SAIC plans to have 200 of these across China soon. It looks like Grab might need to consider robotaxi tech soon.
SAIC, China’s largest automotive conglomerate, has deployed a fleet of robotaxis in the Jiading district in Shanghai that are purportedly capable of level 4 self-driving.
The fleet consists of 20 vehicles that can be hailed through an app within the district, but will soon be expanded to 40. Other districts will also get fleets of these Robotaxis.
200 are being prepared for the entire nation. This follows Volvo Car’s introduction of robotaxis in China.
SAIC has worked with Momenta to provide the computing power necessary for the self-driving capability. Here’s the press release with more information
PRESS RELEASE
Robotaxi employs superior resources from SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Company, SAIC Motor AI Lab, autonomous driving technology company Momenta, and its ride-hailing service platform SAIC Mobility to create a data-driven ecosystem featuring continuing evolution in an effort to explore the application of L4 self-driving technology in urban mobility scenarios.
On the same day, the first 20 Robotaxi vehicles, which can be hailed on the SAIC Mobility app, were launched in Shanghai Jiading district, while the Robotaxi Discovery Center also opened in the district for people to experience intelligent driving.
Robotaxi will have a fleet of 40 vehicles in Shanghai and another 20 will operate in Jiangshu Suzhou this year. In 2022, Robotaxi will have a fleet in Guangdong Shenzhen, with a total of 200 vehicles in operation nationwide.
SAIC Motor AI Lab has cooperated with Momenta to provide intelligent driving solutions to Robotaxi. The platform offers powerful computing power with 600 trillion operations per second. Its “vision + radar” solution can independently complete 3D perception and data-driven fusion to ensure multiple and high-level redundancies in the system.
Based on SAIC Motor’s cloud platform Fin-Shine and Momenta Framework, Robotaxi has established a whole-process data-driven algorithm and efficient closed loop automation tool chain.
On the premise that data and cyber security is ensured, data transmission and technological convergence concerning intelligent driving between Robotaxi and mass-produced vehicles are available, which offers mass data for L4 self-driving to boost the rapid iteration of intelligent driving technology.
Vehicle manufacturing and self-driving safety embody Robotaxi’s hardware strengths in safety. As Robotaxi’s first model put into operation, Marvel R boasts high-strength steel that accounts for 74 percent of its body structure, as well as reliable hardware safety protection. In addition, Robotaxi’s fleet has been restructured by the OEMs to ensure uniformity and quality stability.
In terms of intelligent driving, Robotaxi and mass-produced vehicles share data and technology flow based on Momenta’s unique Flywheel technological insight, using “100 billion km test data” to solve major problems in intelligent driving.
Robotaxi employs the iEPS redundant wire control chassis independently developed by SAIC Motor’s subsidiary DIAS to improve vehicle handling accuracy and improve its safety level with dual-channel redundant backup.
SAIC Motor AI Lab has built an intelligent driving data monitoring platform to create a complete vehicle-to-cloud closed data loop. The platform can master the real-time operational conditions of each Robotaxi vehicle’s intelligent driving system.
Operation services and network data security embody Robotaxi’s software strengths in security. Benefiting from SAIC Mobility’s rich service experience, Robotaxi’s security supervisors have undergone strict selection and professional training to ensure driving safety for the users.
Data encryption, desensitization, and other measures have been adopted to ensure the security of personal information, including facial recognition information and mobility data.
As China’s first ride-hailing service platform to earn ISO27001 certification of its information security management system and ISO27701 certification of its privacy information management system, SAIC Mobility has set up a complete network information security assurance system for Robotaxi to efficiently defend against cyber-attacks, so as to ensure the security of users’ private information.
