To say that the hottest thing in the automotive industry right now, apart from new energy, is definitely autonomous driving. In fact, the world's first self-driving vehicle, the Stanford Cart, was born as early as 1961. However, due to the technical capabilities at the time, it took 20 minutes to move 1 meter. Although people did not stop researching in the field of autonomous driving after that, it was not until the second decade of the 21st century that autonomous driving sprung up in front of people with the rapid development of computers, networks, environment sensing equipment and other technologies.
Although many car companies have launched their own self-driving vehicles in the past two years, not many have actually put them into actual operation. This is mainly because it is not necessary to install a few radars on a car to enable it to drive autonomously. This involves a large number of technical issues such as algorithms, communication networks, vehicle-road collaboration, and control platforms. It can be said that it is not rigorous to only talk about autonomous vehicles without application scenarios. As the pioneer of domestically produced buses, Yutong has already realized the operation of autonomous vehicles on open roads.
In May 2018, pure electric buses that reached the conditional autonomous driving level were put into normal operation at the Zhengzhou Yutong factory, and were displayed live to global users. At that time, Yutong's self-driving vehicles were improved on the basis of traditional buses, and the system's integration and matching were still relatively rudimentary. In March 2019, Yutong's L4 self-driving bus was unveiled at the Boao Forum for Asia. This bus is already a vehicle specially designed and developed for self-driving. In May of the same year, Yutong's 5G smart buses were put into trial operation on Zhengzhou Smart Island, bringing autonomous driving one step closer to commercial use.
At the Beijing Bus Show on November 18, 2020, Yutong held a press conference for the "Autonomous Driving Microcirculation Solution Version 2.0", and its new self-driving bus Xiaoyu Version 2.0 was officially unveiled. Xiaoyu 2.0 has L4 autonomous driving capabilities, which can realize super cruise, dynamic obstacle avoidance, autonomous overtaking, precise parking, vehicle-road coordination, automatic parking, automatic charging, remote driving and other functions. It can also adapt to heavy rain, moderate snow, heavy rain, etc. Fog and other extreme weather.
The appearance of Xiaoyu 2.0 adopts a new design language. Compared with the previous tiger-headed look, the new car has a sharper shape. Because the glass accounts for a larger proportion of the body, the overall feel is somewhat like a space capsule.
The headlights adopt a through-type design, with a blue ambient light added in the middle. There are grilles with triangular holes on the top and bottom. Three millimeter wave radars and six ultrasonic radars can be seen on the lower grille.
The two "horns" on the front of the car attract attention. The lidar of the previous model was located approximately in the middle of the car body, but the new car has it raised to a position close to the roof. As the saying goes, stand high and see far. One benefit of this design is that you can overcome some obstacles to improve the perception range. Another benefit is that the higher position can avoid collisions with pedestrians and vehicles as much as possible. However, the height of the horizontally placed lidar increases, and the perception accuracy around the front of the car decreases. In order to solve this problem, a lidar is placed obliquely under the "horn" to effectively cover the front of the car and the areas on both sides. In addition, there are 6 cameras on the "horn": forward, 45°, 90°, backward, and downward, so that the vehicle can sense the surrounding situation in all directions.
The taillights also adopt a through-type design, echoing the front of the car, and there are 6 ultrasonic radars on the bumper.
The "horn" at the rear of the car is equipped with a lidar and a vision camera to sense the situation around the rear of the car.
The chassis still uses a short front and rear overhang design to ensure space inside the car. The body length, width and height are 5500×2050×2650mm respectively, and it can seat 8 people. It is equipped with Yutong's own TZ210XSYTB70 motor, with a rated motor power of 47kW, a peak power of 120kW, and a power battery with a rated capacity of 173Ah.
The door can be opened by lightly pressing the button on the door. The door adopts a subway plug door design, and the door opening width can accommodate two people getting on and off at the same time. The vehicle adopts an ultra-low step and a flat floor design inside the vehicle, making it easy for passengers to get in and out of the vehicle, especially the elderly and children, which is easier and safer to get in and out of the vehicle.
The interior height of the car reaches 2.1 meters, and combined with the glass side panels occupying two-thirds of the body, there is no sense of oppression at all. The interior design is simple and luxurious, the workmanship and materials are very meticulous, and there is no pungent smell in the new car.
The seats are soft and comfortable, and the first row is also equipped with a table, making it more suitable for reception scenes in parks and factories.
Ambient lights are installed around the seats and on the roof, creating a more cozy riding environment. There are 2 USB charging ports next to each row of seats, as well as an emergency stop switch.
The roof lighting is similar to the design of a ceiling lamp. The front of the vehicle is equipped with an entertainment TV, an in-car camera and a safety hammer. There is a line and station information display in the middle of the vehicle to facilitate passengers to understand relevant information.
There are key switches on both sides of the door. There is a touch screen on the right door pillar, which can view vehicle-related information and adjust setting controls. There is also an emergency switch handle on the top.
Xiaoyu 2.0 has attracted more attention because it is a manned vehicle. And it is only a component of autonomous driving. In practical applications, it also requires the cooperation of roads, platforms, stations, charging, cloud control platforms and other related supporting facilities, and these have been included in Yutong’s “Autonomous Driving Microcirculation Solution” "Program Version 2.0". From transportation planning, scheme design, construction and delivery, to installation, commissioning, training and operation, all-round support, this is a reliable autonomous driving product with practical application value. I believe that in the near future, we will be able to book a self-driving minibus through a mobile app and travel to our destinations comfortably and quickly. It is both environmentally friendly and safe. What a wonderful way to travel.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.