Alibaba is testing a delivery robot with a revolutionary pair of eyes
Alibaba is testing a delivery robot with a revolutionary pair of eyes
June 1, 2018
China’s e-commerce giant, Alibaba, is testing the
world’s first driverless vehicle equipped with solid-state lidar. The
road-going delivery robot is being tested by Cainiao,
an Alibaba logistics subsidiary using technology developed by another Chinese
company, RoboSense.
Special
delivery: Plenty of delivery robots exist already, but they typically
navigate using cameras and radar, which are much cheaper. A system equipped
with laser ranging can see the world in greater detail and should therefore be
able to get around with fewer bumps and bruises.
Cheaper
vision: RoboSense’s system uses microelectromechanical (MEMS)
mirrors to guide the system’s laser beams. More generally, by driving down the
cost of lidar sensors—typically one of the most expensive parts of a
self-driving car—solid-state lidar could make the cars much more
accessible.
China
driving: The effort highlights how ambitiously both big companies and
startups are pursuing driverless technology. It also shows how ambitious
Alibaba is becoming in both artificial intelligence and robotics—in case you
needed any reminders.
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