On January 20, Xiaoma Zhixing unveiled for the first time the appearance design, sensor and computing platform solution of the sixth generation of autonomous driving software and hardware system design for L4 vehicle specification mass production. The first model to be equipped with the system is the Toyota S-AM, a hybrid electric platform based on the seven-seat Xena, which will start road testing in China this year and start the daily operation of the Autonomous Mobility Service (Robotaxi) in the first half of 2023.
【Koma Chi Heng's autopilot system for mass production of vehicle specifications is installed on Toyota S-AM models】
The automatic driving system aims at vehicle-level mass production from the aspects of modeling design, parts development and selection, software and hardware coupling, safety redundancy and system assembly production. This is the result of Xiaoma Zhixing's continuous optimization of the performance and cost, appearance and practicality of the overall automatic driving solution since the beginning of the road.
"Promoting the application of autonomous driving technology in the field of passenger cars is one of the important strategic goals of Xiaoma Zhixing. Pony has accumulated more than 10 million kilometers of autonomous driving public road test mileage worldwide, and we will continue to increase our technology investment and expand the scale of Robotaxi's operations. Toyota S-AM models join the PonyPilot+ team, which is another major achievement of the in-depth strategic cooperation between Xiaoma Zhixing and Toyota, and the new generation of automatic driving software and hardware systems designed for mass production of L4 vehicle specifications will further improve technical reliability and promote the large-scale application of autonomous driving technology. Peng Jun, co-founder and CEO of Xiaoma Zhixing, said.
As early as 2019, Xiaoma Zhixing and Toyota began to discuss the feasibility of autonomous driving of the Chinese version of S-AM, and the two sides fully considered the actual scenarios and technical requirements of the application of automatic driving technology, so that this batch of customized S-AM has a dual-redundant system and better control performance for L4 level automatic driving functions. In addition, as an MPV model, the S-AM has a flexible and practical seating space to meet a variety of use scenarios such as family travel.
The autonomous driving hardware and software system is designed for mass production of vehicle regulations
Compared with the previous generation, The new generation of xiaoma zhixing's automatic driving software and hardware system continues to follow the technical route of multi-sensor deep integration (Sensor Fusion), and the number of sensors and the selection of models are fully upgraded towards mass production, and the first large-scale use of solid-state lidar, the total number of sensors is 23, of which the resolution of the self-developed signal light recognition camera is increased by 1.5 times.
The sensor scheme consists of 4 solid-state lidars on the roof; 3 blindfolding lidars distributed on the left and right sides and backwards; 4 millimeter wave angle radars at the four corners of the roof; 1 forward long-range millimeter wave radar; and 11 cameras, 7 on the roof and 4 around the body.
【Sensor Solution】
At the same time, the in-depth research and development of core hardware by Xiaoma Zhixing will be reflected in a new generation of systems - this mass production system solution adopts the Xiaoma Zhixing self-developed vehicle specification-level L4 automatic driving calculation unit, and introduces the vehicle-level NVIDIA DRIVE Orin system-level (SoC) chip, which has higher performance, higher bandwidth, lower latency, and achieves vehicle-level mass production through cooperation with the industrial chain.
Compared with the previous generation of computing units, the new generation is expected to increase the hash rate by at least 30%, reduce the weight by at least 30%, and reduce the cost by at least 30%. Combined with the experience of the previous generation of computing platforms, the water-cooled heat dissipation scheme has also been optimized and upgraded.
Based on the strategic cooperation and in-depth customization with NVIDIA, Xiaoma Zhixing pioneered a variety of computing unit solutions with different chip configurations, based on one or more NVIDIA Orin system-level chips and vehicle-grade Nvidia Ampere architecture GPUs, which can meet the technical requirements of the research and development of autonomous passenger cars and autonomous commercial vehicles at the same time, and accelerate the large-scale mass production of autonomous driving technology.
The new generation of systems has multiple layers of redundancy, including complete software, computing platform and vehicle platform redundancy system, to maximize the balance of scene coverage and safety processing mechanism. In an emergency, safe pullover or parking within the safe lane line can be achieved to minimize safety risks.
"The new system is designed for mass production at the vehicle specification level, and has made qualitative breakthroughs in all aspects such as software, computing power, and safety redundancy. In the process of countless technical iterations, Xiaoma Zhixing has accumulated key technical strengths, and has also taken a solid step towards large-scale application. Xiaoma Zhixing co-founder and CTO Lou Tiancheng said.
Innovative appearance, the first of a number of Robotaxi exclusive design
For the first time, Xiaoma Zhixing demonstrated the appearance of an autonomous vehicle equipped with a new system, aiming to reflect the design concept of a shape closer to mass production, making the perception module more integrated and beautiful.
The new generation of sensor kit adopts a unique front and rear two-stage split design, the front section integrates a solid-state lidar, and the rear end integrates three solid-state lidar, which is greatly reduced compared to the previous generation design, presenting a more lightweight visual experience. The overall design is in line with aerodynamic and vehicle streamlined trends, demonstrating the perfect combination of intelligence and elegance.
【The new generation of sensor kit adopts front and rear two-stage split design】
Combined with the design gene of "scientific and technological manifestation", Xiaoma Zhixing designed the concept lights of the front horizontal ring and the rear vertical three sections on the roof perception module, with an integrated transparent cover to create a sense of scientific and technological futurism for Robotaxi.
【One-piece transparent smoked black cover】
Xiaoma Zhixing has designed an innovative lighting language based on different scene uses, which not only adds visual reference to the operating state of various systems, but also helps Robotaxi users quickly identify pre-ordered autonomous vehicles. This will provide important design trend guidance for robotaxi in the future.