On April 26, 2018, eMapgo Technologies (Beijing) Co., Ltd. hosted EMG User Conference 2018 in Beijing. After EMG management presentations and guest speeches, six VIPs from map provider, auto maker, AI, IT companies and Xiamen University had a panel discussion on the “Opportunities and Challenges of Connected Vehicle and Autonomous Driving.”
Panel Members
Jessica Zhang
(Hostess) Jazzyear CEO
Dr. Kevin Wang
EMG Chairman
T. Russell Shields
Ygomi Chairman (founder of NAVTEQ)
Weiguo Liu
Geely Deputy Director of Intelligent Vehicle Development Center
Prof. Cheng Wang
Xiamen University
Xianglai Kong
Sogou Map CEO
Kevin Tsurutome
DeepMap Vice President
What is the relationship between autonomous driving and connected vehicle?
Dr. Kevin Wang believes that data used for autonomous driving should be updated in real time and thus if vehicles are not connected, it is hard to realize autonomous driving.
Mr. Liu thinks that the ultimate purpose of autonomous driving is to get rid of human control. Autonomous driving and connected vehicle have no inclusion relations while connected vehicle is a foundation of highly automated driving.
Prof. Cheng Wang points out that autonomous driving and connected vehicle are two sides of one coin. They are complementary.
Mr. Kong thinks if the autonomous vehicle is not connected, large value related to it will not be created.
Mr. Tsurutome addresses that autonomous vehicles need to share information in real time and this requires networking.
Mr. Shields proposes that they are two different concepts. In some levels of autonomous driving, networking is not necessary and thus connected vehicle is not a prerequisite for autonomous driving. They can develop simultaneously.
As new players are emerging, who will be grid master controlling screens in vehicles? How will the new business model of connected vehicle service evolve?
Dr. Kevin Wang points out with voice interfaces, it’ll be more convenient for drivers to utilize their time while driving, such as hotel booking, ticket purchasing etc. Since in-vehicle services can be provided to customers during vehicles’ life cycles, profits generated from this new business will be far beyond the profits from car sales.
Mr. Liu says, Geely focuses on increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty of users. He suggests auto makers and Internet companies shall find a reasonable way to share profits instead of focus on who to control the screens.
Mr. Kong stresses that user experience is most important. If the system is the only selling point, then auto makers will lose their voices in the market.
Which level do you choose, L3 or L4?
Mr. Shields thinks L3 autonomous vehicles are controlled by both men and machines. When an accident occurs, it’s hard to determine the responsibility. He reveals Ygomi has made significant investments on L4 autonomous driving.
Mr. Liu proposes Geely will transit from low to high levels of autonomous driving. He stresses safety of vehicle is the priority, but there is no technology that can ensure the safety of L4 autonomous vehicles now.
Dr. Wang says, EMG will focus on L3 now while actively participating in L4 research.
Which technical path is better, pure vision or multi-sensor fusion?
Prof. Wang advises to use LiDAR to acquire base data while using vision AI with crowdsourcing to improve the capability of dynamic update. He stresses that full reliability is a prerequisite to process mass production of autonomous vehicles.
Mr. Tsurutome reveals DeepMap chooses multi-sensor fusion.
Mr. Shields is in favor of pure vision. He thinks the cost of LiDAR is too high to be commercialized. Instead, pure vision is more economical.
SOURCE: eMapgo Technologies (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
