Baidu-backed DeepWay unveils ‘robot truck’ Xingtu with L3 autonomous capabilitie...

Baidu-backed DeepWay unveils ‘robot truck’ Xingtu with L3 autonomous capabilities- PingWest

Baidu-backed DeepWay unveils ‘robot truck’ Xingtu with L3 autonomous capabilities

September 19, 2021 3:17 am

Deepway, a company backed by Baidu and Shiqiao Logistics, unveiled "Xingtu", a heavy-duty truck with L3 autonomous capabilities, at a press conference yesterday. According to the Society of Automotive Engineers, Level 3 vehicles have environmental detection capabilities and can make informed decisions but require a human override.

With a computing power of more than 500 TOPS and ultra-long-distance sensing capabilities of more than 1 kilometer, the truck marks Baidu's entry into the multi-trillion dollar global freight market.

Details:

Xingtu is equipped with 10 onboard cameras, five-millimeter wave radars, and three infrared detectors, according to Baidu. It has a maximum capacity of 49 tons and can go as far as 300 kilometers after being fully charged. Xingtu currently operates on the L3 level but aims to upgrade to L4 between 2024 and 2026.

"We aim to create value in real-life scenarios, such as transporting people, deliveries and life services. This new generation of vehicles is by no means just a modified truck – it's a robot truck," according to SCMP, citing Wang Yunpeng, general manager of autonomous driving technology at Baidu.

Baidu has not released the production timeline and price range yet.

Context:

Baidu, widely known as China's most popular search engine company, is racing to become a forerunner of China's autonomous driving industry. Baidu has previously launched robotaxi "Apollo Go", covering hundreds of locations in Changsha and Beijing. Baidu's heavy presence in the autonomous driving industry coincides with China's general workforce shift.

Over the years, as birth rates fell, China's labor force has gradually transitioned from quantity to quality. According to Global Demographics, a database and forecast model company, China's total employed labor force will decline – from 759 million persons in 2017 to 661 million by 2037. However, this decline in the number of employed persons is entirely in the rural areas. The urban workforce will continue to increase – from 398 million in 2018 to 485 million by 2037. The overall workforce will not be negatively impacted as urban workers are around 4 times more productive than rural.

So it only makes sense for logistics, the pillar industry of China's national economy, and the modern service industry to evolve as well. By deploying autonomous vehicles, companies can cut down manpower and, eventually, operating costs. Baidu hitched the wagon early on by developing Apollo, an open-sourced autonomous driving platform, in 2013. Research company Navigant Research ranked Baidu Apollo as one of the four "leaders" worldwide in the autonomous driving field last year, together with Google's Waymo, General Motors' Super Cruise, and Ford's autonomous vehicle division.

SHARE