China's Fascinating Robot Car

 ROBO-01: Really Smart Robot Car

                                                                Source:  Baidu

A Car that Self-Drives, Talks & Tells You How It Feels

China's internet technology giant Baidu has just unveiled its first robot car and it is an amazing piece of automotive technology.  The concept car, called ROBO-01, is an AI powered electric vehicle. It is controlled by voice recognition of the human behind its yoke, retractable wheel. Baidu's smart EV group JIDU invented the vehicle with China's automotive technology powerhouse Geely. The 2 companies say ROBO-01 offers industry leading AI technology, futuristic automotive design aesthetics and a spectacular user experience.  Priced at around $29,914, this new robocar is breakthrough innovation.  It is fully electric, fully autonomous and combines interactive robotic intelligence and emotions with self-driving technology. Baidu intends to start producing a few models late this year and to go into full production in 2023.  As Baidu is a global internet giant, the level of internet connectivity in the car should be awesome.

Highly Advanced AI

ROBO-01 is extremely smart.  It contains leading artificial intelligence technologies that enable it to interact with the driving and pedestrian environment around it and with the people in the car. For instance, there is an AI voice interaction system that includes voice recognition and enables human-car communications.  There are AI pixel headlights that allows the vehicle to communicate with cars and pedestrians with a light signal, like a thumbs up, to indicate that it's okay to cross the street. 

Autonomous Driving & Other Features

The car contains Level 4 autonomous driving software technology, with the capacity for Level 5, which requires no human intervention.  The anti-collision technology is very substantial. There are 31external sensors and 2 Nvidia Orin X chips. The sensors include 2 LiDARs, 5 millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars and 12 cameras.  The vehicle also contains Qualcomm's 8295 chips that allow passengers to access voice assistance offline if the internet connection is poor. Concerning design, the vehicle is sleek, elegant and very aerodynamic with no door handles and a ROBOwing tail in the rear.

Next Steps

The vehicle will be available in three colors and enters full production in 2023.  This coming November, a second version of ROBO will be unveiled by Baidu.  Baidu has recruited top global automotive experts to spearhead development.  Former Cadillac designer Frank Wu has been named the head of design of ROBO. And, former Apple executive Wang Weibao, who was part of the Apple car project Titan, has been named the head of intelligent driving for Robo-01.  Clearly, this is breakthrough technology vehicle to watch develop.  For more news like this, Daily Vehicle Briefing