From：Internet Info Agency 2021-04-30 18:01:33
Nowadays, the main driving force for the rapid development of the automotive industry has been driven by the past supply-side products and power system technology, and has been gradually transformed into the ever-increasing user demand for intelligence. As the leader of the edge artificial intelligence platform, Horizon Robotics also participated in the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show and released a full-scenario vehicle smart solution to help industry partners to jointly create an open and win-win smart car ecosystem and accelerate the implementation of smart driving.
During the current Shanghai Auto Show, IIA was also fortunate to have Mr. Zhang Yufeng, vice president of Horizon Robotics and general manager of the intelligent driving product line, for an exclusive interview. According to Mr. Zhang Yufeng, “As the leader of edge artificial intelligence platforms, Horizon Robotics conforms to the needs of the industry and car companies and advocates an open and win-win cooperation model.”
IIA: Thank you very much, Mr. Zhang, Vice President of Horizon Robotics and General Manager of Intelligent Driving Product Line, for your visit to our IIA live room.
Zhang Yufeng: I also thank IIA for inviting us to participate in interviews and communication during such a busy time.
IIA: At this auto show, what new products and new technologies Horizon Robotics will bring?
Zhang Yufeng: This time we are featuring the release of a full range of products for intelligent driving, further iterating the technology of intelligent driving products, and pioneering the proposal of linkage between inside and outside the vehicle, which can provide intelligent solutions for the entire vehicle in all scenarios, including Horizon Matrix® Mono assisted driving solution, Horizon Matrix® Pilot pilot driving solution, Horizon Matrix® FSD fully automatic driving solution, and Horizon Halo™️ vehicle intelligent interactive solution, from chip to algorithm, from inside to outside, and inside and outside Linkage to achieve better man-machine co-driving.
Horizon Matrix® Mono is the only mass-produced autonomous driving solution in China that covers L1 to L3+. From the current ADAS to PKMobileye Q4 and friends, to the cost-effective passive cooling Pilot, similar to NOA and NGP functions , The realization of up and down ramps to change lanes and overtaking, etc., can be very satisfied from performance to cost, especially for large-volume economic vehicles, to create a product solution similar to NGP, which we call Pilot.
For all scenes, including urban areas and high-speed autonomous driving scenes, we call them FSD. This is based on our new generation of chips and is geared towards higher-level autonomous driving products, so we have launched solutions that meet the requirements of NCAP solutions, Pilot high-speed navigation assisted driving, and fully automated driving.
In terms of in-vehicle intelligent interaction, our Halo II has been implemented in many models. In fact, we are the first solution provider for mass production, multi-modal in-vehicle interaction, and active service from a global perspective. The integration of multiple cameras and voice enables a more accurate and richer understanding of the objects and states in the cabin from the driver to the passengers, as well as the understanding of intent. Because we are the first mass-produced company, we can't slack off, we will continue to improve, for example, can automatically reduce the volume in the car, if you smoke, the air conditioner and car windows will be adjusted. These subtle adjustments will bring more steadiness and attention to car owners, which we call active care. At the same time, lip language can be used to distinguish between the front row and the back row in the cockpit speaking, and it can be extracted through multi-modal processing to solve more challenging situations. At present, the algorithm interaction can be upgraded from dozens of small algorithms to dozens or even hundreds of scenarios for accurate understanding, to actively meet users' ideas and needs, while ensuring safety.
The linkage between the inside and outside of the car, in fact, the human-computer co-driving is through language or other means of interaction. The most important thing is that the car is a very good assistant, providing better safety and better comfort when people need help. In a state of anxiety. When the system is driving automatically, there are many scenes that need to be processed in detail. If there are passengers drinking water in the cockpit, do not change lanes and overtake casually when navigation assisted driving. You should also be a little more peaceful when getting on and off the ramp. Some scene systems also have processing adjustments to communicate with the driver and passengers. Do you want to be super, does the scene look a bit dangerous? Therefore, through these, on the one hand, it is better to serve people, on the other hand, it is to enhance people's trust in the machine, and at the same time let people participate in driving decision-making, and enhance the experience of man-machine co-driving.
Horizon Robotics has several major competitiveness. One is the combination of software and hardware, which can optimize the design of chips and algorithms in collaboration to create the ultimate cost-effective solution to meet mass production. We are the only chip company in the world that has mass-produced automotive AI chips, and the other is Nvidia and Mobileye. Then there are only a handful of chips and algorithms that cover autonomous driving and cockpit interaction. We must give full play to our advantages and ultimately help car companies and OEMs to create the ultimate user experience and value. This time, our products covered the entire scene on our booth as the main highlight to interact with the audience.
IIA: Mr. Zhang mentioned that the entire Horizon Robotics business has been very detailed, but many netizens feel that autonomous driving is still far away, maybe the technology is reached, but it will take a long time to land, but you have been talking about it just now. Mass production, our products can already be reflected in mass production products?
