Driverless and now also without a steering wheel: the Chinese

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The technology giant Baidu Inc (the Chinese Google) has just presented at its annual conference the latest addition to its family of autonomous cars: it is called Apollo RT 6 , it has a removable steering wheel and is specially designed to operate in an autonomous robotaxis service in China . The company has announced that these vehicles are now ready to go into production and their goal is to have them operating in the second half of next year. In addition, it has been revealed that they will have a unit cost of 250,000 yuan (a little more than 36,200 euros at the exchange rate), almost half of what each model of the previous generation cost. With this strategy, Baidu seeks to get ahead of its extensive competition and rapidly expand across China as the Asian country advances its autonomous driving ambitions.

The CEO of the firm assures that “in the future, trips in autonomous taxis will cost “half of what it costs to take a taxi today.” Autonomous taxis in China: a reality that could be imminent The Apollo RT 6 is Baidu's new flagship and its sixth-generation autonomous vehicle . It has been designed specifically with autonomous driving in mind, unlike what Cell Phone Number List happened with previous models presented by the brand, in which the driving assistance technology was adapted to the design of the car. Autonomous driving, step by step: from the human driver to the self-driving car IN MOTORPASIÓN Autonomous driving, step by step: from the human driver to the self-driving car In this sense, the RT 6 stands out for incorporating a unique feature: it is equipped with a removable steering wheel.



And although Chinese regulations currently prevent cars without a steering wheel from traveling on public roads, Baidu's intention is for its removable steering wheel to eventually disappear. This is what the company's CEO, Robin Li, said at his annual Baidu World conference: “when these rules change one day, the removable steering wheel can be replaced by additional seats or even video game consoles,” he said. Baidu Aper Regarding the few technical specifications that Baidu has made public for the moment about the Apollo RT 6, it highlights that the vehicle is equipped with up to 38 sensors , among which are eight LIDAR, 12 ultrasonic sensors, a 6 mm wave radar and 12 cameras to achieve precision, long-range mapping of the environment at all angles. The company assures that the RT 6 is equipped with a level 4 of autonomous driving - of the five possible in China - and although the Asian country's standards are not exactly the same as those of the SAE, they are similar, which means that The car is theoretically capable of operating without a driver.