The self-driving taxi service launched in Beijing is not Baidu's first attempt, Apollo? Going? Robotaxi has been opened in Changsha and Cangzhou, and has become the normal service. It is understood that the total length of the Robotaxi test area opened in Beijing is about 700 kilometers, covering dozens of sites such as Yizhuang, Haidian, Shunyi Life Circle and Business Circle. You can order a free self-driving taxi service on APP or Baidu Map. "E Car Exchange" passed "Apollo? Go "app order experience.
Driving style is like "old driver"
At present, Robotaxi is still in the testing stage, so there are still some restrictions, among which the operating period is Monday to Sunday 10:00- 16:00, except for legal holidays; Each carriage can accommodate up to 2 passengers at the same time. The age of passengers is 18 to 60 years old, and ID information must be filled in before boarding.
After accepting these "rules and regulations" restrictions, after two failed calls, "Easy Car Exchange" successfully booked the first order. This experience is from the trial operation of Sidel West Gate to the east gate of the Management Committee. This journey is about 4 kilometers. What models are currently used by self-driving taxis? Lincoln MKZ installed a variety of complex detection instruments and sensors around and at the top of the car, which are equivalent to "eyes" and can identify vehicles, pedestrians and road signs coming and going on the road.
Because it is forbidden to take pictures and videos in the car, the pictures in the car will be missing. Please forgive me. Because the driver's seat will be equipped with a safety officer, the test instrument will be placed in the passenger seat. In order to ensure the comfort of riding, only two seats are available in a car at present. Because the test vehicle is Lincoln MKZ, it can ensure good comfort. During the whole experience, "Easy Car Exchange" did not feel too much sense of disobedience. Starting, accelerating, following the car, turning, parking and other operations are very smooth. There is no sudden acceleration and sudden braking, just like an "old driver" driving. Moreover, in the case of good road conditions, vehicles can quickly speed up to 60km/h and drive in relatively smooth lanes with fewer vehicles.
According to the official introduction, Robotaxi has the automatic driving ability to cope with various complex scenes in the city, with a 360 field of vision and a detection distance of 240 meters during automatic driving. Robotaxi can clearly identify the surrounding vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles and traffic signs. It can also distinguish trucks from buses and use two different model diagrams. Robotaxi's overall performance is still remarkable, but because this experience is after the morning rush hour, and the road is much wider, there are no complicated situations such as traffic jams and road repairs, so more tests are needed later.
Special circumstances still need manual control.
Robotaxi has many advantages, but it still has obvious disadvantages. Aside from those "restrictions", Robotaxi, a point-to-point operation mode, has obviously insufficient freedom and will only stop at the prescribed parking spot. You can't wave to stop like a taxi now, and you can't choose points freely like Didi. Just like this experience, Robotaxi stopped across the street. If you go to the "mountain city" of Chongqing, it may not be as simple as across the street.
Secondly, Robotaxi will choose the best driving route and change lanes frequently under the premise of safety. During the four-kilometer experience, there were two lane changes from the innermost lane to the outer lane on the wide road surface, and both lane changes were very fast. Although the operation is carried out under safe conditions, frequent lane changes will affect the driving of subsequent vehicles and easily cause congestion.
The most important point is that Robotaxi still needs human control under special circumstances. At the end of this physical examination, there was a U-turn route, and the safety officer in the car subconsciously wanted to help with the steering wheel, but in the end, the vehicle turned by itself. It can be seen from this action that Robotaxi may have had understeer and so on. Besides, there was a problem when parking. Other social vehicles are parked in the parking space preset by Robotaxi, and the road ahead is not suitable for parking. It chose to park in the same place, causing traffic congestion in the rear. At this time, the security officer stepped in and stopped at the right place. From these two points of view, Baidu's Robotaxi has not been able to get rid of the "driver" and become a real "driverless" taxi. If you want to get rid of security officers and enter the commercialization stage, you need to make a breakthrough in technology.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.