Baidu creates an open platform for robots

There are more and more players on the market for autonomous driving. Companies that are engaged in the creation of robomobiles, both hardware and software for such vehicles, are calculated in dozens. Among them are Chinese developers. Now a technogiant from China has announced itself - Baidu Corporation.



She announced her own mobile platform, which Baidu has made open. The initiative was called Project Apollo. According to the company's management, the project combines both hardware and software elements. Baidu is ready to provide its partners with solutions that allow vehicles to detect obstacles, avoid them, plan a route according to various factors.



So far this is only an announcement, access to Project Apollo will be available starting in July. First, the platform will be tested on cars that do not travel outside the test ranges. A little later this year, Project Apollo will be tested on ordinary public roads. According to representatives of the Chinese company, the goal of this project is to create a fully autonomous vehicle. Baidu employees do not see anything impossible in the fact that by 2020 robomobili become a mass phenomenon on the roads for various purposes.

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Now the Chinese company is trying to position itself as the leading leader of the roaming industry. Thus, Baidu plans to release its own autonomous car already in 2018, trying to bypass Google on this field. Now the company’s management gathers famous engineers and managers from all over the world, especially from Silicon Valley.



Baidu has high hopes for artificial intelligence, which the company will try to make the leading element in Project Apoolo. Baidu has invested heavily in the development of AI (its weak form) over the past few years. True, the head of the Baidu AI division recently left his post, so this somewhat confused the Chinese cards.



Previously, the company collaborated with several foreign partners, including BMW. But in 2016, the partnership disintegrated due to the difference in views on the general directions of development.



Now Baidu will actively work on Project Apollo, trying to involve the maximum number of participants in the project. This is done in order to get “the best vehicles, sensors and other components” compatible with the Apollo project at the end.