The new L5 autonomous car has no steering wheel, pedals and features automated gull-wing doors and a transparent glass roof, all integrated with external sensors. The interior features zero-gravity seats and a large curved intelligent display and control pad. Its doesn't need a human to operate. It can drive independently with the same capability as a human driver. In fact, it could be safer than human drivers too.
Autonomous driving functionality is categorised from levels
1 to 5, with L5 indicating the most intelligent technology. At present, there
are no L5 autonomous vehicles on the roads. Most robotaxis services have L4
autonomy, which means they can perform driving tasks but only in certain
circumstances.
Together, these announcements demonstrate how the Baidu
Apollo intelligent driving program is leading the way towards the era of
autonomous driving 2.0 – shifting from technical verification to large-scale
commercial operation.
"We believe that cars of the future will be robocars.
They will drive autonomously, act as both an intelligent assistant and loyal
companion, and be self-learning," said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of
Baidu, as he unveiled his vision for autonomous vehicles of the future – a
robocar with L5 autonomous driving capabilities.
Li envisions that intelligent vehicles of the future will be
more like intelligent robots: they will move, they will communicate, and they
will learn. The robocar will not only be your vehicle, but also your driver,
secretary, personal assistant. It will drive automatically, understand your
words, take orders and continuously learn from you and upgrade to serve you a
more personalized experience.
Featuring automated gull-wing doors and a transparent glass
roof, all integrated with external sensors, the design of the new robocar is a
dramatic break from traditional vehicles, and even from existing autonomous
vehicles on the market. The interior features zero-gravity seats, a large
curved intelligent display and control pad, with the steering wheel and pedals
notably missing. Complete with voice and facial recognition, and advanced AI
technology, the robocar can analyze the internal and external surroundings and
make predictive suggestions to proactively serve the needs of its passengers.
Li's vision of intelligent vehicles of the future doesn't
stop at the car shown on stage. In his remarks at Baidu World 2021, Li also
spoke about the shift to the autonomous driving 2.0 era, which is marked by a
transition from the technical verification stage to large-scale commercial
operations. Li sees Luobo Kuaipao, the new robotaxi mobile platform that Baidu
announced to prepare for commercial operations of robotaxis, as critical in
this stage, allowing everyone to take part in the development and
popularization of shared autonomous vehicles.
As of the end of Q2 2021, the Baidu Apollo autonomous
driving service has provided more than 400,000 rides and driven more than 8.7
million miles. The learnings from the last two years of the Apollo program that
has been operating in four cities across China (Beijing, Guangzhou, Changsha
and Cangzhou) provide a solid foundation for Baidu to transition its robotaxi
offering to a commercial operation, which IHS Markit predicted in its China's
Autonomous Driving Market and Future Mobility Market Outlook will account for
60% of China's $347 billion ride-hailing market by 2030.
"Competence in autonomous driving has become the main
battleground in the competition among intelligent vehicles," said Zhenyu
Li, Senior Corporate Vice President of Baidu and General Manager of Intelligent
Driving Group (IDG), as he spoke of Baidu Apollo's business. Baidu Apollo has
years of experience with autonomous vehicles and is supporting the wider
automotive industry in building intelligent vehicles that can continuously
learn and improve, bringing customers an improved driving, parking and
ride-hailing experience.
Baidu also highlighted its Apollo Navigation Pilot (ANP) and
Automated Valet Parking (AVP), which leverage AI to bring intelligent solutions
to driving and parking respectively, and its DuerOS for Auto intelligent voice
assistant that personalizes services to meet a range of driver needs throughout
the vehicle experience.
Baidu is
expanding this technology into several sectors, including intelligent connected
cars, intelligent traffic control, intelligent highways and intelligent parking,
with pilot projects in nearly 30 cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai
and Chongqing.
As AI technology integrates with the automotive industry,
mobility experiences will be transformed. With its intelligent driving
solutions, Baidu Apollo is set to lead the way in this transformation,
providing people with safe, efficient and greener ways of traveling.