Many places in China have begun offering autonomous driving services to citizens. In Chengdu, citizens at Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone are able to ride in autonomous driving cars and buses via a mobile app.

 

Hailing a driverless taxi is no longer a science fiction scenario, but a reality in several Chinese cities. In Chengdu, these autonomous taxis are equipped with Level four autonomous driving capability. By sensing road conditions with nine cameras and a laser radar on the car roof, the vehicle is able to form a digital twin platform of real-time traffic status, allowing the AI inside the taxi to solve problems.

 

 

"I feel very safe in the autonomous driving car. It will slow down to avoid traffic when it encounter motorcycles and big trucks on the road. It also recognize traffic lights."

 

The premise of large-scale use is to reduce costs. By improving technology and cutting labor costs, companies say autonomous driving could cut taxi fares in half.

 

"We've taken the driver's configuration out of the car design. As sensors and computing units can be mass-produced at a standard level, and with the supply chain is maturing, we can further drive down the cost of autonomous cars," said Yang Qing, the general manager of Intelligent Transportation Business in Sichuan, Baidu.

 

In the process of autonomous driving, a safety officer is able to remotely control a car via 5G networks, until they are eventually replaced by AI technology.

 

 

Fully autonomous driving doesn't need any human intervention, but it requires devices such as high-precision maps and road sensors to relay all the information on the road to the vehicle. As part of smart city construction, the government builds smart infrastructure on both sides of the road.

 

"Commercial landing of autonomous cars is a key link in the construction of a smart city, which can effectively reduce congestion, improve traffic efficiency, and also effectively reduce the occurrence of traffic accidents in the whole city," said  Gu Mingmin, project leader of High-tech Electronic, Chengdu.

 

Major cities in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, are all able to provide automatic driving services on open roads. And in Chengdu, self-driving delivery and cleaning vehicles are expected in the near future.

 

Image source: Fengmian News

Source: CGTN

Edited by Huang Xiaomei