Baidu says global first mass-produced AVP autonomous driving computing platform rolls off production line

Shanghai (Gasgooo)- Chinese Internet giant Baidu on July 30 saw the Apollo Computing Unit (ACU), the global first mass-produced AVP autonomous driving computing platform, roll off the production line at the Wuzhong factory of Flex, a global leading electronics manufacturing service provider, according to a posting on Flex's WeChat account.

The ACU hardware platform will be first applied in the second half of this year in the AVP (Apollo Valet Parking) product jointly developed by Baidu and WM Motor. It will make WM Motor become China's first automaker that achieves the mass production of AVP solution.

Wang Yunpeng, director of the Technology Department of Baidu's Intelligent Driving Group, said the roll-out of the mass-produced ACU signifies that Baidu has got evident improvements in such capabilities as the development of automotive-grade functional safety, the commercialization of autonomous driving products and the management of software and hardware supply chain. By virtue of the collaboration, Flex and Baidu will build an effective technology alliance and draw on each other's strengths in resources and technologies.

Baidu and Flex signed in June 2018 a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly develop comprehensive, systematic and reliable solutions related to autonomous driving, intelligent connectivity and smart traffic. To accomplish the volume production of the ACU, Flex leveraged its R&D experience of level 4 Robotaxi and offered Baidu the tailor-made solutions of the hardware development, the diagnostic software development, the industrial design, the thermal management structure design, the testing and verification, the integration and optimization of supply chain, the production line design and the scale manufacturing based on the suggestions and architecture demands provided by Apollo's expertise.

The R&D and design of the ACU involves the Xilinx's core processing chips, Infineon's automotive safety control processor, Vector's underlying software operating system, as well as Real-Time Innovations' products and Swiss Re's services (photo source: Flex's WeChat account) .