Unmanned has become an irreversible trend in the autonomous driving industry.
Author | Ding Yi
Edit | Zhang Dong
I believe that no one will doubt that from the form of smart cars to the way of future travel, the application of autonomous driving technology is giving birth to unprecedented changes.
For example, under the empowerment of autonomous driving, drivers around the world will be liberated from unpredictable dangers and fatigue, users will be able to enjoy a more personalized intelligent riding experience, public travel methods will be reshaped, and even the traffic efficiency of the entire city can be greatly improved.
However, in order to truly release the social benefits and commercial value of autonomous driving, it is indispensable to achieve "unmanned".
With the evolution of technology, many cutting-edge players at home and abroad have realized the importance of unmanned autonomous driving, and have begun to make corresponding attempts and obtain remarkable results. Taking Baidu in China as an example, it opened the shared unmanned vehicle service to the public in May this year, taking the lead in entering a new stage of driverless commercialization.
In the foreseeable future, the trend of unmanned autonomous driving will become more and more obvious, and the relevant progress will become faster and faster.
Run wild and lead on the right track
Whether it is automatic driving or unmanned driving, its foothold is the carrier of "car", which is inseparable from cooperation with car companies.
Generally speaking, the cooperation between autonomous driving players and car companies for this purpose can be divided into two forms: rear loading and front loading.
In the past few years, the rear installation has become more mainstream and more in line with the development status of the industry, that is, the autonomous driving player purchases a batch of vehicles from the car company, and then modifies and installs the models to make it initially have the function of automatic driving.
But in the long run, the aftermarket package has too many limitations. For example, players need to continuously adjust the configuration and installation of their automatic driving system kits according to the conditions of different models purchased, and if the kit and the car do not fit well, it will also affect the overall automatic driving effect.
In contrast, the front-loading mass production method can be designed according to the needs of automatic driving, which is more extreme in terms of safety and personalized travel, and is more in line with the ultimate form of unmanned driving commercialization.
At present, many autonomous driving players have begun to cooperate with car companies in depth to develop front-loading mass-produced smart cars.
Among them, Baidu has long been well aware of the importance of front-loading mass production, and in 2019, it joined hands with FAW Hongqi to create the first L4-level autonomous passenger car front-loading production line, developed China's first batch of front-loading mass-produced unmanned vehicles, and ran at the forefront of the industry.
After two years of hard work, Baidu ushered in the explosive development of front-loading mass production autonomous vehicles this year. In June, Baidu Apollo and BAIC Jihu jointly released the shared unmanned vehicle Apollo Moon.
Not long ago, Baidu also announced a cooperation with Weima and Aian on Apollo Day for Apollo Moon. As a result, the Apollo Moon is no longer a simple car, but a product line.
As Baidu Apollo's fifth-generation L4 level autonomous driving mass production model, Apollo Moon can meet the needs of stable and reliable driverless driving, which is its most basic capability.
At the same time, as a product for unmanned operation, Apollo Moon also has a number of innovations, including independent control of four-door locks, dynamic identity authentication on and off the bus, and smooth human-computer interaction in the car, bringing passengers a personalized and comfortable riding experience.
More importantly, the front-loading method can help the automatic driving software and hardware system to get on the car through standardized processes, thereby simplifying the complexity, greatly shortening the time of large-scale production and reducing manufacturing costs - for example, the vehicle cost of Apollo Moon has dropped to 480,000 yuan, which is equivalent to one-third of the average cost of the industry's L4 level autonomous driving models, and also belongs to the price range of ordinary mass production passenger cars, providing prerequisites for the commercialization of unmanned vehicles.
Strictly speaking, Apollo Moon has accumulated more than 5 years of operating cycle, coupled with the efforts made in the direction of unmanned in recent years, Baidu has gained a lot.
As of June 17, 2021, Baidu's fully driverless test mileage (without safety officers) has exceeded 250,000 kilometers. At present, the truly unmanned test of open roads is being carried out in Beijing, Changsha, Cangzhou and California.
Such unmanned progress is not only the leading level in China, but also the first echelon even in the world.
In May this year, Baidu also opened a driverless car service for the public in Beijing, entering a new stage of driverless commercialization. This is The first driverless Robotaxi in China and the second in the world to be open to the public.
Achieving unmanned people must cross the safety threshold
From the perspective of results, Baidu's landing in unmanned has made progress that cannot be ignored this year, but in fact, the full unmannedness in front of and behind the scenes is not a one-time thing, if it is impossible to complete the guarantee of safety, unmanned driving is tantamount to a castle in the air, and the development of the industry will become unsustainable.
At present, Baidu has created a mature set of security closed loops, which can be seen on Apollo Moon.
Master system security
According to the data, Apollo's current total test mileage exceeds 18 million kilometers, and is the only Chinese enterprise in the world that has achieved the accumulation of tens of millions of kilometers of road testing, with a daily mileage of 40,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to a daily test around the earth.
