Skip to main content

Baidu autonomous car reaches milestone in Beijing

An autonomous car developed by Chinese language Internet search provider Baidu has successfully completed rigorous, fully autonomous tests on one route with mixed roads under a variety of environmental conditions, says the company. The Baidu autonomous car is the first in China to have demonstrated full autonomy under mixed road conditions, marking a milestone in China's autonomous driving effort. The road tests were carried out under complex road conditions, and the Baidu vehicle, a modified BMW 3 Serie
December 11, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
An autonomous car developed by Chinese language Internet search provider Baidu has successfully completed rigorous, fully autonomous tests on one route with mixed roads under a variety of environmental conditions, says the company.

The Baidu autonomous car is the first in China to have demonstrated full autonomy under mixed road conditions, marking a milestone in China's autonomous driving effort. The road tests were carried out under complex road conditions, and the Baidu vehicle, a modified BMW 3 Series, completed the tests by executing a comprehensive set of driving actions and accurately responding to the driving environment.

Baidu claims the car demonstrated full autonomy on the entirety of the 30 kilometre test route and successfully executed driving actions including making right turns, left turns and U-turns, decelerating when detecting vehicles ahead, changing lanes, passing other cars and merging into traffic from on-ramps and exiting from off-ramps. The car speed peaked at 100 km per hour during the test runs.

Baidu AutoBrain, the core of Baidu's autonomous driving technology, includes highly automated driving (HAD) maps, positioning, detection, smart decision-making and control.

Baidu's self-developed HAD maps record 3D road data to within a few centimetres of accuracy of vehicle positioning. With Baidu's leading object recognition and environment perception technology, the car can detect, recognise, and follow other vehicles with high accuracy; recognise road lanes; and accurately gauge distance and velocity.

"Fully autonomous driving under mixed road conditions is universally challenging, with complexity further heightened by Beijing's road conditions and unpredictable driver behaviour," said Wang Jing, SVP of Baidu and general manager of Baidu's newly established Autonomous Driving Business Unit.

Related Content

  • Future for connected cars ‘looks promising, but obstacles remain’
    October 19, 2016
    A new report released today by The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) highlights that the huge investment already going into research and development for connected vehicles is reaping rewards. However, several obstacles still remain – from privacy and security concerns, to a lack of infrastructure, the need for a legislative framework, issues around congestion and pollution and the very real threat from on-demand transport disruptors such as Uber and Lyft. Matt Kendall, telecoms analyst at The EIU, sa
  • Ohmio to produce self-driving vehicles in New Zealand
    September 12, 2017
    Ohmio Automotion has launched in New Zealand to begin production of self-driving vehicles in the country, using technology developed by Australian parent company HMI Technologies. The electric Ohmio Hop shuttles are self-driving, fully electric autonomous vehicles which Ohmio says can form a connected convoy, enabling them to be used as a scalable public transport solution. They have been designed to be a last mile solution, carrying people and their luggage short distances, providing the last mile conn
  • Vitronic tests sensor tech in Hamburg
    May 24, 2021
    Vitronic aims to improve VRU safety using V2X on German city's real-world 'test' track
  • Outsight and Innovusion focus on Lidar in ITS
    December 20, 2023
    Agreement between companies will allow 3D perception tech deployment 'at a large scale'