Yunzhong is from Co-Pilot Temple
Smart car reference | Official account AI4Auto
Milestones are coming, and real challenges are beginning.
Friends, when you start taking a taxi there are options:
Human old driver or AI virtual driver, pick which one?
In the past, there may not be a choice, either Robotaxi (self-driving rental) has a special fixed operating area, or the conditions in the same competition are also tilted.
But from today on, AI drivers and human veteran drivers have finally competed for equal work and equal pay, fairly accepting the daily test of ordinary citizens.
This is a new step in the milestone of Xiaoma Zhixing, and it is also a new breakthrough in the history of the entire Robotaxi field.
On April 24, 2022, China's first taxi operation license for an autonomous driving company was issued in Guangzhou.
At the same time, different from the previous test management system, what kind of vehicles, parts and technical standards do autonomous driving companies use for daily taxi operations, and open Robotaxi commercialization, and there are also industry standards.
For the first time, a taxi operating license was issued to an autonomous driving company
The core of this pioneering business license is that Xiaoma Zhixing won the bid for the 2022 taxi capacity index in Nansha District, Guangzhou.
According to the notice of winning the bid, autonomous vehicles that meet the safety technical requirements for the demonstration operation of intelligent and connected vehicles in Guangzhou are allowed to provide taxi operation services.
The Pony Zhixing further revealed that there will be 100 autonomous vehicles to provide taxi services in the early stage.
It is expected that from May, within 803 square kilometers of Nansha, robotaxi services can be called through the PonyPilot+ App developed by Xiaoma Zhixing, and the charging standard will be uniformly priced according to the Taxi in Guangzhou.
Behind a series of substantive developments, it also means that autonomous vehicles, commonly known as Robotaxi, have been officially included in the scope of transportation operation and management of general vehicles, and the standardized management of national unified taxis has been adopted.
And because the charges also refer to the unified pricing, AI drivers and human taxi drivers are objectively in the same arena scene of equal pay for equal work... Instead of the previous separate zone for Robotaxi.
To put it more bluntly: no longer special, no longer discriminating.
Prior to this, self-driving companies offered Robotaxi services in two ways, usually in two ways.
First, in the special ODD area, try first, somewhat special treatment. The second is to cooperate with taxi companies or ride-hailing platforms to provide the option of calling Robotaxi in some permitted areas, which is a kind of travel "added value".
This time, Xiaoma Zhixing has opened up a new path - to independent subjects, open bidding, and accept policies and regulations without discrimination.
In the end, the winning bid was allowed to compete in the same field as other taxi companies in The Nansha District of Guangzhou.
For ordinary citizens, this is no longer a black technology experience, but a daily option that is truly integrated into life.
Of course, getting Robotaxi to no longer be treated with specialization requires extra effort.
A new standard in the autonomous driving industry
This extra effort is also a new standard in the industry that promotes adaptation to the development of new things.
As an autonomous driving company, in addition to meeting the standards required for traditional taxi operations, it also needs to obtain access in a series of safety-related aspects such as technical strength and operational experience.
On another level, it is also a look at safety.
Moreover, the Robotaxi vehicle operated by Xiaoma Zhixing has undergone the inspection of the national testing agency in this time, and it has undergone strict tests from the whole vehicle to the parts, and has become the first automatic driving model to pass the safety technical standards of intelligent and connected vehicles in Guangzhou.
Xiaoma revealed that there is a vehicle rain test in the test, which is carried out according to the vehicle rain requirements that the vehicle should meet the automotive industry standard QC/T 476 "Bus Rainproof Sealing Limit and Test Method" to cope with the extreme weather of Guangzhou's heavy rain.
It is reported that the Guangzhou intelligent network vehicle safety technical standards include a number of national mandatory standards and recommended standards for the automotive industry.
The reason why Xiaoma Zhixing was able to successfully obtain the license is inseparable from its PonyAlpha X as the autonomous driving hardware and software system it carries.
The so-called PonyAlpha X, figuratively speaking, is the automatic driving system currently equipped with Lexus models on the road in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, which has achieved the stability and reliability of the quasi-pre-installation level thanks to the standardized cooperation between The Pony and Toyota in the system design and production process.
So this licensing, and the significance of the Robotaxi industry standard began to be formed and established.
After the pony's wisdom, the latecomers in the industry have traces to follow, experience and standards to reuse.
In addition, it is worth noting that the promotion of new standards is also evidenced by accumulated security operation data.
As early as the end of 2018, Xiaoma Zhixing landed the first Robotaxi normalized trial operation service in Nansha, Guangzhou.
Subsequently, with the permission of the policy, the Robotaxi service was opened to the public in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Irvine, California, and Fremont.
From the technology platform to the operating system, it has been accumulating power for today's commercial robotaxi.
According to the data of the pony, from the launch of the mini-program in December 2018 to the middle of April this year, the PonyPilot+ service has completed more than 700,000 orders, and 99% of the passengers have given positive reviews after completing the trip, and the service satisfaction score has reached 4.9 (5 points).
