Pony.ai next-generation autonomous driving system Photo: Courtesy of Pony.ai

Autonomous driving technology companies have debuted their latest technology in China, aiming to ramp up mass production, with new autonomous driving systems representing a major breakthrough in software, computing capability and other technologies. 

Leading global autonomous driving technology company Pony.ai, Thursday debuted its 6th generation autonomous driving (AD) system, with leading-edge sensors, NVIDIA DRIVE computing platform solutions, and styling and design features for L4 automotive-grade mass production fleets. 

The first model equipped with this system, the Toyota S-AM, a seven-seat hybrid electric platform for autonomous mobility, will begin road tests in China this year and be deployed as part of Pony.ai's public-facing Robotaxi operations in the first half of 2023.

"We have accumulated more than 10 million kilometers of autonomous mileage worldwide on open roads and throughout 2022, we will continue to invest in our leading R&D and global Robotaxi operations," said James Peng, co-founder and CEO of Pony.ai.

Pony.ai started to develop self-driving capabilities for the S-AM China model together with Toyota as early as 2019. Through extensive engineering and testing, Pony.ai believes this highly customized S-AM - with its dual redundancy system - will provide motorists with better functionality and control performance for Level 4 AD development. 

Pony.ai's next-generation AD system for automotive-grade mass production has leading sensor and computing capabilities. This new generation is a revolutionary step forward, with upgrades in every aspect of design and performance. 

Pony.ai has again demonstrated its technical strength through the successful launch of this new system and is another significant step toward mass production, according to Pony.ai co-founder and CTO Tiancheng Lou.

Baidu-backed JIDU provided a first look at the design of its Robocar concept in a teaser video released on Wednesday. 

The company also officially released its brand visual system, including the industry's first-ever Robocar brand logo, named "Pixel-J", along with colors and fonts. JIDU is set to unveil its first Robocar concept car at the Beijing Auto Show in April this year, with a design 90 percent the same as final production model to be mass produced and delivered by 2023. With Level 4 autonomous driving capability, the Robocar is able to realize free movement

Beijing launched China's first pilot program for commercial autonomous driving travel services in November, with many viewing the development as the end of the testing phase for autonomous driving and the beginning of broader market development. 

Global Times