ã€World Wide Web Reporter Zhang Zhiying】 “No one’s minibus†is on trial run in China’s Taiwan this year. The simple news reveals that "unmanned technology" has begun to work for "public transport". This is not only the breakthrough of the unmanned vehicle at the application level, but also the great leap forward of the business model.
What kind of business model does this unmanned bus have? Industry sources told Global Network reporter that no one bus is a medium in itself, it can establish an ecosystem. For example, if a car surveillance camera incorporates face recognition technology and recognizes each passenger's gender, clothing, and age, it can recommend each of his passengers coffee, clothes, movies, coupons, and other products in the car. In addition to advertising, when people use App for fixed point car service, personal information collected by the App is also a potential data opportunity. When the bus starts to move, the investment attraction along the scenic spots along the road will create a common prosperity. The most important thing is that as long as no one bus goes on the road, the business model will start immediately.
In November, the section of the open trial ride in Kaohsiung was along the bay. (Global Network reporter photography)
It is worth mentioning that since unmanned buses belong to public transport, operators can also get government subsidies, which is a great guarantee for the cost of unmanned vehicles.
However, unmanned buses have become a means of public transport, which means that traffic laws, insurance policies, and technology industries must be matched with each other. Since no one has ever done it, the complexity and unknown risks of its implementation and promotion have made most conservative industrialists shy away.
Now, no one has started to promote the Taiwan area. How will Taiwan implement this new mode of transport? While everyone is still asking about the commercialization of driverless driving, the business opportunities in unmanned buses have already started in Taiwan.
It is not a large company such as BAT or a government department that brings a mini-minibus to Taiwan, but a company you may not have heard of: 7 Star Lake. The company took a fancy to the blue ocean market of unmanned buses, directly introduced French technology and vehicles, and cooperated with cities to optimize the city's development through unmanned buses.
Zimen Stark succeeded in finding the pain points of the city. According to industry insiders, it took only about 18 months from the initial concept to today's landing.
Is there no passenger light bus carrying passengers? What is the current progress?
The unlicensed minibuses have already begun trial rides in four enclosed areas in Kaohsiung City in November, hoping to pave the way for future formal roads. The Global World reporter personally took a route in the New Bay Area of ​​Asia. The one-way journey was about one kilometer long. The single boat took about 15 minutes to travel along the harbor and Starlight Waterfront Park.
L4-class "unmanned light buses" are manufactured by the French company EasyMile. They have a body length of less than 4 meters and are powered by electric energy. There is a laser ranging scan collision prevention system at the front and rear of the bus, and a camera above the glass. The unlicensed minibus currently accommodates 12 passengers, including 6 seats and 6 stations, and can travel for 8 hours at full speed, at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour.
The reporter found that the roof was equipped with Velodyne Lidar and GPS positioning system. The company is not a small company. Velodyne used to build Lidars for Google’s unmanned vehicles and unmanned aircraft.
Lidar is the key element in the safety of unmanned buses. It is equivalent to the "eyes" of the entire bus. It can completely detect the surrounding environment through scanning, and in order to take into account the accuracy, each radar needs to be manually adjusted. At present, there are no other components that can be replaced in the industry. After all, buses involve public safety, and the bus does not hesitate to build on technical and security considerations. It is understood that this mini version of the bus costs 500,000 US dollars.
One of the two test-jumping experiences for reporters was a stall on a section of a climb, and the operator was required to manually eliminate the problem. In other words, in the face of more complicated road conditions, no one has to break through in the wisdom process. The operator told reporters that the probable cause of the problem was because the trip was too heavy and failed.
Passengers enthusiastically launched the "first experience" of unmanned buses. (Global Network reporter photography)
According to Ding Yanyun, general manager of Ximen Stark, an unlicensed light bus operator, the reason why the minibus is limited to eight hours of electric power is due to the weather in Taiwan and air conditioning must be installed on the car. The company's future plan is to build a passenger bus that accommodates 25 people and a battery of 40KW. It will dispatch 4 to 8 vehicles at a peak time to ease the traffic demand in the urban area.
"Driving without driver" is a brand new field for China's Taiwan-related laws and regulations. When a reporter asked Kaohsiung City to promote driverless driving as a public transportation tool, what is the biggest difficulty? Interestingly, the original regulations and policies are not the most challenging part. It turns out that the advantage of unmanned buses is precisely that the government can directly incorporate it into the management mechanism of existing public transport systems, eliminating the need for preparatory tasks such as collecting data and research, and formulating time and effort for rewriting new regulations from scratch.
High-level officials of the Kaohsiung City Transportation Bureau said: “The law is very willing to cooperate. The difficulty is how the unmanned bus should cooperate with various road conditions and environments.†To put it bluntly, it is difficult or technical.
However, there is no benefit to unmanned buses. Why are Taipei and Kaohsiung City willing to increase their support and take efficiency in regulations and policies? Make every effort to make everything “simplistic†and welcome the arrival of “unmanned buses†with both hands?
