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Previously, companies operating autonomous shuttles on the country’s public roads were constrained by strict warnings, which required them to have a security driver inside.
This program is different. In Shenzhen, AutoX completely removed the backup driver or any remote operator for its local fleet of 25 cars, he said. The government is not restricting AutoX locations in the city, although the company has said it is focusing on the city center.
The company posted a video of its minivan – the Fiat Chrysler Pacifica – cruising alone through the city’s downtown core, showing passengers entering, loading a package into the backseat, and letting a dog jump for a ride.
It also depicts the car navigating around loading trucks, passing pedestrians and doing a U-turn.
“It’s a dream,” AutoX CEO Jianxiong Xiao said in an interview. “After working so hard for so many years, we’ve finally reached the point where the technology is mature enough, that we feel confident on our own, to really remove the driver from safety.”
Xiao said the company convinced regulators after working to improve its software and hardware. “We have more than 100 vehicles on the road every day [in China] to capture data, “he said.” AI software is better [now.]”
“From a technical point of view, the car is ready,” said Xiao. “It is very important to have this car, otherwise we cannot be driverless.”
AutoX was founded in 2016 by Xiao, a former conference assistant at Princeton who still likes to call himself “Professor X”. The Shenzhen-based company is focused on manufacturing the technology that goes into self-driving cars and is partnering with leading automakers, such as Fiat Chrysler, to develop and implement its robotaxis.
The new initiative is still in trial mode and is currently not open to the public. That is unlikely to change anytime soon, according to Xiao, who said he hoped to get permission to extend the program to regular passengers in the next two or three years.
Robotaxi race
While AutoX has claimed an advantage in China, this is not the first time that fully driverless shuttles have arrived on public roads. This summer, the company was granted permission to conduct fully autonomous testing on public roads in parts of San Jose, California, clearing another hurdle in one of its most important markets.
Domestic competition is also intensifying. Recently, Chinese companies have started letting more ordinary people experience what it’s like to drive in an autonomous car.
AutoX has already deployed more than 100 robotaxis in five Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Wuhan. Over the next year, it aims to double its reach to more than 10 local cities. The company’s ability to get humans off the wheel in other markets depends on local regulators, Xiao said.
In Shanghai, its vehicles are available to public users, who can flag them down through Alibaba’s Autonavi app, a Chinese mapping app.
The startup’s latest approval by local authorities in Shenzhen came after six months of testing it had already conducted there.
According to Xiao, some of the company’s lessons so far include how to better adapt to the traffic conditions in each location. In Shenzhen, for example, motorists often have to watch out for delivery people on bikes and scooters, and drivers are known to drive more aggressively than in the United States, he said.
“The traffic scenarios are much more difficult,” he added. “For our AI, we had to do a lot of work to adapt to the local Chinese way of driving.”
The industry, however, still has a long way to go. Xiao estimates that it will take another five years for unmanned taxis to become the norm across China.
“The bar is incredibly high,” he said. “It’s extremely difficult, but we are very happy.”
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