The commercialization of autonomous driving must not promote growth
Our reporter Sun Qiru
What is the ultimate form of the future car?
There is no steering wheel, no need for human driving; there is no distinction between the driver and the passenger seat in the car, passengers only need to sit and lie in the car relaxedly; the whole process only needs to communicate with the car by voice, and it can act as an intelligent assistant while acting as a driver... …At the Baidu World Conference yesterday, Robin Li, the founder, chairman and CEO of Baidu, brought his answer: a car robot.
The first L5 level "automobile robot" unveiled
The car robot unveiled at the World Congress can be described as a "subversion": in appearance, the automatic gull-wing door, all-glass roof and external sensors are integrated, which is very technological.
Internally, there are no steering wheels or pedals in the car robot car, and it has intelligent configurations such as super large curved screens, smart consoles, dimming glass, and zero-gravity seats.
The car robot mainly serves people through its triple capabilities: it has L5 autonomous driving capabilities; it has multi-mode interaction capabilities such as voice and face recognition, analyzes the potential needs of users, and proactively provides services; in addition, the car robot also has the ability to self-learn and continuously upgrade , Is an intelligent body that serves various scenarios.
Baidu claims that this car not only does not require human driving, but it is also safer than human driving.
In the Anaya community in Hebei, several guests experienced car robots for the first time.
The car robots autonomously drive all the way, smoothly coping with complex scenarios such as unprotected left turn, avoiding pedestrians and other vehicles.
Li Yanhong said that as the final form of the future car, car robots will have features such as autonomous driving, intelligent assistants, loyal companionship and self-learning.
"In the future, cars that do not carry driverless technology may not sell well." said Li Zhenyu, senior vice president of Baidu Group and general manager of the intelligent driving business group.
Unmanned vehicles can be hit on "Turnip Run"
At present, the car robot is only a concept car.
If the public wants to experience the services of unmanned vehicles, they will first come into contact with autonomous taxis.
On Baidu's "Carrot Run" APP, an autonomous vehicle travel service platform, ordinary consumers can access Baidu's Apollo unmanned vehicle, which has the prototype of a car robot.
After 8 years of development, Baidu Apollo has entered the stage of large-scale commercial operation from the technical verification stage, pushing the autonomous driving industry into the second half.
The latest disclosed data shows that as of the first half of this year, Baidu’s Apollo autonomous driving travel service has received more than 400,000 passengers, the test mileage has exceeded 14 million kilometers, and the number of autonomous driving patents has exceeded 2,900. It is currently in Beijing, Guangzhou, Changsha, and Cangzhou. Four cities open manned services.
It is reported that taking Beijing Yizhuang as an example, Baidu’s self-driving taxis now complete more than 500 orders in Yizhuang every day. Some orders cover the morning peak and evening peak periods, and they have initially adapted to the relatively complex urban road conditions on public roads. ability.
In terms of user experience, the current self-driving taxis have not yet been completely "unmanned."
Taking into account the experience and psychological state of people when trying new things, in the Shougang Park, although Baidu provides unmanned vehicle services, it is still equipped with safety officers in the passenger seat to provide explanations for passengers and also play a psychological role. Soothing effect.
According to reports, Baidu is currently applying for an unmanned road test in some cities.
Never "deify" autonomous driving
In the past year, there have been frequent problems with smart cars.
There was a heated incident of Tesla’s “brake failure” before, and a young entrepreneur recently died in a traffic accident when he was suspected of turning on the assisted driving function of NIO.
On August 16, after a number of Tesla accidents, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also conducted a safety investigation on Tesla's autopilot system.
Although these cars have not yet achieved autonomous driving, they are only at the assisted driving level, but related incidents still cast a shadow on people's trust in autonomous driving.
Wang Yunpeng, vice president of Baidu and general manager of the autonomous driving technology department, responded to this reporter that looking back on the progress of human science and technology, whether in aviation, automobile or other fields, every major accident will prompt the industry to enter deep introspection. Technical capabilities, operational capabilities and safety management will all take to a new level.
He said that Baidu Apollo always insists on safety first, and only after ensuring safety, will it cautiously start commercial services.
"The industry must rationally guide the public to have a reasonable expectation of autonomous driving, neither demonize nor deify, so as not to mislead the public." Wei Dong, vice president of Baidu's intelligent driving business group and chief safety operation, reminded that the commercialization of autonomous driving must be dealt with. Be patient enough to avoid rushing for success, and avoid pulling out seedlings to encourage growth.
In terms of rational guidance and avoiding exaggerated propaganda, Li Xiang, founder of Ideal Auto, posted a post on social media on August 16, calling on the media and industry organizations to unify the standard of Chinese terms for autonomous driving, so as to avoid exaggerated propaganda and user misunderstandings: " Users who don’t understand L2 and L3, we suggest a unified name: L2=assisted driving, L3=advanced assisted driving, L4=automatic driving, L5=unmanned driving, to maximize control expectations."
In response to the recent assisted driving safety incidents in the industry, Wei Dong analyzed: “There is a hurdle between L3 and L4. Only at the level of L4 and above is the automatic driving dominated by machines. Below L3, assisted driving is all It is driven by humans." Some car companies should avoid misleading the public when propagating.