Jan 26 (Reuters) – VinFast has partnered with AI firm Autobrains to develop advanced autonomous driving technology, including a low-cost "Robo-car" system, the companies said on Monday, potentially boosting the Vietnamese EV maker's self-driving tech push. The deal could help the EV maker adopt a cheaper, camera-based autonomy system as it looks to cut costs and accelerate deployment after years of expensive and delayed self-driving bets. For the driver assistance system, the companies said they will concentrate on enhancing the technology for the upcoming VinFast electric vehicles, building on the automaker's existing Level 2 capabilities. Pilot testing of the upgraded assistance technology is already underway on VinFast's VF 8 and VF 9 models, with the aim of gradually rolling out more advanced features across its lineup. The partnership will also explore a new "Robo-Car" self-driving architecture, designed to enable higher levels of autonomy without costly LiDAR sensors, radar arrays or high-definition maps. Similar to Tesla's approach, the system relies on seven standard cameras and a compact, high-performance computing chip, a setup the companies say could deliver autonomous capabilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional approaches. Testing of the Robo-Car system is underway in controlled zones in Hanoi, with plans to expand trials to larger cities and overseas markets, the companies said. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Christina Amann; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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