Of course, test miles are only a measure dimension, and more importantly, the quality of the data accumulated in test miles. Through the collection and utilization of data, Baidu's autonomous driving technology has iterated rapidly and has been fully recognized.
Nearly 30 cities around the world have opened road tests, obtained 411 chinese autonomous driving test licenses, and obtained 3,400 patents.
Behind these figures is Baidu's "AI old driver" who has been tempered by real road scenes, and it is also the basic premise for the safe realization of Apollo Moon's unmanned operation.
Redundant security
In order to further ensure the safety of unmanned driving, Baidu has also added chassis modifications based on Apollo Moon, which can achieve normal control of vehicles in any extreme situation.
At the same time, Apollo Moon has full sensor and computing unit redundancy, perfect failure detection and degradation processing strategy. Among them, the computing platform has carried out the integrated design of the main computing system and the backup security system for unmanned, simplifying the overall structure and reducing the occupied area. ’
Even if a system fails, it ensures that the vehicle still performs driving instructions, sending passengers to a safe location, driving at a level comparable to that of a human driver. This further adds security to Apollo Moon's unmanned operations.
5G cloud driving
As a remote driving solution, 5G cloud driving is an important supporting service for unmanned driving, based on new infrastructure facilities such as 5G, intelligent transportation, and V2X, which can provide the bottom for Apollo Moon's unmanned operation.
For example, in the face of temporary road changes or traffic control, 5G cloud driving can take over the driverless car as appropriate and change to a parallel driving state to help the vehicle solve the problem.
At present, 5G cloud driving has achieved commercial deployment, with only 1 cockpit, it can be equipped with N unmanned vehicles, greatly reducing operating costs.
The safe and stable front-loading mass production vehicle, the AI old driver with super unmanned driving ability, and the 5G cloud driving that copes with extreme scenarios constitute the three major elements of full unmanned driving, and are also the highest standards and technical thresholds for global automatic driving technology.
Under the combined efforts of the above three elements, Baidu Apollo driverless is evolving at a "triple speed" rhythm and continues to lead the industry.
Seize the peak of unmanned commercial landing
Judging from the current situation of the industry, players led by Baidu have entered the exploration stage of unmanned commercial landing. How to turn technology into commodities and achieve profitability may first need to answer the following three questions:
The first is operation. Today's automatic driving is not a simple product delivery, but a set of products, services in one of the overall solution, if the player does not have the ability to operate, automatic driving is difficult to really play the value of serving passengers. In addition, large-scale operations can also reduce costs.
The second is cost. The direct source of profit for any business, simply understood, is revenue minus costs. But for autonomous driving companies, on the one hand, the cost of equipping the whole vehicle with software and hardware is high; on the other hand, the initial investment in technology research and development is huge.
The third is security. Although autonomous driving at this stage may not achieve zero accidents, in theory, autonomous driving is safer than human driving. Only if the technology is safe enough will people be more willing to embrace this new technology.
In response to these three questions, the above has more or less mentioned the answer to Baidu, including but not limited to years of accumulated technical precipitation and rich operational experience; the creation of pre-installed mass production vehicles, which further reduces the cost of the vehicle and improves the reliability of the system; and the 5G cloud driving solution.
Based on these forward-looking layouts, Baidu Apollo has begun the normal commercial operation of driverless Robotaxi in May this year; in November this year, Radish Run officially began to operate in Yizhuang for a fee, and plans to further expand investment in the business after the demonstration operation service work has made some progress, and the commercial pilot service of Radish Run can be described as quite rapid.
Based on the blessing of radish run and Apollo Moon built for unmanned, Baidu has been able to provide users with more driverless experience models.
In the future, different versions of models will form a regional deployment, which can not only accumulate more road data and explore more scenarios, but also further optimize the management structure and reduce unmanned operating costs, support the commercialization of Baidu driverless, and promote the positive development of unmanned landing in the industry.
The realization of unmanned, on the one hand, the player's own efforts, on the other hand, depends on the government's loosening.
As a highland for the development of autonomous driving in China, Beijing is the highest in the country in terms of the scale of licenses, the number of testing enterprises, the scale of demonstration areas, overall planning and management standards.
This year, the Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone (hereinafter referred to as the "Policy Pilot Zone") was officially opened, and the "Overall Implementation Plan of the Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone" was released, aiming to establish a "policy-friendly" industrial development and business environment. It is mentioned that autonomous driving companies are allowed to evacuate safety personnel from autonomous vehicles within the year, and enterprises are allowed to provide charging services in the course of commercial operations.
There is no doubt that friendly policies such as these will further accelerate the commercialization of unmanned driving.
summary
Unmanned has become an irreversible trend in the autonomous driving industry, and Baidu continues to open up the imagination space of unmanned driving and commercial landing scenarios.
With diversified layout and clear thinking, Baidu Apollo has become a leader in the field of unmanned driving in China and even the world.
Under the leadership of Baidu, other autonomous driving players and car companies, the real era of driverless driving is accelerating.
END
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