Baidu's Self-Driving Car Tackles Beijing Traffic

Our beloved Baidu has confirmed another hit (or should we say, miss?) – its first autonomous car completed a route around Beijing yesterday without a scratch, according to a report from Wired.

Although they aren’t the first to master this technology, we dare say that Google’s Self-Driving Car Project has yet to encounter anything as treacherous as rush hour traffic in Beijing.

According to Wired, Baidu’s modified BMW 3-Series drove an 18.6-mile route around Beijing, navigating side streets and highways. Running on Baidu’s AutoBrain software, the car successfully made left, right, and u-turns, changed lanes, passed other cars, and merged onto and off the highway. Baidu says they hope to develop a set route for their autonomous vehicles, eventually expanding to include the entire city. They also plan to further develop their already extensive map services to include the finer details, such as what traffic signs say and the height of traffic lights. 

[Image Via Baidu]