SZ, HK-developed driverless vehicle officially licensed in HK

THE Hercules low-speed driverless logistics vehicle jointly developed by Shenzhen Unity-Drive Innovation Technology Co. Ltd. (UDI) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)’s Intelligent Autonomous Driving Center received Hong Kong’s first official license for fully driverless vehicles, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported Saturday.

The Hercules low-speed driverless logistics vehicle jointly developed by UDI and HKUST’s Intelligent Autonomous Driving Center received Hong Kong’s first official license for fully driverless vehicles. Photos from UDI’s official website

Hong Kong’s Transport Department issued the license after the vehicle had undergone 22 months of high-standard professional testing in three stages.

The unmanned vehicle is reported to independently complete all high-precision mapping, environment perception and route planning, and it is also equipped with a cloud dispatching system to truly realize autonomous driving.

A Hercules low-speed driverless logistics vehicle runs in the campus of HKUST.

Up to now, the vehicle has obtained a total of five phased vehicle driving permits, and successfully completed 94 test tasks in 595 hours.

According to UDI, Hong Kong is very strict about unmanned vehicles hitting the roads and road tests are a prerequisite for the evolution of autonomous driving technologies and product approvals. In addition to achieving phased results in Hong Kong, the Hercules vehicle has been widely put into use in more cities on the mainland.

UDI’s driverless vehicles have been put into use in Shenzhen to support the city’s anti-COVID efforts.

Since 2018, UDI has started testing driverless vehicles on the roads and operated them in industrial parks for over three years. So far, the company’s unmanned vehicles have run over 100,000 kilometers, according to the Daily report.

ARTICLE FROM: Shenzhen Daily