Zhang Yufeng: Yes, we will also release the high-end automatic assisted driving that will be mass-produced on Changan UNI-T and UNI-K. I think this is an advanced type. First, we will solve the driving assistance that users get in certain scenarios. For example, in a high-speed scene, coupled with automatic transmission on the up and down ramps for overtaking, this has been mass-produced. The most basic safety function is emergency braking and emergency avoidance braking. The emergency brake may stop at the front and rear. This may not solve all the problems. What should I do if the speed is fast? I can provide emergency avoidance brakes.
IIA: This is like a Moose test?
Zhang Yufeng: One thing. The same is true for people. If you are distracted on the high speed and there is a traffic jam in front of you, when you are about to rear-end, if the left and right sides of me are empty, I can avoid the brakes urgently. We are also innovating on the basic ADAS to ensure the most basic safety of people. This will be standard in future cars. It is really life-saving and provides a certain degree of convenience on the basis of safety. This advanced approach brings convenience to people from a wider range. We also believe that the advanced approach can better implement mass production and closed-loop data to achieve fewer restrictions, larger areas, and more efficiently. Fully automatic driving in more scenarios. We expect that in the next few years, the basic ADAS (the assembly will be more) may be lower now, not necessarily to 20%. In fact, many car manufacturers in Japan already have standard equipment, which is life-saving. I think first of all, we must serve car companies and users well in a relatively large-scale market. At the same time, the other two of our three lines will continue to improve, because our plan is called scalable, growable, and interconnectable. That is to say, even if there are restrictions now, we will help car companies to land faster. Algorithms and solutions can improve accuracy through closed-loop data and training, and can expand the scope and scene of autonomous driving.
IIA: There are only three possibilities in the industry that can achieve this level. We can say that Horizon Robotics is an independent local company in China, but it takes a long time. It was established in July 2015. It has not been six years since then. Can you introduce your team?
Zhang Yufeng: We often ridicule ourselves that Horizon Robotics is the AI chip company that knows the most algorithms and the algorithm company that knows the most chips. In the early days of founding, we had more AI algorithm experts, including Dr. Yu, who has more than 20 years of experience. We joked before that he is a scientist, but now he may not look like a scientist anymore. In the era of artificial intelligence applications, it is actually the scene that chooses which AI algorithm is the most suitable to solve the problem of this scene. In order to make the solution process more efficient and more scalable, it is necessary to cooperate with corresponding co-designed and optimized chips. , We probably went through such a process. So, at the beginning, more background is AI algorithm talents, and we will quickly add chip experts afterwards. At the same time, security is the first. We must not only rely on AI algorithms, but we must also rely on traditional algorithms. The two complement each other, so we must draw on traditional algorithm talents.
IIA: Is it equivalent to a complete packaging system?
Zhang Yufeng: We are still more focused on intelligence. For cars or pan-robots, intelligence includes perception of the environment, fusion, positioning yourself, and predicting the surrounding or other objects, what kind of movement or intention, and then decide. We focus on the chip and the core intelligent algorithm of this layer. The intelligence of the entire car includes entertainment, and more body dynamics are not our core products. The word "package" is not our core business model. If customers need us to provide a combination of software and hardware solutions, if customers need more openness, we can jointly develop, or even support development on my system in a pure chip manner. There are also many customers who go this way. We think it depends on the customer's inclination and choice, because we don't want to kidnap software and hardware customers, but in-depth cooperation with some mainstream car manufacturers in the construction of algorithm teams, in the construction of AI capabilities, and jointly build AI laboratories.
IIA: We can provide different solutions according to the needs of different customers. Is it because our Horizon Robotics has in-depth cooperation with major Chinese brands such as SAIC and GAC? First of all, our technology is really deep, and the other is the local advantage, that is, we understand Chinese consumers better and the Chinese environment better, so that has led so many brands to cooperate with us accordingly?
Zhang Yufeng: We definitely value the Chinese market very much. We have done a good job of digging, researching, and researching the Chinese scene in terms of plans, whether it is in-car or out-of-car products. In the era of automobile intelligence, the trend is for car companies to cooperate closely with chip manufacturers who understand algorithms. In fact, the software components are getting heavier and more complex. This requires close cooperation, collaborative design and optimization. Based on this market, we must still serve China's car companies. In terms of cooperation, we still have to meet the needs of the industry and car companies. Whether it is capacity building or joint development, we have always advocated openness and win-win results. Because autonomous driving, including the intelligent cockpit itself, is still a very complicated project, which cannot be solved by one company. We put forward a slogan called "open and win-win". I think it is the service ability and cooperation mode, and the cooperative mentality is still very important. We ourselves belong to the AI chip company that is the closest geographical distance to Chinese car companies. We can invest much more manpower than international friends to serve various car companies.
IIA: In fact, everyone has noticed that the Horizon Robotics brand LOGO is a shape similar to the brain, so the future will definitely make cars smarter, including smarter car life, including our car use, such an excellent company as Horizon Robotics Helping us, even joint ventures and imported brands are cooperating, so we can really boldly imagine what life will be like in the future, and what kind of sales Horizon Robotics might show. Thank you very much, Mr. Zhang from Horizon Robotics, for being a guest in our live studio. If there are any new technologies in the future, please pay close attention to the IIA, and also pay close attention to the various information and technologies released by Horizon Robotics. Thank you all.
