Drone rejects technology islands: technology and automotive giants collaborate

(Original title: Driverless Rejection Technology "Isolated Island": Technology and Automobile Giants Join Vertically)

Reporter Yang Qingqing reports from Beijing

“If China is not in a stronger position, it is at least as strong as the virtues.” On September 20, when he was interviewed by the 21st Century Business Herald’s exclusive interview, NXP’s executive vice president and general manager of the automotive division Kurt Sievers said: "Whether it is the use of services and the power of the 'Internet +' business model, or in the context of the Internet of Everything, China's driverless cars and even electric cars, connected cars are all being strongly supported by various policies. ”

As the driverless tide surges, China is striving to seize the commanding heights of industrial change. Recently, Wu Wei, Director of the Industry Coordination Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the National Development and Reform Commission is organizing the drafting of a national intelligent vehicle innovation and development strategy, making it an action program that will lead the development of China's smart car industry.

It is worth noting that Wu Wei emphasized that it will speed up legislation in the field of smart cars and regulate the division of public road tests and the responsibility of drivers. This also means that after China will become the United States, Germany, France, Britain and other countries, the driverless drive test is also expected to be formally legalized, thereby strengthening the top-level design of smart cars.

Under the continuous promotion of policies, companies in the driverless industry are also gearing up. On September 20, Baidu held the Apol-lo 1.5 version of the open technology conference and announced that it will invest 10 billion yuan in three years to complete the investment of more than 100 projects. Tencent currently holds a 5% stake in Tesla and becomes Tesla's fifth-largest shareholder. Internationally, giants such as Intel, Nvidia, and Google have all been driving without driver in recent years, and Intel has announced that it will launch the unmanned system in 2019.

“Drivers cannot absolutely rely on the strength of a single company, but they need to coordinate and collaborate with each other.” Around the current industry competition, Kurt Sievers stressed that “the more cooperation opens up, the more cooperation we bring” The more obvious the results will be, if more parties enter the cooperative ecosystem, the speed of innovation will also be accelerated."

Chinese technology and virtue synchronization

"21st Century Business Herald" (hereinafter referred to as "21st Century"): In recent years, the development of the driverless industry is in full swing. In your opinion, what are the reasons for the rapid development of the industry?

Kurt Sievers: We believe that driverless driving will have a huge and disruptive impact on society as a whole. First, driverless driving can further improve the safety of road traffic and reduce the occurrence of traffic accidents. Second, unmanned driving can reduce traffic congestion. Third, it can improve the driver's convenience and enjoyment during driving. Therefore, I believe that all countries have sufficient reasons to conduct R&D on drones.

"21st Century": In recent days, Germany has introduced the guiding principles of the autopilot system. The U.S. House of Representatives also passed the drone-free bill. Please comment on the progress of these two countries in the driverless area.

Kurt Sievers: As the driverless technology advances, it will inevitably encounter legal, ethical, and moral issues. Thinking about the latter will help turn driverlessness from concept to reality. Virtue's related legislative work is trying hard to formulate a legal framework so as to give the industry a strong and clear guidance, so as to drive related companies to further design, market and sell their unmanned vehicles. For example, whether a driver or an automobile manufacturer is responsible for a car accident in a driverless vehicle has not been determined. The relevant legislation of the United States and Germany is precisely to explore the issue of imputation, thus helping the establishment of the industry to develop confidence and help the entire society to accept unmanned vehicles.

"21st Century": Compared with the United States and Germany, what kind of position is China's driverless industry?

Kurt Sievers: Even if China is not in a stronger position, it is at least as strong as the virtues. Whether it is the use of services and the power of the “Internet+” business model, or in the context of the Internet of Everything, China’s driverless cars and even electric cars and connected cars are being strongly supported by various policies. In these respects, the Chinese government is not inferior to the relevant departments of the United States and Germany.

In addition, in the current ecosystem of existing industries in China, all links are oriented towards the future in a service- and data-oriented model. This trait is exactly what is needed in the development of driverless cars. In terms of demand, from the perspective of the ratio of vehicles to vehicles, China is still relatively low compared to other countries. Therefore, the number of vehicles in the Chinese market will continue to grow at a high speed in the future. However, considering the explosive growth of automobiles, it will cause traffic congestion, environmental pollution, etc. Problems, therefore, automation and electrification will become a powerful driving force for future industry development.

"21st Century": What are your suggestions for accelerating the process of driverless cars in China?

Kurt Sievers: First of all, China's innovation speed, ability, and well-educated young engineers cultivated in China will be the advantages of China's driverless industry. If China can grasp these advantages, it will be able to take the initiative.

Second, China must also strive to focus on service-oriented business models. For example, Didi Travel has accumulated relatively deep expertise in this business model. If it can combine with the driverless industry in the future, it can achieve good results. Similar to Didi, Baidu is also accumulating service-oriented business models. experience. We can also see that the car is no longer just a travel tool, but increasingly becomes an internet platform that gathers all kinds of services and data. NXP believes that China's application service experience optimizes the development prospects of the driverless industry. .

Third, China not only needs to invest in travel infrastructure (such as roads, bridges, etc.), but also should pay attention to investing in the infrastructure of the entire electronics industry. The strengthening of the latter means that the communication between the car and the car will become more effective, thereby further increasing the efficiency of road use, rather than simply building more roads in the city.

Cross-border cooperation

"21st Century": NXP's business focus is focused on the chip field. Can we interpret the current position of NXP chips in the driverless industry?

Kurt Sievers: NXP is the undisputed top semiconductor manufacturer in the Chinese and global markets. We are 1.5 times taller than the second-ranked company in the industry. In addition, our tentacles are very extensive and our cooperation is also very broad. In China, we have very close business cooperation with various automobile manufacturers, which is also an important advantage that distinguishes us from other companies.

"21st Century": Including Intel, Nvidia, Google and other giants in recent years are also driving unmanned chips, Intel is also announced that the unmanned system will be introduced in 2019. What are the characteristics of NXP chips compared to these companies?

Kurt Sievers: Driverless cars not only require powerful computing power, but more importantly ensure safety, quality and reliability. As a high-speed mobile transportation device, driverless vehicles are zero-tolerance to safety hazards. In terms of vehicle safety, the above-mentioned enterprises are still hard to reach the quality control level of NXP in the automotive field, such as airbags and explosion-proof systems. NXP is an industry leader in all industry-specific indicators.

In addition, driverless cars also need to ensure that they are not attacked by the Internet, which means that the importance of network security. NXP is also the world's leading provider of network security equipment and solutions. We are also actively involved in the drafting of national regulatory agencies, government-related documents, and the development of standards. In short, NXP has a lot of experience in driving safety and network security of the car itself and is introducing it into the driverless field.

"21st Century": At present, on a global scale, unmanned driving has begun to show vertical and horizontal trends. Intel and BMW and other manufacturers form an alliance, Baidu released Apollo plans to attract global partners. The former members perform their duties in the league, while the latter is more similar to the existence of the Android platform. How do you see these two types of ecosystems?

Kurt Sievers: In the driverless field, the entire industry faced great technical challenges. This means that it is absolutely impossible for this matter to be completed by a single company, but it requires the coordination and cooperation of various companies. These cooperations involve many aspects of network security, driving safety, computing power and many other hardware and software aspects. Therefore, my viewpoint is very clear. The more open the cooperation is, the more effective the cooperation will be. If more relevant parties enter the cooperative ecosystem, the speed of innovation will also be accelerated. I think that the open platform is the correct direction for future development. The name of the game rules is very simple, it is "open innovation."