Subaru and Dell Advance AI Development for Driver Assist Technology

• Dell storage systems help Subaru store and manage approximately 1,000x more files than before to power next-gen AI solution development
• Subaru Lab reduces storage costs while scaling performance through PowerScale storage tiering capabilities

Subaru Corporation is teaming with Dell Technologies, Inc. to help improve driver safety through the combination of AI and high-performance storage.

The collaboration is indicative of AI’s profound impact on transforming one of the most common means of transportation, aiming to help make it safer for drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

“Subaru is driving massive innovation through data to give motorists an extra set of eyes and an extra foot on the brake while entrusting Dell Technologies to enable this journey as its AI development infrastructure,” said Arthur Lewis, president, infrastructure solutions group, Dell. “As an AI-ready data platform, Dell PowerScale storage allows companies like Subaru to integrate, analyze and use data to deliver impactful insights that advance human progress and transform industries.” 

PowerScale NAS

Subaru can store, manage and use a vast amount of data to advance the development of its next-gen EyeSight Driver Assist Technology with the selection of Dell PowerScale NAS systems. Sold in more than 5.5-million EyeSight-equipped vehicles, today’s EyeSight Driver Assist Technology monitors traffic movement, optimizes cruise control and warns drivers if they sway outside their lane. PowerScale meets the increased IT demand for AI modeling and validation while helping customers easily scale capacity and performance wherever their data resides.

Subaru Lab, the AI development base for Subaru established in 2020, can store approximately 1,000x more files on PowerScale systems than with previous platforms. It now can improve AI image analysis by easily accessing stored files on PowerScale systems deployed in data centers across the Subaru Lab and Tokyo offices, which wasn’t previously possible. The ability to scale and use data flexibly across locations has expanded the possibilities for business expansion.

“As a brand that has built its reputation on trust, we are constantly expanding AI development to increase the reliability in our vehicles while contributing to the greater good,” said Takashi Kanai, deputy chief, Subaru Lab, and manager, ADAS development department, PGM (Advanced Integrated System), engineering division. “While requirements for systems and storage are ever changing, we are confident that Dell PowerScale is up to the task as the underlying infrastructure for EyeSight Driver Assist Technology, allowing us to continue advancing our AI initiatives to improve driver safety.”

EyeSight is the world’s first system to use only stereo camera technology to provide driver assist features such as pre-collision braking, which detects not only cars but also pedestrians and motorcycles in the vehicle’s path, as well as adaptive cruise control.

With its superior recognition capabilities enabled by stereo camera technology, EyeSight has consistently received top ratings from independent agencies around the world and has significantly contributed to Subaru’s preventive safety performance over the years.

A study by Subaru, based on data from Japan’s Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA), has shown that the accident rate of EyeSight-equipped vehicles in Japan is as low as 0.06% ⁽¹⁾.

PowerScale, flexible ⁽²⁾, secure ⁽³⁾ and efficient ⁽⁴⁾ scale-out file storage system to help customers accelerate modern workloads like analytics and AI, allows Subaru Lab to flexibly tier data to lower cost storage options across public, private or hybrid cloud environments. Subaru Lab can also search and retrieve data across these locations to drive AI still image analysis with the solution’s data visualization capability.

⁽¹⁾ Calculated by Subaru based on the number of Subaru vehicles equipped with EyeSight (ver.3) sold from 2014 through 2018 (456,944 units) and ITARDA data (259 rear-end crashes).
⁽²⁾ Based on Dell analysis, February 2023.
⁽³⁾ Based on Dell analysis comparing cyber-security software capabilities offered for PowerScale vs. competitive products, October 2023.
⁽⁴⁾ Based on Dell analysis comparing efficiency-related features: data reduction, storage capacity, data protection, hardware, space, lifecycle management efficiency and ENERGY STAR certified configurations, June 2023.