Baidu has launched a project dubbed ‘Apollo’. The project will provide an open software platform to enable Baidu partners in the automotive and autonomous driving industry to develop their own autonomous driving systems with reference vehicles and hardware platform. By opening up its autonomous driving technology to the industry, Baidu says it aims to build a collaborative ecosystem, using its expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) to work with other companies to promote the development of autonomous driving technology.
The Apollo project provides a vehicle platform, hardware platform, software platform and cloud data services. Baidu will open source code and capabilities in obstacle perception, trajectory planning, vehicle control, vehicle operating systems and other functions, as well as a complete set of testing tools.
Baidu will also initiate a partnership alliance, working with partners who will provide compatible vehicles, sensors, and other components, to achieve broad participation and collaboration and to provide references and recommendations to participants of the ecosystem enabled by Project Apollo.
Baidu will initially open its autonomous driving technology for restricted environment in July. The company will then share its technology for cars running autonomously in simple urban road conditions towards the end of the year. Finally, Baidu plans to gradually introduce fully autonomous driving capabilities on highways and open city roads over time by 2020.
