Autonomous driving taxis developed by WeRide, China's first L4 autonomous driving start-up with investment from global automakers, stand ready for use in Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone, on Feb 19. [Photo/Changjiang Daily]
Some 10 autonomous driving taxis have started trial operations in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WHDZ) -- in Wuhan, capital city of Central China's Hubei province -- according to local media reports.
The WHDZ taxis come equipped with multi-sensor fusion functionality such as lidar, high-definition cameras and millimeter-wave radars, to achieve 360º omni-directional sensing, real-time scanning of surrounding information, precise positioning and automatic driving.
Through the high-precision positioning module carried by the taxi, precise positioning can be achieved to ensure that the taxi is driven accurately without losing its way.
There is no driver in the self-driving taxi, but a safety officer. This is a new profession based on self-driving technology.
Under normal circumstances, the safety officer will not touch the steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedals.
In an emergency, the taxi will automatically avoid or brake in an emergency. Once a problem occurs, it can be switched to manual driving in time to ensure driving safety.
This batch of self-driving taxis will soon be open to the public for a free trial ride experience.
After the taxis are officially put into operation, people may place orders via their mobile phones. Through the background allocation, a taxi will be selected and pick up passengers at designated places.
Moving forwards, based on the user experience evaluation information of the trial rides, continuous improvements will be made to the service and technology for autonomous driving taxis to increase user satisfaction.