Traffic problem is solved by the masses of vehicles to solve the unpopulated bus
The Kaohsiung City Communications Bureau told the reporter that in Kaohsiung City, the cost of building a 1-kilometer road was as high as nearly 150 million U.S. dollars. If you want to rely on bus lanes to expand road network, it is very difficult to successfully apply for funds. In addition, the construction time required to complete a route is at least 6 to 10 years. All of the above factors have caused the problem of insufficient bus coverage in Kaohsiung City to be delayed.
“We often say 'three for a long time': Stops take a long way to go for a long time; buses are too little for a long time; they take a long journey around the road,†said the Kaohsiung Transportation Bureau.
In comparison, an unmanned bus costs about 1 million U.S. dollars. It can change the route due to traffic conditions, and even make reservations for cars. The application scenario is more flexible; furthermore, an unmanned bus with a sense of design runs on the road and can bring A new image of the city; through the use of laser radar on buses, collecting city data, understanding traffic congestion, accidents and accidents, will help the city traffic management; and just a gimmick called “unmanned busâ€, it has attracted a lot of sightseeing The eye of the guest.
At present, companies are willing to pay their own funds for the introduction of unmanned buses. The benefits of the above-mentioned various measures have enabled the “unmanned buses†to receive immediate support from government departments.
It is understood that Kaohsiung City has organized relevant teams to consolidate the safety and punishment regulations and submit an application to the Ministry of Communications. It is expected that next year, unmanned buses will be able to drive to general intersections and face real street scenes. An insider of the government pointed out: “Because of safety considerations, we are now operating in a closed area, but this can't satisfy the real demand. We can't close all the roads for the unmanned vehicle. We can't only do it forever in closed areas.â€
If unlicensed buses successfully obtain road test licenses next year, they can conduct in-depth study on real road conditions. (Global Network reporter photography)
Once the protection of the enclosed area has left, the unmanned bus challenge really begins. In the crowded roads of people and vehicles, in the face of bicycles, automobiles, locomotives and pedestrians, whether the unmanned driving technology can be correctly judged and executed is the real test at this time. On the other hand, it is only by letting unmanned buses actually get on the road that the artificial intelligence can be deeply studied. By collecting and learning data from various real road conditions, the unmanned buses can become smarter.
Kaohsiung City said that on the completely open Malaysian road, it is necessary to open the real two or three intersections to test and let the unmanned buses cooperate with traffic lights, AI, sensors, and data from different cities, and constantly modify the algorithms to realize smart cities. .
In addition to the active promotion of Kaohsiung City, Taipei City is not behind. Taipei City told reporters that it is expected that no one will test the road test license at the end of the year. If all goes well, it is expected to see no one on the bus lane next to Xinyi Road next year.
“Taipei has 29,000 traffic accidents a year, and smart vehicles are obviously a very important scene,†said the Taipei City Department of Transportation. “The whole world is exploring better ways to travel. The information I get is that there is less money for unmanned buses. High security is an inevitable direction. This view is of course challenging for everyone. At the same time, it is in line with the direction of the smart city in Taipei."
Small Town Strategy: Unmanned Bus Technology + Sightseeing + Green Energy
It is worth mentioning that when promoting unmanned public light buses as public transport, a small city has also taken this technology train: Changhua City.
In the future, unmanned bus routes will be equipped with smart street lamps and wind turbine installations. (provided by Simon Gatek)
Compared with first-tier cities, Changhua City has received relatively few government resources, but in recent years, it has developed wind power by virtue of its special geographic environment, and has become an internationally renowned wind power area, attracting many foreign wind power investigators to visit.
Because of the small population and resources, Changhua City hopes to introduce unmanned minibuses to promote tourism and economic development. Their approach is quite creative: On the idle road near the high-speed rail in Changhua City, there is no open minibus. Changhua City stated that on both sides of the road in the future, it will become a sightseeing area for eating, drinking, and playing. That is, as long as there is no light bus, you can go all the way to the end.
“I want to make a few rose fields and lavender fields on this route, and let these places become the sites for unlicensed minibuses. On Valentine's Day, we can hold some activities that are suitable for the occasion,†said Ding Yanyun.
According to Changhua City, “If we just do sightseeing, our application for unmanned buses is still at a relatively simple level.†Changhua City will further use Changhua’s windy, windy constitution. “We recommend unmanned bus operators. Small wind turbines are installed on both sides of the road for wind power generation, and the generated electricity can be sold to the power plant again. “The fans on both sides become a special scenery, but also let the original unmanned vehicle technology combine sightseeing and then promoted to green energy. The level of environmental protection.
"A lot of manufacturers are surprised and excited to see what I've done. They can see that I'm doing all this, not just stopping at the sightseeing minibus. All the things we do now are for no one. The official road of the car is paving the road," said Ding Yanyun.
Regulations are the latest specifications for virgin lands: bus operators need to insure 30 million
Taiwan's current laws and regulations impose stringent requirements on "vehicles," requiring that there be a steering wheel and a specified number of escape exits. If they do not comply, they will not be able to apply for a trial license and will not be able to carry out general road tests. In other words, laws and regulations cannot keep up with the development of science and technology.
