Chinese IT giant Baidu has released a “robot car” without steering wheel and pedals

The Chinese tech giant has unveiled the Apollo concept car with Level 5 autopilot. Artificial intelligence fully controls the control, no human intervention is required at all

Chinese tech giant Baidu unveiled its first car, which the company calls a “robo-car”. The concept car, called Apollo, received a fully unmanned system, as well as a cabin without external controls, including without a steering wheel and pedals. It is reported by Autohome.

The exterior distinguishing feature of the car was an unusual body with an extensive line of glass, including a transparent roof with automatic dimming. The car also has large electric gull-wing doors that open upwards. In addition, a digital panel was installed in front, on which various messages can be displayed.

Inside, a huge curved infotainment display sits in the center of the dashboard. The list of equipment includes “smart” functions for recognizing the voice, faces and gestures of people in the cabin with “the possibility of self-study.” It is assumed that the car will learn to “remember the preferences of passengers and act according to different scenarios.”

There are no rudders or pedals inside the Apollo – the automatic control system corresponds to the fifth level autopilot. Artificial intelligence orients itself in space and controls control completely independently, without requiring human intervention.

The Chinese have not yet announced plans for the serial production of such machines. At the same time, in the first half of 2021, Baidu launched its own automatic taxi service in China called Go Robotaxi, which opened its branches in the megacities of Beijing, Changsha, Guangzhou and Cangzhou. Autonomous vehicles have already transported more than 400 thousand passengers, and the total distance traveled has exceeded 14 million kilometers. The number of drone technologies patented by Baidu is close to 3,000.