China's driverless cars are the best in the world! South Korean media: Chinese AI taxis have learned to "cut in line" - The forefront of autonomous driving - Wuhan, China

Last month on the 23rd, a journalist took a ride in Baidu's sixth-generation driverless self-driving taxi "RT6" while driving across the Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Through the windshield in front of the empty driver's seat, looking ahead, the traffic at the end of the bridge split into two directions: one was vehicles heading straight into the city center, and the other was vehicles exiting the bridge on the right lane. Although the straight lane was empty, the right exit lane had already formed a long queue starting from 200 meters before the exit. According to the navigation route, RT6 had to exit the bridge, but it did not slow down and drove all the way to near the exit.

When it was about 20 meters away from the exit, an opening appeared between two vehicles on the right, and RT6 immediately turned the steering wheel and cut in. Like a driver who was in a hurry, it smoothly passed through the waiting vehicles and skillfully cut in. The Baidu personnel and the journalist sitting in the back looked at each other in surprise. Although this is not illegal, it can be considered as "cheating". A Baidu representative said, "I also saw it drive like this for the first time. Maybe because it has driven this road many times, the system made its own decision based on the situation."

"The clumsy car" has evolved over three years and learned the "cutting in" maneuver

The unmanned taxi, which was first introduced in Wuhan in 2022 and was called "clumsy car" due to its overly conservative and slow driving, has undergone significant changes in just a few years, and the above scene is the best proof. According to Baidu's analysis, RT6's accident avoidance capability and safety are 14 times better than humans. Moreover, now it even "cuts in" without violating the law to drive faster, and its efficiency has developed to the level of humans. Taxi drivers in Wuhan have expressed that "it is no longer the 'clumsy car' now. Without looking at the driver's seat, many people cannot even tell it is a driverless car." Wuhan has a population of 13 million, with multiple tunnels and elevated roads within the city, where bicycles, motorcycles, and pedestrians often do not obey traffic signals. It is precisely through accumulating years of driving data in such an environment that today's results have been achieved.

China's development speed of autonomous driving technology is advancing at an astonishing pace. Industry insiders even evaluate that Baidu may have surpassed the global first-tier of autonomous driving, Google's Waymo. Especially Wuhan has developed into the most popular core city for driverless taxis, with approximately 400 driverless taxis operated by Baidu alone.

"Designed for driverless cars" Baidu has obtained numerous patents in South Korea

On the same day, the journalist visited Baidu's research base in Wuhan, "Apollo Park," and a driverless battery replacement station. This was the first time Baidu allowed foreign media to actually experience the RT6 and publicly revealed the interior of the Wuhan Apollo Park. Apollo Park was completed in October 2023, covering an area of 5,000 square meters, with a control center, test track, and office areas. On the first floor, the exhibition area displays the first generation to the sixth generation (RT6) of driverless taxis and concept cars. Baidu has been involved in the field of autonomous driving since 2013, and together with German BMW, they produced the first generation of driverless taxis. After multiple improvements, the taxi was finally put into ordinary roads in Wuhan in May 2022. Before the fifth generation, the autonomous driving modules were added to mass-produced vehicles, with protruding "horns" on the roof. However, the latest sixth-generation model has a smooth design, as it was designed from the beginning by Baidu, making it a "natural driverless car." Its production cost has decreased by more than 50% compared to the previous generation, taking a key step towards commercialization.

On one wall inside Apollo Park, there are densely displayed some of Baidu's acquired autonomous driving technology patents. A Baidu representative introduced, "We have obtained about 5,600 related patents, which provide a solid foundation for us to maintain our leading position in the field of autonomous driving." On this "patent wall," you can also see many Korean characters. These are patents registered by Baidu in South Korea. According to information obtained by the office of Rep. Kim Won-seo from the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Baidu has registered 114 autonomous driving-related patents in South Korea over the past six years, more than 85 patents of 42dot, an autonomous driving company under Hyundai Motor Group.

In the subsequent visit to the driverless battery replacement station, about 10 RT6s were queued up. Although there were staff on site, no manual operation was required. The vehicles automatically queued up, and after reaching their turn, they drove into the station, stopped, and then mechanical arms underground automatically replaced the battery. The queueing speed was very fast, and it only took four minutes from installing a fully charged battery (which can travel about 460 kilometers) to departing again.

Accumulated 170 million kilometers, Baidu aims for overseas markets

In Wuhan, Baidu has successfully built a complete autonomous driving ecosystem covering driverless charging and driverless taxi services. Up to now, over 170 million kilometers of autonomous driving data have been collected in 15 cities around the world, including China and Hong Kong, and more than 11 million times of driverless taxi services have been provided. The number of operations in the first quarter of this year increased by 75% year-on-year, reaching 1.4 million times. In the future, this data accumulation speed will further accelerate. Additionally, Baidu is actively paying attention to overseas markets. In March, Baidu announced plans to expand its service to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the Middle East. Regarding South Korea, Baidu is also discussing cooperation with companies such as Kakao Mobility.

Source: JoongAng Daily

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1838340442305547/

Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author.