As the driverless technology involves a whole new field, what does insurance do? How much is the amount? Where is the scope? Do you want to design a special law? All of the above are aspects that need to be considered.
All this made new progress in November. The Taiwan Ministry of Transport revised the law to allow unmanned vehicles to be supervised at the end of the year, requiring that one person be accompanied by the vehicle, and the maximum amount of insured money would be NT$150 million (approximately 30 million RMB). Video equipment to record driving trajectories.
In view of the accidents in foreign unmanned vehicle testing, the new law stipulates that there is one person with the vehicle for the unmanned vehicle test, and must have insurance. The amount of insurance coverage can be adjusted appropriately according to the conditions such as road section, time period, and driving speed.
The Science and Technology Consultant Office of the Ministry of Transport has tentatively drafted a draft management point, which stipulates that the responsibility of the unmanned vehicle for the steering wheel, acceleration and deceleration operations, and driving environment monitoring can be handled automatically by the system, that is, in accordance with the automatic definition defined by Level 3 of SAE. With driving ability, you can apply for a trial license. It is believed, however, that it is possible to apply for a road test license in Taiwan, China.
Unmanned bus business model Will the mainland be introduced in the future?
“If the application of unmanned vehicles remains in private cars, it will still be unable to solve the urban traffic problems.†When the reporter interviewed the relevant departments of the Communications Bureau, a senior person emphasized the concept to reporters. Bringing unmanned technology to public gear, the idea was smoothly supported by policy and it was unimaginably fast to implement.
At present, no one has a maximum of 12 passengers. In the future, it hopes to build a 25-man passenger-free bus. (Global Network reporter photography)
In recent years, the limited area of ​​economic development in Taiwan, due to the emergence of unmanned buses, is expected to lead a new wave of momentum in the technology industry. In the future, large-scale technology companies that build unmanned bus components will benefit from the upgrading of the industry.
When the “unmanned public light bus†was put on trial operation in China’s Taiwan this year, “driving without driver†began to work for the “public transportâ€. This was a breakthrough in the application of unmanned vehicles and a leap forward in business models.
Ding Yanyun aims at the needs of the city and creates his own traffic and lifestyle for the city. But he wants to do more than this. It is understood that Ding Yanyun is trying to get in touch with Baidu. Although there is no specific plan yet, the pie is bigger than expected.
"In the future unmanned buses, I will also put windows in new electronic screens to create a dedicated unmanned vehicle APP. Combining with the surrounding businesses, taking an unmanned bus will be very entertaining. In short, the future. It may be very much." Ding Yanyun said excitedly.
Vertical Mount D-Sub Connectors
Antenk Standard D-Sub Series Including:
Standard Straight D-Sub Connectors Stamped Contacts
Standard High Profile D-Sub Machined Contacts
Standard Wire Wrap D-Sub Connectors Machined Contacts
Standard Straight D-Sub Connectors Machined Contacts
Standard Dip Solder D-Sub Connector Straight Machined Economy
Standard Density Vertical Low Profile D-Sub Connectors
Standard Density Press Fit D-Sub Connectors
Antenk's Vertical D-Sub Connectors Options
Number of Rows
Shell Size
Mounting Style
Packaging
Gender
Shell
Features of Antenk's Vertical D-Sub Standard Connectors
Available in 5 industry sizes/positions
Standard Density (9 pin, 15 pin, 25 pin, 37 pin, 50 pin).
Low cost & high performance, non-removable stamped contacts.
Nickel shells have indents to provide grounding and additional retention.
Optional mounting d-sub hardware available.
Materials of Antenk's Vertical D-Sub Standard Connectors
Shell: Steel, nickel plated
Insulator: Glass-filled thermoplastic. U.L. rated 94V-O
(260°C process temp)
Stamped contacts:
Male pins - Brass | Female pins - Phosphor bronze
Plating: Gold flash on entire contact
(contact factory for other plating options)
Antenk Vertical High Density D-Sub Series Including:
Dip Solder High Density D-Sub Connectors Stamped Contacts
Vertical Solder High Density D-Sub Connectors Machined
High Density D-Sub Vertical Low Profile Stamped Contacts
High Density D-Sub Vertical Low Profile Machined Contacts
High Density D-Sub Vertical High Profile Stamped Contacts
Features of Antenk's Vertical D-Sub High Density Connectors
High Profile d-subs available in Standard Density: (15 pin, 26 pin)
Stamped contacts for lower cost.
Available in receptacle (female).
Metal shell provide EMI/RFI shielding.
High profile design allows placement of other components on PCB.
Available with various hardware options.
Materials of Antenk's Vertical D-Sub High Density Connectors
Shell: Steel, nickel plated
Insulator: Thermoplastic polyester, chemical resistant, black UL 94V-O (230°C process temp)
Contacts: Female pins - Phosphor bronze
Plating: Gold flash over nickel (mating area) | Tin over nickel (solder tails)
wire wrap vertical board mount d-sub connectors, high profile vertical board mount d-sub connectors, low profile vertical board mount d-sub connectors, dip solder and press fit vertical board mount d-sub connectors
ShenZhen Antenk Electronics Co,Ltd , https://www.antenkelec.com