Baidu unveils Apollo 2.5, wins 100th partner BYD

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On April 19, Chinese Internet giant Baidu unveiled the Apollo 2.5, the latest version of the open autonomous driving platform that currently supports vision-based high-speed autonomous driving in limited areas.

At the launching ceremony for Apollo's one-year anniversary, Baidu announced that BYD has officially joined the Apollo platform and became its 100th partners. Meanwhile, the Internet giant also announced the establishment of the Apollo Automotive Cybersecurity Lab to further promote the safety implementation of autonomous driving.

Currently, Baidu Apollo has teamed up with 100 companies worldwide, including many traditional mainstream automakers like Chery, JAC Motors, BAIC BJEV, Great Wall Motor as well as some top components suppliers like Continental AG, Bosch and Delphi. Apart from that, its cooperation still extends to mobility service providers, traditional auto electronics suppliers, autonomous driving core parts suppliers, autonomous driving tech integrators as well as underlying software platforms, etc.

It is worth mentioning that the Apollo 2.5 reduces 90% of the sensor cost by virtue of the camera-based virtual perception solutions. In addition, the latest iteration opens and upgrades some developer tools, including opening the Dockerfile and upgrading the visual tool GreamView, the data collector Apollo Drive Event, the Apollo HD (high-definition) map data collector and the Apollo simulation platform.

Moreover, the Apollo 2.5 has been added a new scenario of truck logistics. At the launching ceremony, Baidu played a video demonstrating that CiDi (Changsha Intelligent Driving Research Institute) integrated Apollo 2.5 into a truck and made the vehicle run autonomously on highways.