INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
The Apolong buses are not fitted with a steering wheel
One of
China's biggest technology companies has declared it has begun mass production of a self-driving bus.Baidu made the announcement after
building its 100th Apolong vehicle at its factory in the country's south-eastern Fujian province.It said the vehicles would initially be put
to commercial use within Chinese cities but added it was also targeting foreign markets.The company is one of several competing to sell
"level-4 autonomy" buses.The classification - set by the transport engineering body SAE International - refers to highly automated driving
systems that can cope with most driving conditions, even if a human fails to respond appropriately to a request to intervene.It is one step
below the maximum level-5 tier, which extends to all driving scenarios, including dirt roads and unusual weather conditions.Baidu's chief
executive, Robin Li, detailed its plans at the company's annual artificial intelligence developer conference in Beijing
Image copyrightBaiduImage caption
The Apolong is about a third of the size of a normal bus
He said:
"2018 marks the first year of commercialisation for autonomous driving."In the past, China exported cheap commodities to the world
In the future, China will export AI technology to the world."The Apolong bus can seat up to 14 people, and has been developed with a local
vehicle manufacturer.It has no driver's seat, steering wheel or pedals.It runs on electric power and can travel up to 100km (62 miles) after
a two-hour charge, at up to 70km/h.Baidu envisages it being used for "last-mile" drop-offs within enclosed areas, such as airports and
tourist sites.The company said partners would soon put it to use in Beijing, Shenzhen, Wuhan and other Chinese cities.Image
copyrightSoftbankImage caption
Softbank says it intends to run the Apolong buses on Tokyo's public roads
It added that a deal with Japan's Softbank Group could also bring the vehicle to Tokyo's roads.In a separate Japanese-language press
release, Softbank said it intended to start using 10 Apolongs for "demonstration tests" within Japan by early 2019.Softbank's self-drive
subsidiary, SB Drive, had previously bought several self-drive shuttle buses from a rival operation - the French start-up Navya.It
demonstrated their use in level-3 mode - where a human is expected to take control if required - at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in February.Image
copyrightSoftbankImage caption
Softbank tested a bus it had bought from Navya at an airport earlier this year
Navya's self-drive buses have also been put to use by others at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport, London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic
Park, and the streets of Las Vegas.Other companies, including France's Easymile, Australia's Intellibus and South Korea's KT, have developed
autonomous buses of their own.One academic suggested that in the near-term, such vehicles had a greater chance of public acceptance than
self-drive cars."Any vehicle that can be deployed in a well-organised and controlled environment and that can be controlled and regulated by
authorities is more likely to be the starter for this sort of technology, than ones which will be provided to [a single] member of the
general public, who would not necessarily be closely monitored," said Prof Natasha Merat, from the University of Leeds' Institute for
