Baidu has shown off their latest electric robotic robot Apollo RT6 at the Baidu World 2022 event yesterday. It is their first taxi with Level 4 self-driving capabilities and even more interestingly, the vehicle's steering wheel can be removed to transform the cabin space into a mobile office for passengers.
Baidu's sixth generation robotics is also the first to be completely built from scratch and not modified from other vehicles. Therefore it is also the most affordable with the cost of each vehicle being RMB 250,000 (~RM 164,518) one.
With the steering wheel removable, Baidu says the extra space can be used to place more cargo, carry more passengers, place vending machines and even video game consoles as passenger entertainment systems.
Each RT6 has the ability to process 1200 TOPS using the Apollo self-driving ecosystem developed by Baidu. To enable Level 4 self-driving, the RT6 is equipped with 38 sensors consisting of 12 cameras, 8 LiDARS, 6 millimeter wave radars and 12 ultrasonic radars.
The Apollo RT6 will be used by the Apollo Go taxi service in China in the second half of 2023 with plans to use up to 100,000 vehicles to meet customer needs.