Many different technology trends are converging at the forefront of autonomous vehicle control, including mapping technologies, mapping and sensor technology advancements, and flash memory technology. And each aspect of innovation plays a critical piece to the puzzle, according to Colm Lysaght (pictured, right), vice president of corporate strategy and innovation at Western Digital Corp.

“The automotive industry is being fundamentally disrupted by data and the autonomous capability to drive cars; it’s a huge shift,” said Lysaght. “We’re very happy to provide the solutions that make that happen, make people safe, and have a system that is reliable and even better than having human drivers.”

Lysaght spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during this year’s Auto Tech Council – Innovation in Motion event in Milpitas, California. They discussed the importance of memory technology in autonomous vehicle control and how Western Digital is positioned to drive value in the autonomous car revolution. (* Disclosure below.)

Reliable flash memory for self-driving vehicles

Flash memory technology is at the core of autonomous vehicles and the ubiquity of data access in general, and it is essential to Western Digital’s portfolio.

“Flash is a highly disruptive technology that has eaten away into both DRAM [dynamic random-access memory] and hard-drive disks over time. As Moore’s law makes it cheaper and cheaper to produce, there are more applications that open up,” Lysaght said.

The core competency in reliability Western Digital has applied to more traditional memory technologies, such as hard drive disks, enable the company to open up flash in applications where data solvency is absolutely critical, such as self-driving vehicles.

“Western Digital has a long history of making systems that are highly reliable that won’t lose data. We can take our capability in flash memory and apply it to this space and others to provide highly reliable systems at affordable prices. And that’s what’s necessary in autonomous driving,” Lysaght concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Auto Tech Council – Innovation in Motion. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Auto Tech Council – Innovation in Motion. Neither Western Digital Corp., the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial influence on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE