Baidu Ji Tao: More than 0/00 unattended stations in Beijing/KLOC are ready to be opened one after another.

Che Dongxi (WeChat official account: Che Dongxi)

Text || Fruit juice

Just after the National Day, Baidu officially started the test operation of driverless taxis in Beijing.

Although the weather in Beijing in autumn is a little cold, the users who come to experience it are still hot. Although Baidu has experience points in Daoxiang Lake and Yizhuang in Haidian, it is difficult to fully meet everyone's needs.

According to official data of Baidu, in June 5438+1October 65438+February, the peak call volume of Baidu's driverless taxi service reached 600 times, and the total call volume exceeded 2600 times.

The reason is that Baidu is the first company in Beijing to completely open driverless taxis to the public. So Beijing citizens want to experience and feel the scenes in science fiction movies.

However, Baidu is not the only company that conducts autonomous driving tests or even obtains a manned test license in Beijing.

So, why can Baidu become the first company in Beijing to open a driverless taxi? What preparations has Baidu made for this? With these questions, today, Chedongxi and other media talked with Ji Tao, general manager of the Autopilot Division of Baidu Intelligent Driving Group, and got the answers to the questions.

1. Is the reservation in Beijing hotter than expected? More than 100 sites are ready.

After Baidu opened a driverless taxi in Beijing, the colleagues who drove the car experienced it for the first time. According to colleagues, many passengers came to experience the test on the first day, and many young people chose to try it.

A set of data released by Baidu also proves the popularity of the website. On June 65438+1October 12, the peak call volume reached 600, and the total call volume for the whole day exceeded 2600. It has been in business for nearly a week, and the actual number of orders received every day is more than 100.

Baidu driverless taxi

However, this also caused users to wait a long time to call a car. Ji Tao, general manager of the Autopilot Division of Baidu Intelligent Driving Group, said that they didn't expect the popularity of driverless taxis in Beijing to be so high.

Ji Tao said that at present, there are only 40 Lincoln MKZ taxis in Beijing, and the user demand is too hot, which leads to the queuing experience. This is mainly because Beijing implements the system of one car and one license. At that time, Baidu got a manned test license, all of which were Lincoln MKZ tests, so Baidu could only use Lincoln MKZ to test in Beijing, so the number would be limited.

Baidu driverless taxi

However, at present, Baidu's driverless taxis in Changsha use Hongqi EV produced in cooperation with FAW Hongqi. Ji Tao said that Baidu is applying to the government, and Red Flag EV may appear in Beijing in the future, which can effectively expand its operating lineup.

In addition, at this stage, Baidu has only opened two experience zones in Yizhuang and Haidian, Beijing, and adopted a peer-to-peer operation mode. Some users think that there are too few sites and the distance is far.

Ji Tao also answered this question. He said that Baidu did a lot of research before opening driverless taxis, and found that at this stage, getting on and off the Internet and the parking spots of taxis are relatively random, which is illegal. There is also the risk of accidents. Baidu's driverless taxi is considered from a safety perspective. It is best to pick up and drop off passengers at fixed stations, whether it is accessibility or safety.

Baidu driverless taxis only pick up passengers at fixed stations.

At present, Baidu has more than 100 sites in Beijing for testing, but the government has only approved a dozen sites for open testing operation. Baidu has a longer test route and a longer test time in Yizhuang and Haidian, so it is the first to open these two places. Baidu is communicating with the government and may open more websites in the future.

Ji Tao also answered other questions about driverless taxis that users are more concerned about. At this stage, Baidu's driverless taxis are also equipped with security officers. This is mainly due to safety and regulatory considerations. Beijing has not been able to conduct a complete driverless test on the open road. Baidu has demonstrated completely unmanned driving in a closed environment in Shougang Park.

Baidu's unmanned vehicle is driving in Shougang Park.

Having a safety officer on board also provides more protection for the safety of the vehicle. Baidu's security officer rotation also refers to the taxi and bus rotation system to ensure that security officers always maintain a high degree of concentration.

Passengers only require people aged 65,438+08 to 60 to try the ride. Ji Tao said that this is also due to security and policy considerations. Baidu has also seen the needs of many people of other ages and is actively communicating with the government.

Similarly, Ji Tao said that the opening hours at this stage are fixed at 10 to 4 pm, because of policy considerations and regulations, the operation of driverless taxis needs to avoid morning and evening peaks and nights.

It can be seen that although there are still some restrictions, Baidu is the first to open the manned operation of driverless taxis in Beijing, which also reflects Baidu's strong technology.

Second, Beijing has higher testing requirements? Baidu is the first company to meet the manned test.

Seeing this, you may ask, since the requirements for manned testing of driverless taxis in Beijing are so high, why do car companies choose to conduct manned testing of driverless taxis in Beijing?

Ji Tao said that it is more difficult to test driverless taxis in Beijing, and the impact is undoubtedly greater, which is also very important for collecting data and improving products.

Baidu driverless taxi

It is understood that at present, Beijing ranks first in the country in terms of the scale of examination licenses, the number of examination subjects, the richness of vehicle types, the examination of road signs and the examination of management standards. It also has the most perfect unmanned test environment, and the test results will naturally be very accurate.

Then the problem comes again. What are the main difficulties in the test of driverless taxis in Beijing?

Last year, Beijing opened the most difficult T4 road test license in history. In order to get this license, autonomous driving enterprises need to carry out 5000 km simulation test in a closed test site to prove their ability, and then they can enter the evaluation stage.

The formal evaluation link is similar to the driver's license, that is, the vehicle drives around the designed road as required, and carries out specific project operations such as lateral parking and U-turn on the way. The whole process can be completed in an hour or two. The grading system is adopted in the examination process, with a perfect score of 100 and 80 points passing.

In this process, if you make a slight mistake, such as starting too small, braking unevenly, and not giving way to the overtaking car behind you, 5 points will be deducted/10. If there are serious mistakes such as accidents and traffic rules, you will be directly sentenced to fail the exam.

Although the T4 road test license has been opened, only Baidu successfully obtained it last year.

Ji Tao also said that Beijing has higher requirements for unmanned driving test mileage, and autonomous driving R&D company needs to get 500,000 kilometers of test mileage in Beijing before it can carry out the next manned test.

At present, there are only 700 kilometers of open test roads in Beijing, which requires autopilot test companies to test more models on the road to complete the test volume of 500,000 kilometers.

Baidu has obtained 40 licenses in Beijing, which means that Baidu can put all 40 vehicles on the test road for testing. Ji Tao also said that Baidu has conducted synchronous tests in Yizhuang, Haidian, Shunyi and Fangshan districts in Beijing, and the test mileage has reached 500,000 kilometers.

Therefore, when Beijing launched the unmanned manned test at the end of last year, Baidu's 40 cars were qualified for manned test, and it was the first company to win this honor. It can also be seen that Baidu has been firmly in the top spot in the domestic autonomous driving field.

Baidu is the first company to obtain the Beijing manned freight test license.

Third, rich technical experience? Baidu has become a leader in domestic autonomous driving.

In fact, Baidu can take the lead in opening driverless taxis in Beijing, and it is also inseparable from Baidu's technology accumulation. Baidu began to study autonomous driving from 20 13.

Baidu has conducted a lot of tests in both real and virtual scenes. Relying on more than 500 test fleets, Baidu has conducted actual road tests in 27 cities around the world, including Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Changsha and Cangzhou. The cumulative test mileage exceeds 6 million kilometers, the number of people who have experienced real vehicles exceeds 65,438+10,000, and there are more than 1.800 related patents.

In Beijing, Baidu's achievements are even more outstanding. The "Beijing Road Test Report on Self-driving Vehicles (20 19)" released by Beijing shows that in 20 19, Baidu's test mileage in Beijing reached 754,000 kilometers, accounting for 85% of Beijing's total test mileage in that year, and it deserved the first place.

Baidu driverless taxi was tested in Yizhuang, Beijing.

Ji Tao said that it is precisely because of a large number of online and offline tests that Baidu has been able to collect all kinds of accident scenes, extract and analyze more representative accident scenes, and make the algorithm of vehicles more mature, so that vehicles can handle more long tail scenes during driving.

Therefore, in the 20 19 self-driving road test report released by the California Vehicle Administration (DMV), Baidu's MPD(Miles? Per？ Disengagement (an indicator to measure the maturity of autonomous driving) data is 18050 miles (29048 kilometers)-that is, the test vehicle only needs human intervention once every 29048 kilometers.

20 19 California DMV reported before 10 players.

Google, the global leader in autonomous driving, is 132 19 miles (2 1273 kilometers), ranking second after Baidu.

In addition, at the Baidu World Congress on September 15, an unmanned taxi with no security officer took two passengers around the open road of the park. There are not only other social vehicles on the road, but also retrograde bicycles and pedestrians crossing the road. Unmanned vehicles can cope smoothly. Taking the lead in removing security officers in China also demonstrated Baidu's technical accumulation.

Weimar and Baidu will launch a production model equipped with AVP automatic parking technology, which will also be delivered next year.

At the World Congress, Baidu also revealed that Apollo has introduced more than 265,438+00 eco-partners, including automobile manufacturers, parts supply companies, chip companies, sensor companies, transportation integrators and travel companies.

In terms of intelligent transportation, Baidu has landed in Changsha, Beijing, Baoding, Chongqing, Hefei, Yangquan, Nanjing and other cities. Many partners choose to cooperate with Baidu, which also reflects the strength of Baidu technology.

In general, Baidu is a leader in the domestic autonomous driving industry, both in terms of test mileage and technical maturity. So it is not surprising that Baidu dares to drive a driverless taxi in Beijing.

Conclusion: Baidu continues to lead the domestic autopilot landing trend.

Beijing is the earliest area in China to open and standardize automatic driving test, and it is also the fastest-growing and most perfect city in China. There are many tests in Beijing, but only Baidu has conducted the test operation.

Under such circumstances, Baidu not only started testing, but also opened the operation of driverless taxis, which also shows that Baidu is definitely a head player in domestic autonomous driving companies.

This time Baidu opened a driverless taxi in the strictest area of the country, which means that Baidu's technology is very mature. Next, Baidu's driverless taxis will be opened in more areas, and more people will experience autonomous driving.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.