AutoX is a Chinese company specializing in self-driving car technology. They have been testing their robotaxis throughout San Francisco and China since 2016.
AutoX is one of several companies attempting to bring driverless cars onto the roads. It holds a permit in California to test its vehicles without safety drivers, but hasn’t yet started offering service.
What is AutoX?
AutoX is an artificial intelligence company that develops hardware and software-integrated solutions for self-driving cars. Their AI driver technology can operate a variety of vehicles, such as sedans, SUVs, and trucks; they’ve conducted test drives in cities worldwide such as San Jose, Las Vegas, and Shenzhen.
Last January, RoboTaxis of Shenzhen unveiled their first fleet of autonomous RoboTaxis – one of the world’s first to offer ride-hailing services without safety drivers. These vehicles are managed from a remote center in Shenzhen and accessible to users of their app.
They have already achieved their first 100 days of operation and boast a perfect safety record. The company plans to expand their robotaxis operations in China as well as opening a robotaxi operations center in San Francisco.
Their system is equipped with NVIDIA DRIVE automotive-grade GPUs and can process up to 2,200 trillion operations per second of AI computation performance – an enormous leap over the previous generation of hardware used in AutoX’s autonomous cars, which relies on LiDAR and cameras for navigation.
It also boasts higher resolution and more computing power than similar LiDAR-powered systems used by other companies, providing complete coverage with no blind spots and the capability to detect even barely perceptible delivery scooters from hundreds of meters away.
During a video demonstration, an AutoX vehicle expertly navigated an urban village during evening rush hour with pedestrians, bikes and scooters crowding the road. It expertly maneuvered around traffic while managing to safely pass through narrow lanes that weren’t wide enough for two vehicles.
The video also shows how the system can detect roadside food stalls and other obstacles in front of it, such as a car with an open door. In addition to cameras and LiDAR, the Gen5 system also utilizes 4D RADAR technology for scanning the area around a vehicle.
How did AutoX get started?
Established in 2016 by Jianxiong Xiao, AutoX is supported by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA), MediaTek and Chinese carmaker Shanghai Motors among others. The startup is now testing 25 autonomous vehicles on Shenzhen streets – marking the first time self-driving cars have been tested without safety drivers or remote operators in China.
The company is striving to introduce robotaxis, or autonomous taxis, in cities worldwide. Additionally, it launched a grocery delivery pilot program in San Jose, California last year.
AutoX’s initial test runs involved using various vehicle control units such as lidar (light detection and ranging radar), cameras, and sensors to drive fully autonomously on a two-hour loop. According to the company, its vehicles can detect and avoid collisions, navigate traffic patterns, and respond to pedestrians and cyclists in ways that would be challenging for humans to do.
On Thursday, AutoX began testing a fleet of 25 fully driverless vehicles on the streets of Shenzhen. These robotaxis will be utilized for testing ride-hailing services that will be available later this year, according to an announcement from AutoX.
AutoX stands out among its rivals by not using expensive lidar or other hardware in its vehicles; rather, it relies on cameras. Furthermore, its proprietary AI algorithms, based on deep learning, enable its vehicles to process data in real-time and learn from it.
AutoX has yet to articulate how it will manage the challenges presented by self-driving cars in real world environments. However, they claim they have accrued millions of miles driving through China’s densely populated city centers and now possess an extensive fleet of robotic taxis which are plying the streets in Shenzhen and other Chinese cities.
AutoX has reported that with their experience and permit to operate on Californian streets, they plan to begin driverless testing there. They are the second company to apply for such a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles which would enable them to test autonomous cars without a human backup driver at the wheel.
What is the future of AutoX?
AutoX’s strategy is to develop and expand an autonomous vehicle fleet that is scalable and grows over time. Currently, its robotaxi fleet spans four top-tier Chinese cities and has grown to over 1,000 vehicles as of February, according to the company.
AutoX opened Asia’s largest robotaxi operations center in Shanghai last year to collect and analyze data from its autonomous vehicle drivers. This allows them to train their AI drivers and enhance their performance.
AutoX’s robotaxi fleet is growing, with plans to become the world’s first fully driverless car service in the near future. To that end, they recently obtained California’s first robotaxi pilot permit to offer rides without safety drivers on board.
Shenzhen-based company claims to have the largest robotaxi fleet in China and has now opened an operations center in San Francisco, serving as a test hub for fully autonomous taxicabs in the future.
AutoX forgoes the costly LiDAR sensors found in other self-driving cars to utilize a camera-based approach instead. According to Dr. Jianxiong Xiao, founder and CEO of AutoX and former Princeton University assistant professor, this allows their autonomous vehicles to be more affordable for customers.
Xiao believes the future of autonomous driving lies in making it a part of everyone’s everyday life, not just an exclusive industry. He envisions a day when every driver can access an autonomous vehicle through their smartphone – providing they have access to a GPS device.
He believes that autonomous technology will become accessible to the general public soon, even in China’s remotest regions. He hopes this will promote a more equitable society.
Another crucial element of Xiao’s business plan is cultivating good relationships with local party leaders in China. This is essential, as local officials tend to be cautious when it comes to adopting new technologies like autonomous vehicles.
AutoX has been fortunate enough to secure funding from Alibaba Group Holdings and other sources, which is a huge advantage as the cost of creating a self-driving vehicle is much higher than an ordinary automobile. Having enough funds is essential for creating an efficient and scalable robotic taxicab system.
What is the current state of AutoX?
AutoX has received permission from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to test autonomous vehicles near its headquarters in San Jose. This license was granted, making them only the second company after Waymo to do so.
Established in 2016 by former Princeton University assistant professor Xiao Jianxiong, AutoX is developing hardware and software integrated technology for autonomous driving. Their self-driving system, known as the AI Driver, can be used on different types of cars and trucks.
According to the company, their AI Driver has already been tested in multiple cities around the world. These evaluations have given them insight into road conditions, weather patterns and driving styles.
The company hopes to make their system more robust and capable of handling unpredictable city streets. For instance, AI may need to detect subtle cues that a pedestrian is trying to cross the street; these cues could help avoid accidents in the future.
AutoX sought a technology that would enable it to navigate urban areas without blind spots, and ON Semiconductor’s LiDAR arrays fit the bill. Utilizing twenty-eight AR0820AT 8.3 Megapixel image sensors from ON Semiconductor and four LiDAR arrays, AutoX’s system can detect objects and eliminate blind spots surrounding its vehicle.
In addition to ON Semiconductor’s LiDAR technology, the AutoX system also utilizes silicon photomultipliers (SiPM). SiPM is an avalanche photodiode detector that generates a real-time analog waveform from photon presence without holding any charge.
ON Semiconductor’s technology enables AutoX to operate at level-4 high automation, an essential step for safe driving in dense urban environments. Furthermore, ON Semiconductor’s solution is scalable for different vehicle sizes and shapes, enabling AutoX to expand its technology platform as the industry grows.
The company intends to use the technology on its robotaxis to navigate busy streets in China’s major cities, including Shenzhen and Shanghai. They announced a partnership with the City of Shanghai to jointly launch their first commercial robotaxi fleet there.
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