What is the functional boundary of AEB when the car reverses and crashes into BYD? The reporter visited Huawei's offline stores

"Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" on November 14 (Reporter Zeng Le, Tang Zhixiao, Yu Jiaxin) On November 13, a video about the test drive of the M5 intelligent driving version of Wenjie crashed into a BYD dolphin parked behind while reversing, which circulated on the Internet and caused heated discussions.

Regarding the above-mentioned video of the "Dongguan Liaobu User Center Test Drive Accident", on the evening of the same day (November 13), Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei's intelligent vehicle solution BU, responded that he was arranging a door-to-door test drive because the customer mistakenly pressed the accelerator as a brake when reversing, resulting in a collision with the rear car.

Regarding the non-intervention of the AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) function, Yu Chengdong said that after communicating with the ADS (Autonomous Driving System) team and quality, the vehicle's backward emergency braking does not recognize stationary vehicles, and the manual clearly indicates that after engaging the R gear, they will throttle 100% twice for a total of 4 seconds, with an acceleration of -5.83m/ s2, the maximum speed of the drive motor is 3180, the maximum torque is 300Nm, and the maximum speed is 32.82km/h.

Later, AITO Auto issued a relevant statement on its official Weibo, saying, "After background data analysis and confirmation with test drive users, users mistakenly mistook the accelerator pedal as the brake pedal and caused the accident." At present, the vehicles of both parties have been repaired by test drive insurance. Fortunately, no injuries were caused as a result of the accident. ”

▍Explored a number of Huawei offline stores

In order to further understand the latest practical effects of Wenjie Auto's AEB and other functions, a reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily visited a number of Huawei offline stores in Beijing today (November 14).

Dapeng (pseudonym), a car sales officer at Huawei's official direct store, told the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily: "At present, on Beijing's ring road, the use of high-speed NCA functions on Beijing's city-wide expressways and urban expressways has been supported. In addition, some urban roads such as Yizhuang, Haidian and Shunyi outside the Fifth Ring Road can also be used. This feature can only be activated by paying separately, and the price is 18,000 yuan. ”

Dapeng added: "If you do not pay for an additional autonomous driving package, the vehicle driver assistance function will be downgraded to LCC. To put it bluntly, it cannot be enabled in places with traffic lights, but on the ring road, it can realize functions such as automatic lane change, automatic overtaking, and automatic avoidance. ”

For the AEB function, Dapeng told the reporter of the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily", "The AEB function is included in the M5/M7 standard version, and you can enjoy the function without paying." If a pedestrian intrudes into the lane, or if another vehicle intrudes into our normal lane, the (AEB function) will be triggered. At the same time, he mentioned that it is difficult to have the opportunity to experience the AEB function when driving on normal roads.

According to the official WeChat official account of Wenjie Automobile, the M5 series intelligent driving version is the first batch of models equipped with the HUAWEI ADS 2.0 high-end intelligent driving system, equipped with 1 overhead lidar, 3 millimeter-wave radars, 11 high-definition cameras and 12 ultrasonic radars.

Picture: M5 real shot, taken by a reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily

The reporter of "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" asked about the M5 intelligent driving version reversing and hitting the BYD dolphin yesterday (November 13), but the other party did not respond positively and moved to other topics.

Later, a reporter from the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" visited another Huawei authorized experience store in Beijing, where Wang Yu (pseudonym), a car salesman, said that he did not know about the news incident. At the same time, the reporter of "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" visited BYD's offline stores, and its sales staff also said that they did not pay attention to the news.

▍AEB has once again become a hot topic

Recently, the debate between Huawei and Xpeng over AEB has been going on for several days. The "Dongguan Liaobu User Center Test Drive Accident" incident made AEB a hot topic again, which stemmed from Yu Chengdong's mention in his response that "the AEB function was not involved".

So, what exactly is the AEB function, what is the status of this function in terms of intelligent driving, and what is the coverage rate of this function in the current car market products?

