Human Horizons' smart-city concept to complete urban mobility solution

Chinese startup Human Horizons kicked off a demo of its smart-city concept on Thursday in Shanghai, which constitutes the ultimate step of its three-part comprehensive mobility solution for modern urban scenarios.

Three electric buses made by the startup are now offering autonomous rides for passengers in a smart zone in Shanghai's Zhangjiang high-tech park.

With a range of 300 km, the buses have neither drivers nor steering wheels. They run, turn, speed up and down and stop automatically.

Yet they are different from other autonomous vehicles in that they glean information and make decisions not only through their cameras and radars but also instructions from roadside devices and cloud controllers.

"They have a larger picture than the vehicles, and with their help the autonomous vehicles will be much safer, more efficient and affordable," said Ding Lei, chairman of Human Horizons.

He said the project has integrated technologies like 5G, big data, cloud computing, road-vehicle collaboration and artificial intelligence. He said he hopes the project serves as a model to realize the "zero accidents, zero emissions and zero congestion" goal.

Engineers at the company said cars manufactured by other brands can be connected to the system as well, as long as they are built on a wire-controlled chassis.

The smart city is the last of Human Horizons' three-step comprehensive mobility solution, with the other two the smart vehicle and the smart transportation.

The company unveiled its first production-ready prototype vehicle, called HiPhi 1, in July, targeting the premium segment of the growing electric car market.

The company said it will be the first production car with a 5G and V2X technologies-enabled communication network.

The vehicle has a neural network that consists of four "super brain" domain controllers and six computing platforms connected by 1 GB ethernet, which provide a much higher transmission rate than traditional controller area networks.

The six-seat vehicle capable of Level 3 autonomous driving, features vehicle-to-everything communication and can run for 600 kilometers on one charge, the company said.

Ding said the company will start trial production in late 2020 and launch the model in early 2021.

The vehicles will be made at a plant of Kia's Chinese joint venture Dongfeng Yueda Kia in Jiangsu province.

In January, Human Horizons also launched a pilot smart road program in Yancheng, Jiangsu province.

Based on 5G, internet of vehicles and other technologies, this establishes a solid foundation for comprehensive optimization of traffic management, autonomous driving and smart transportation of the future.

It enables the vehicles to deal with multiple and complex scenarios in real-life traffic.

The company said it is expecting to take part in similar projects in other parts of the country.