With the plans to rebuild ground transportation from scratch, the race for autonomous vehicles is on. Tech brands are working overtime to make sure they are a stakeholder in this space while automobile companies are supporting the innovations to avoid being the Kodak of auto industry. Baidu has previously announced that it is working on its own version of autonomous vehicles and also recently introduced a platform in association with Nvidia to support the developments.

Baidu CFO Jennifer Li at a recent Bloomberg conference reiterated the company’s plans to bring driverless cars and shared that the company will have driverless vehicles by 2018 with mass production possible by 2020. This closely matches the timelines Elon Musk has shared for Tesla.

Li stressed on Baidu’s capabilities and investments in artificial intelligence which would allow for rapid progress in this space. China is a huge car market and some recent surveys indicate that the Chinese people are more open to the idea of these vehicles.

While the promises are bold and the company optimistic, it is going to be a steep climb, even for a brand like Baidu. They recently got permission to test their vehicles in California however Baidu barely exists outside of its home country. Autonomous vehicles will heavily rely on mapping data and Baidu hasn’t got anything outside its home turf. That is where Google has generated heaps of data and has invested billions in the self-driving car project.

Regulations will also define how the technology is introduced and adopted by the masses. The Chinese regulators have shown some positive signs to the developments until now but in most cases, they have been slow to adopt new technologies in other industries.

We are anxious to see if Baidu delivers on the promise of a new face of transportation in 2018.

Source: Bloomberg

The post Baidu reiterates its autonomous vehicle dreams appeared first on TravHQ.

Australia is moving ahead with autonomous vehicles with a new driverless electric bus called RAC Intellibus. The bus has begun clocking miles on a certain trial route in Perth and will carry passengers. This will be a three month public trial and Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC) has received special permit for state government.

The route that they have chosen for testing is around 2.5 kilometres long which would take around 20 minutes. The route is said to be without any complicated exits and stays away from high speed roads to keep the damages, if any, to a minimum. The bus is capable of doing 45 kph however the average speeds will be lower. With typical city conditions, the route is expected to offer good perspective on the capabilities of the vehicle. The objective of this project is not to compete in the fight for getting autonomy for long distance travel but to offer last mile connectivity to commuters.

RAC Group Chief Executive Officer Terry Agnew said Western Australia is leading the way in exploring the possibilities of driverless vehicle technology, with the RAC Intellibus™ trial set to be the first in the country, and among the first in the world.

“This trial is an Australian-first, and will be a real trial incorporating members of the public travelling on public roads,” he said.

“We anticipate this first step in exploring driverless technology will start a conversation on further trials, research and collaboration, which will increase WA’s understanding of how driverless vehicles can integrate into our transport system.

The bus hasn’t got any steering, pedals or any operator and is fully autonomous. A chaperone will be onboard to stop the vehicle in case of an emergency. The RAC will be monitoring risks with this testing to eliminate them and make the connected vehicles safer. People who are willing to try out the driverless shuttle can register here.

The post Another autonomous vehicle project goes on public testing, this time in Australia appeared first on TravHQ.