The AI car as the future of mobility

The Chinese internet corporate group Baidu sees the “AI auto” as the next stage after the electric and Smart Car. Together with carmaker Geely, they founded the joint venture “Ji Yue” which develops autonomous vehicles on the basis of the latest AI technology.  By Sigrid Riewe-Scholz

Pure Vision instead of Lidar

“Lidar” (light detection and ranging) enables precise capture of the environment through laser signals and has been used to date for autonomous driving. Ji Yue is looking at Tesla and now focusing on “Pure Vision” which is based solely on cameras and captures the environment in this way.

High-precision AI maps 

A central element of Baidu’s strategy is the Lane Definition Map (LD Map) which provides detailed lane information and is constantly refined with the help of camera data and AI. This means that autonomous vehicles Stage L4 – i.e. almost completely autonomous – can navigate on China‘s roads  without manual map updates or Lidar. AI ensures that new cities are mapped with high precision every day.

Software update “Apollo Vision Takes All“

With a software update, the “Apollo Vision Takes All” is designed to optimize object recognition and road tracking. These functions improve environmental perception and create a new dynamic for autonomous driving by deploying generative AI for processing of real-time road data.

A vision with challenges

Yet it takes time before the market recognises the potential: sales of “Ji Yue” have been sluggish despite the advanced technology. The new AI functions and technical terms confuse many car drivers. Nevertheless, Baidu and Geely hope that their AI autos will usher in a new era of mobility in the long term –  and maybe even make their first Christmas outing as a “mobile Christmas wish” for the roads as early as next year.