Intelligent public transport on the road unmanned still far

Trial run smart driving bus "Alfaba".

On December 2, the “Alfaba Smart Driving Bus System” was launched on the Shenzhen Road. This is the first time in the world that the smart driving public transport trial operation has been conducted on the open road.

The bus steering wheel will move on its own, and the bus can feel pedestrians and vehicles and avoid bypass. The intelligent bus brings a whole new experience. But there are also concerns that smart buses are safe? Does current traffic laws and regulations allow smart buses to get on the road? How to determine the liability for traffic accidents?

"Alfaba" with driver

The “Fubao Line” trial run by “Alfaba” in the Futian Free Trade Zone lasted for about 1.2 kilometers, with a total of 3 stops. The time it takes for the vehicle to travel around the ring is approximately 8-10 minutes.

"Alfaba" is an intelligent driving passenger bus jointly developed by Shenzhen Hailiang Technology Co., Ltd., together with companies such as Shenzhen Bus Group, Ankai Bus, ZTE, and South University of Science and Technology. It can carry 25 passengers and use pure electricity. drive. From the appearance point of view, there is not much difference with ordinary bus.

Although the media called "Alfaba" unmanned public transport, drivers are still equipped in all trial cars. In the process of driving, although the driver is on the steering wheel, he does not actually operate the steering wheel. "I don't need to drive this car for a day," said the driver.

According to Master Gao, the driver’s job is mainly to monitor the vehicle. In non-emergency situations, the steering wheel is not used: “Alfaba” will automatically turn the steering wheel and adjust the driving direction. The red light will stop and wait. "However, in the event of a sudden situation, the driver can step on the brakes to quickly take over the vehicle manually."

"'Alphapa' is an intelligent driving bus, not an unmanned bus, and it does not carry passengers during the trial run." According to Mu Yi, spokesman of Hailiang Technology, the driver of "Alfaba" is the machine and the driver is monitoring. Intervention can effectively reduce the labor intensity of bus A license drivers, enhance the safety of public transport operations, effectively solve the problems of the drivers in the bus industry, and improve the service level of the public transport system.

Seven technical defenses security

While cheering for "Alfaba", some people also raised the question: Is the machine really safe?

“The focus of China’s driverless technology development is safety.” Professor He Hangen from the National Defense Technology University said: “To study driverless driving is to achieve safe driving through technology. Therefore, the complementarity between people driving a car and driving a machine is even more critical.”

“Safety is very important for public transportation.” Hu Jianping, chairman of Shenzhen Hailiang Science and Technology Co., Ltd. introduced that “Alfaba” is actually an integrated solution for intelligent public transportation. It integrates artificial intelligence, automatic control, and visual computing. Seven security lines, including millimeter-wave radar, camera, GPS antenna and other sensing devices, plus the manual checks of drivers, greatly increase the operational safety of vehicles.

At present, "Alfaba" has achieved the functions of automatic pedestrian detection, vehicle detection, deceleration and avoidance, emergency stop, obstacle bypass, lane change, and automatic stop by station.

"For example, the camera installed in the front has the functions of distinguishing traffic lights and identifying road marking lines." Mu Yi said that the system automatically judges whether to go or stop based on the information obtained by the camera. "Others such as laser radar, millimeter-wave radar, etc., can observe people and vehicles coming from the surrounding area to avoid accidents."

According to reports, before the trial operation, "Alfaba" has been tested in Shenzhen for four months, with a cumulative test mileage of about 8,000 kilometers. "After the preliminary tests, 'Alfaba' has already fulfilled the requirements for bus trial operation." Yu Gang, chairman of Shenzhen Bus Group, said.

Yu Gang introduced that next, the “Alfaba” project will be expanded to Shenzhen Baguang Biological Valley, Southern University of Science and Technology and other regions, and will build Shenzhen into a national smart driving bus demonstration city.

There is no legal specification for driverless

Although "Alfaba" has successfully hit the road, there is still some distance between the driverless and the general public.

“There is a conflict between unmanned driving and the current law.” Xu Yiqun, a lawyer of Guangdong Xinyong Law Firm, said that the “Road Traffic Safety Law” revised in 2011 did not take into account the unmanned problem. "In accordance with current regulations, motor vehicles must be driven by qualified drivers as required."

Even if Alphapa can technically achieve driverlessness, it must also deploy a driver. "Because there is no driver's car is not allowed on the road." Shenzhen Bus Group staff Luo Yi explained.

Wang Chuanfu, chairman of the Board of Directors of BYD Co., Ltd., believes that one of the challenges of self-driving and unmanned driving in the future is regulation. Only the introduction of laws and regulations can promote more technological development: “Technology has been rapidly moving forward, and the real obstacle is the regulation. ."

According to Li Keqiang, director of the Intelligent Networking Automotive and Transportation Research Center at Tsinghua University, it is very important for real auto-piloting and driverless driving to come up with a corresponding road policy: “I hope that regulations can be introduced as soon as possible to promote industrial development.” In addition, when a traffic safety accident occurs in a smart driving bus, how to determine the responsibility is also a big challenge.

“If a smart car hits a person, is it a driver’s fault or is it the responsibility of the driver?” said lawyer Shen Liming of Shenzhen Deep Asia Pacific Law Firm. Smart driving is a new thing. Once a traffic accident occurs, the traditional method is used to determine responsibility. There will inevitably be some difficulties.

“Driving without a driver’s policy is a problem that the whole world faces.” Meng Chunlei, deputy director of the National ITS Center, said that to develop driverlessness, it is first necessary to solve the problem of access from the legal level and promote standards and norms in the field. A series of changes, and even ideas, have created a good environment for the development and popularity of autonomous driving.