摘要: |
Last month Chinese autonomous vehicle company WeRide launched a huge road test of its Robo Street Sweeper, the country's first mass-produced and purpose-built self-driving sweeper, under a strategic collaboration with the Yutong Group. WeRide says the Robo Street Sweeper is its second mass production and purpose-built self-driving vehicle, following the launch of its Mini Robobus, and is the first of its kind in the sweeper industry. Designed and produced for city-level environmental services, it features a cockpit-free design without a steering wheel, accelerator or brake pedals. WeRide says that it operates as a level 4 autonomous driving solution, which the firm says enables safe, fully driverless and all-day available operations. Level 4 vehicles can operate without a driver in specific locations, such as within a city or a district thereof, although a driver either inside or outside the vehicle may have to take control again in certain circumstances. While critics of self-driving technology have raised concerns about level 4 automation, WeRide emphasises that it has a built-in redundancy element -meaning a backup system for safety critical elements can take control if the primary system fails. |