In addition, in the business side of Robotaxi, since November last year, Xiaoma Zhixing has taken the lead in opening a robotaxi commercialization pilot in Beijing.
It is also this kind of data that has been tested by time and real roads, which has become another proof of the stability and safety of the Robotaxi vehicle system - it can say goodbye to specialization and special treatment.
Finally, whether it is to promote the formation of new standards or the past operational landing experience, it actually points to the large-scale commercialization of Robotaxi.
Pony Chi Heng also began to face new challenges in the commercial operation stage of Robotaxi.
Examples include special long-tail scenarios or operational redundancy in emergency situations.
In the autonomous driving industry, there is a special preparation for 5G cloud driving, that is, the vehicle can be taken over in real time in the cloud, directly helping vehicles that encounter extreme scenarios to get out of trouble.
But Pony Chi Heng has a different plan for this – remote assistance rather than takeover.
On the one hand, the remote assistance system monitors the operation in real time to ensure that it can intervene and play a role in the event of special circumstances.
On the other hand, the core of remote assistance is to issue high-level instructions to the automatic driving system, such as re-planning the route, reversing, etc., so that the system can make decisions based on real-time road conditions, and finally achieve road relief.
The pony side explains that the reason for choosing this way is that the core is for large-scale landing.
Because it does not rely on high-performance network signals such as 5G, it can reduce the dependence on advanced infrastructure and signals, and better ensure the progress of Robotaxi in larger-scale and different regional scenarios.
Therefore, a glimpse of the whole leopard, The breakthrough of Xiaoma Zhixing today has long been laid in the technology research and development of the past 5 years.
AI drivers and human old drivers are finally on an equal footing
It may take some time to look back and see the meaning of the "autonomous driving company taxi license" -
It is a small step for Pony Zhixing, and it will also be a big step for the entire autonomous driving industry.
First of all, this is undoubtedly an important progress in the commercialization of a company by Xiaoma Zhixing, and it is also a milestone in the field of Robotaxi.
Secondly, in the process of landing on a grander autonomous driving, the competition between AI virtual drivers and human old drivers has come to the moment of equal competition and winning the public's vote of trust with strength for the first time.
Let's start with Chi Heng From Ma.
Pony.ai, the recognized technology stream player has always led the industry since its inception at the end of 2016, from technology landing to financing valuation.
In Guangzhou, where autonomous driving players are the most densely populated, with reference to the latest Guangzhou intelligent networked vehicle road test report, Xiaoma Zhixing ranked first in terms of the number of test licenses, the total mileage of tests, test efficiency, and test range.
And since last year began unmanned testing, but also used a 1 hour continuous non-takeover of the peak period of test video excerpts sensational industry.
But on the commercial landing, it faces questions like all self-driving players, especially Robotaxi, a startup engaged in Robotaxi.
As the crown jewel of autonomous driving, Robotaxi has the largest market scale, and the technical difficulties and landing challenges are equally huge.
So even if the prospects are very promising, the realization path and landing timetable are different.
But the avenue to jane, Robotaxi commercial landing, nothing more than three things:
First Policy Permissions. The second technique is ready. Third users are willing to pay.
Today, through testing and obtaining licensing, it has proved that the policy direction and technology are guaranteed.
For the entire Robotaxi field, there is no doubt that it is a positive and a boost.
And because of the public bidding method adopted by Xiaoma Zhixing, the process has also objectively promoted the formation of industry standards, so that the licensing process in different places has a reference available, and other Robotaxi players in the same field have samples to follow.
And, according to the situation of China's urban development, Guangzhou's lead brought by the opening of the atmosphere may not be too long.
As more regions open up licenses for robotaxi commercialization, Robotaxi may accelerate to become part of everyday life in cities.
This is also worth looking forward to for ordinary citizens and users.
After all, this black technology, which was once too hard to be hard, is about to become a ubiquitous everyday life.
If Robotaxi can provide a safer, more comfortable, more efficient, and even more cost-effective travel experience, why not?
However, the conjecture in terms of price competitiveness may have to wait.
In the license of The Pony Zhixing Robotaxi, the safety officer still needs to be in place, and the charging standard also needs to refer to the unified pricing standard of taxis in Guangzhou.
But it is precisely this that may be a better test of the mass market's recognition of AI drivers.
Nowadays, "old drivers" are often used to refer to and describe drivers with rich experience and high driving skills, and taxi drivers are called the representatives of old drivers in the human driver group because of their work, whether it is the length of time or the road conditions and challenges they encounter.
Therefore, Guangzhou's license to Xiaoma Zhixing Robotaxi has objectively formed a situation of mixed human-machine comparison in the market - the price is still the same.
So in their daily travel, do citizens and users trust the AI virtual driver of the new species Robotaxi, or the old human driver who relies more on ordinary taxis?
It became an open and exciting multiple-choice question...
Either option may not affect the big intelligent trend, but it will affect the commercial process of Robotaxi and whether it will be further accelerated.
I believe that soon, users will vote with their feet to give their choices.
Who are you more optimistic about? Looking forward to the commercialization of Robotaxi promoted by Xiaoma Zhixing in Guangzhou in your city?
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