Xiaomi gives autonomous driving update

Source: Xiaomi. In a demonstration video, Xiaomi's test vehicle demonstrated assisted driving in multiple scenarios including U-turns, roundabouts, and continuous downhill
driving.

Xiaomi plans to invest RMB 3.3 billion in the first R&D phase of its autonomous driving technology, and has established a team of more than 500 professionals to support its strategy. The company first announced its entry into the smart electric vehicle segment in March 2021.

"Xiaomi's autonomous driving technology adopts a self-developed full stack approach, and the project has made progress beyond expectations," said Lei Jun, founder, Chairman and CEO of the Xiaomi Group.

Xiaomi's autonomous driving dream team fields expertise that covers everything needed to self-develop autonomous driving technology, including: sensors, chips, algorithms, simulation, tool-chain, and the data platform, among others.

The company has acquired autonomous driving startup Shendong Technology, and is building out an ecosystem with a RMB2 million investment in over 10 upstream and downstream enterprises specialising in core sensors, core actuators, domain controllers, and more.

Parking will be a focus. The autonomous driving team has announced an auto-parking solution that covers scenarios such as "reserved parking spaces", "autonomous valet parking", and "automatic robotic arm charging". In the future, other parking lot services will be made available, and, in order to comply with relevant national laws and regulations, a mix of artificial intelligence (AI) and service-oriented features will be added.

Lei also disclosed that Xiaomi plans to create a fleet of 140 test vehicles in the first phase of its autonomous driving strategy. They will be tested nationwide as part of Xiaomi's aim to become an industry leader in the smart electric vehicle (EV) industry in 2024.