Qualcomm partners with BMW to introduce Snapdragon Ride Pilot automated driving system

Qualcomm

Qualcomm Technologies and the BMW Group announced an automated driving system this week, named Snapdragon Ride Pilot. It is a state-of-the-art Autonomous Driving (AD) system that is powered by Qualcomm’s system-on-chips (SoCs) and is built on top of a software stack, jointly developed by both companies. It has been launched on the recently unveiled BMW iX3, the first production vehicle part of BMW’s Neue Klasse series.

Snapdragon Ride Pilot: Here’s how it works

The Snapdragon Ride Pilot AD system is built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride SoCs and a new Snapdragon Ride AD software stack. It supports AD levels ranging from the entry-level New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) to Level 2+. Moreover, Snapdragon Ride Pilot is validated for use in more than 60 countries, with plans to expand it to 100 countries in 2026.

“Our collaboration with BMW’s world-class engineering team has been truly transformative, enabling us to build a world-class system which is now available to bring the safety and comfort benefits of automated driving to consumers across all regions and vehicle tiers,” said Nakul Duggal, Group GM, Automotive and Industrial & Embedded IoT, Qualcomm Technologies.

As mentioned earlier, the Snapdragon Ride Pilot ADAS system is integrated in the all-new BMW iX3. This technology uses a 360-degree perception camera-based vision system, which is built on a bird's-eye-view (BEV) architecture for object detection, lane recognition, and parking assistance. The system also enables advanced context-aware driving as it relies on both rule-based models and AI models for behaviour prediction and planning. The company also confirmed that Snapdragon Ride Pilot supports over-the-air (OTA) updates and is fully customisable via the Snapdragon Ride SDK.

Further, the BMW iX3 is equipped with Qualcomm's V2X chipset, allowing it to communicate with its surroundings to minimise collisions and avoid unseen risks. Both Qualcomm and BMW have confirmed that this collaboration marks a significant step in automated driving systems, and the technology is now available to all global carmakers and Tier-1 suppliers.