The future of lidar is partly linked to autonomous driving. In this chapter, you can get a bit of end-user experience to understand what autonomous driving means and where you might use it in the near future.
In the U.S., Cruise Driverless robotaxi services open to the public now operate in San Francisco. Cruise began taking fares last June and charges a little less than Uber or Lyft. Waymo is allowed to operate around the clock but is awaiting permission to charge for driverless rides. Other cities where the companies operate similar driverless ride-hail services include Phoenix (both Waymo and Cruise) and Austin (Cruise).
In Germany, Deutsche Bahn and partners will test automated shuttles for local public transport in Darmstadt and the district of Offenbach, starting next month. The shuttles will eventually operate without a driver at normal speeds in regular traffic. The program aims to address the economic limitations of providing public transport in rural areas with low demand and a shortage of bus drivers.
Chinese Baidu’s Apollo Go has accumulated a total robotaxi service volume of more than 2 million rides. In August 2022, Apollo Go obtained the permit to operate fully driverless Robotaxi service to the public in Wuhan (100 vehicles now) and Chongqing. In December, the company was green-lighted to start tests with fully driverless robotaxi in the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area.
Also in China, WeRide hasdeployed a self-driving bus fleet in Huangpu District, Guangzhou. The self-driving bus line uses a dual-motor controller architecture and adopts a fully driverless design without steering wheel and cockpit, with a speed up to 40 km/h. It fully supports V2X functions and is said to be able to perform L4 on urban open roads all day long. The existing fleet of self-driving taxis and is currently available in Guangzhou, Beijing , Shenzhen, Nanjing, Wuxi, Boao, Riyadh and other cities
Still in China, Nissan Mobility has started a robotaxi trial operation in Suzhou. The project is based on Nissan’s first mass-produced all-electric model, the Nissan LEAF, and uses the advanced autonomous driving technology provided by WeRide, a global leader in autonomous driving and mobility services.
Back to the States now,where Cruise has released their 2022 Impact Report: Cruise launched fully driverless commercial ridehail operations in San Francisco, expanded to Phoenix and Austin, and grew its delivery partnership with Walmart in 2022. Cruise carried nearly 26,000 passengers, covering 846,000+ driverless miles across San Francisco, Austin, and Phoenix. 94 per cent of riders reported trust in Cruise, while 89 per cent said the Cruise AV is a good driver.
Tesla has recalled 362,758 vehicles over ‘Full Self-Driving’ software safety concerns: the FSD Software could allow vehicles to act unsafe around intersections and cause crashes. Tesla will release an over-the-air software update, free of charge, to fix the issue. Tesla vehicles come standard with an L2 driver-assistance system branded as ‘Autopilot’; the ‘Full Self Driving’ ADAS costs an additional $15,000, and is the subject of much regulatory scrutiny.
Speaking of which, it’s been determined that ‘Full Self Driving’ was indeed engaged during last Autumn’s Bay Bridge pile-up, caused by a Tesla Model S suddenly braking for no reason in the fast lane of traffic. That caused an 8-vehicle crash. NHTSA initiated a special crash investigation, confirming the driver’s assertion that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta (FSD) system was engaged at the time of the crash and actually caused the accident.
