and high altitudes. Autonomous driving technology is quickly ushering in a new economy predicted to achieve unprecedented growth and reach $7 trillion by 2050, according to a new study by Intel Corp. and Strategy Analytics.

Crystal Group and Intel have partnered to provide autonomous systems to several leading automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); the partnership will continue to tap the booming autonomous market with leading-edge technology with Crystal Group’s new RACE offerings, officials say. Crystal Group also offers its award-winning RS363S15F 3U Rugged Server, designed and developed in collaboration with Intel, for use in autonomous vehicles.

Crystal Group’s latest autonomous vehicle computer provides the horsepower needed to drive AV and ADS projects forward, officials say, by combining robust I/O, multiple GPU capacity, dual Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, sophisticated thermal management, and other high-quality components stabilized in a rugged, aluminum enclosure measuring 6.5 x 14.1 x 15.6 inches and weighing 30 to 40 pounds.

Processing LIDAR, RADAR, image data and performing sensor fusion in real time, the Crystal Group RACE0161 combines compute power, data-handling capabilities, and storage capacity in a compact, rugged solution capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions, including collisions and extreme temperatures that are likely to cause traditional systems to fail.

“The new RACE0161 and the entire line of Crystal Group RACE products ease AV and ADS development and give our customers the advantage of quick time-to-market with a safe, reliable, high quality AV solution,” Crystal Group Executive Vice President of Engineering Jim Shaw says. “Our RACE solutions leverage decades of experience engineering rugged, reliable compute solutions for U.S. and international military programs, as well as some of the world’s largest car manufacturers.”

Crystal Group RACE systems are built for safety and reliability, benefitting from the company’s 30 years of experience tailoring high-performance, fail-safe rugged hardware for hundreds of military and aerospace missions, as well as challenging industrial, critical infrastructure, and commercial programs, including some of the hottest OEM autonomous vehicles, officials say.

Crystal Group Inc., maker of rugged computer hardware, specializes in the design and manufacture of custom and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) rugged servers, embedded computing, networking devices, displays, power supplies, and data storage for high reliability in harsh environments. An employee-owned small business founded in 1987, Crystal Group provides the defense, government and industrial markets with in-house customization, engineering, integration, configuration management, product lifecycle planning, warranty, and support services.

Crystal Group products meet or exceed IEEE, IEC, and military standards (MIL-STD-810, 167-1, 461, MIL-S-901); are backed by warranty (5+ year) with in-house support; and are manufactured in the company’s Hiawatha, Iowa, USA, facility certified to AS9100C:2009 and ISO 9001:2008 quality management standards.

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