Between 80 and 100 autonomous driving taxis developed by Dongfeng Motor Corporation, dubbed "Robotaxis", will go into service in Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WHDZ) in 2021, according to local media reports.
Earlier, on Feb 27, a total of 42 Dongfeng Robotaxis began trial operations in WHDZ, marking an important step for WHDZ in terms of the commercial operation of autonomous driving.
There are 22 stops set up on the 125-kilometer autonomous driving open test road in WHDZ, covering more than 40 major and secondary roads such as Dongfeng Avenue, Zhushanhu Avenue, and Checheng Avenue, as well as hot spots such as Jingkai Aeon and Wuhan Sports Center.
Residents can book a free trial experience by making an appointment via their mobile phone.
As of March 13, more than 600 residents had come to experience the ride. Of these passengers, people aged 25 to 35 were the most common. The number of passengers can reach 50 to 60 on weekends.
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 there is a safety officer. This is a new profession arising from self-driving technology.
Under normal circumstances, the safety officer will not touch the steering wheel, accelerator or brake pedals.
In an emergency, the taxi will automatically swerve or brake in an emergency. Once a problem occurs, it can be switched to manual driving in time to ensure driving safety.
