Self-driving cars have been listed as an important focus for development by global car and technology companies. The successful development of the technologies will not only depend on the sensor and recognition technologies for the vehicles, it will also require digitized systems in the surrounding environments on the road. ADLINK has been working in this area for many years. Henry Hu, Global Business Development Director, Networking Communication and Public Sector Business Unit, ADLINK, stated that besides the high quality and high performance edge computing hardware understood by the industry, the software technology has also been completed in recent years. Through the integration of hardware and software, ADLINK can provide complete solutions for system integration companies and end users.
In terms of self-driving cars, the image that most people have in their minds is of a car driving down the road with no one in the driver's seat. The car will set the route according to the passengers' instructions and avoid other cars and pedestrians on the road, safely taking the passengers to their destination. Henry Hu pointed out that this is the ultimate goal of self-driving cars. By looking at the development trends in society and industry, the goal will not be achieved at once, but will be completed through the gradual implementation of technology and infrastructure.
He used autonomous rail rapid transit (ART) as an example. In the past, rail transport has involved the laying of tracks on the road, allowing trains to travel in a semi-enclosed space. In recent years, ART has been implemented on normal roads. Magnetic tracks are installed underneath the road surface. Vehicles only need ADAS driver assist systems, which include forward crash warning (FCW) and lane deviation warning (LDW), 2 matured technologies, to travel on the lane. At present, smart tracks have been officially launched in Hunan, China. Taiwan is currently promoting the technology and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is formulating a budget. The industrial, governmental, academic and research capabilities of Taiwan will be invested to develop the technology. ADLINK will also actively contribute to the effort.
Henry Hu stated that smart tracks are a representative application of smart transportation. The system requires the integration of cloud, edge computing and internet connected equipment. The hardware capabilities of ADLINK are well-known in the industry, and the industrial computers released by ADLINK have been widely implemented in various transportation areas. In recent years, the company has strengthened its software layout, with the merger of the UK software company, PrismTech, in 2015 as one of its strategies. The core technology of PrismTech is data distribution service (DDS). The technology was mainly applied to military manufacturing systems, and has now been extended to industrial IoT. The peer-to-peer real time data transmission of DDS is very suitable for automotive IoT. Furthermore, in order to accelerate industry development, ADLINK has not only published the source code of the technology, it has also promoted the use of the software in open-source robotics operating system (ROS) and open-source self-driving technology of the Autoware Foundation (AWF). Currently, Jim Liu, CEO of ADLINK, is one of the 5 directors of AWF, which is assisting in the development of self-driving cars.
The complete industry layout of its software combined with the advantages of existing hardware, and with the ecosystem created in recent years, has allowed ADLINK to provide the most complete industry solutions. Using traffic cameras as an example, Henry Hu said that in the past, cameras at intersections were mainly for catching speeding vehicles. In recent years, the law enforcement application of the technology has been expanded and more functions have been implemented. ART mentioned above is one such function. Currently, the self-driving bus service implemented by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and Hsinchu County Government on the roads surrounding the Zhubei high speed rail area, uses the ADLINK solution. In this solution, ADLINK partners has integrated LIDAR, radar, cameras, and communication modules into the smart intersection system. The various equipment of the system can share intersection data through sensor and IoT technology, creating a smart traffic system with comprehensive functions. For ADLINK, creating a complete smart transportation system with eco-system partners is focused on establishing a comprehensive structure that can allow self-driving cars to safely travel with the C-V2Xd framework.
Henry Hu stated that Taiwan has been devoted to the development of self-driving cars in recent years. Taiwan is currently one of the leaders in technology and in terms of industry capabilities, Taiwan companies show great promise. ADLINK has been invested in self-driving cars for a long time. Besides providing integrated self-driving system development kits (G-AD-KIT) to help developers and academic institutions invest in applications for minimal R&D and labor costs, the company has also accumulated extensive system construction experience through partnerships with various global companies. In the future, ADLINK will continue to use its products and experience to cultivate domestic companies and transform smart transportation into an important industry for Taiwan.
Learn more about ADLINK's Autonomous Vehicle Solutions
Henry Hu, Global Business Development Director, Networking Communication and Public Sector Business Unit, ADLINK
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