According to the official introduction of Wenjie Automobile, AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) is an active safety device that assists the driver in emergency braking, such as when the vehicle encounters a sudden dangerous situation, or when the distance with the vehicle in front and the pedestrian is less than the safety distance, the vehicle takes the initiative to brake, so as to avoid or reduce the occurrence of collision accidents such as rear-end collisions.

According to the official website of Wenjie Automobile, HUAWEI ADS supports whitelist recognition and emergency braking of pedestrians, cars, and cyclists at a certain speed. Active safety functions are only auxiliary, not a substitute for the driver, who is required to maintain the necessary duty of care at all times and intervene in a timely manner according to the surrounding environment.

AEB, on the other hand, needs to rely on the detection capability of the sensor, the reaction time of the system, and the braking ability of the vehicle to achieve better protection.

Regarding the "Dongguan Liaobu User Center Test Drive Accident" incident, a relevant person within Huawei told the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" reporter, "The future version will be updated for this situation to avoid the situation of 'big throttle'." ”

Guo Tao, an angel investor and senior artificial intelligence expert, told the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that AEB is an intelligent driving assistance system that can automatically trigger braking operations when a vehicle is in danger of collision to reduce or avoid collisions. "AEB is in a very important position for intelligent driving, and it is one of the key technologies to achieve autonomous driving. At present, the coverage rate of AEB function is relatively high in the auto market, and many high-end models and some low-end models are equipped with this function. ”

According to the data of the Passenger Car Association, from January to August this year, the configuration rate of AEB functions in new energy passenger vehicles reached 55.8%, and the configuration rate in all passenger cars reached 48.5%.

▍ Disassemble behind the AEB function

So, under what conditions can the AEB function fail, and where are the boundaries?

The reporter of "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" noticed that the M5 instruction manual shows that the model has a rearward automatic emergency braking function, but it should be noted that the implementation scenario of this function does not include facing stationary vehicles.

At the same time, it is mentioned in the instruction manual of the M5 that the automatic emergency braking (AEB) is not designed to prevent collisions. At best, it can minimize the impact of a frontal collision by trying to reduce the driving speed. Relying on automatic emergency braking (AEB) to avoid a collision can result in serious injury or even death.

A R&D technician from an automobile company told a reporter from the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" that "at present, the R&D focus of car companies on the AEB function mainly lies in the vehicle forward driving scenario, and there is still room for improvement in the reversing scenario." ”

Guo Tao, an angel investor and senior artificial intelligence expert, believes that the AEB function may fail under the following conditions: first, the sensor is faulty or interfered, such as the camera is blocked or the radar is interfered with, second, the AEB system may not be able to accurately judge the collision risk under environmental conditions, such as bad weather, complex roads, etc., and third, the driver's abnormal behavior, such as the driver's sudden lane change or braking, may cause the AEB system to fail to respond in time.

"The current challenges to AEB functionality include improving the reliability and accuracy of AEB systems, as well as addressing sensor failures and environmental constraints. In the future, the overall safety performance can be improved by strengthening the research and development and improvement of sensors, improving the accuracy and robustness of algorithms, and strengthening the coordination with other intelligent driving systems. Guo Tao said.

Zhang Xinyuan, head of research at Co-Found Think Tank, a domestic consulting agency, told the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, "The difficulty of AEB technology is mainly reflected in the reliability and accuracy of the technology. In order to realize AEB technology, high-precision sensors and algorithms are required that can accurately identify and judge obstacles ahead, and take measures such as braking in a timely manner. In addition, there is a need to solve the integration problem with the vehicle's autonomous driving system to ensure that AEB technology works in synergy with other systems. ”

On the other hand, in the view of Zhang Xiang, dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College, the situation of "the driver's accelerator when the brake is pedal" is possible, "the brake assistance mode of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles is different, and the new energy vehicle starts faster, and the foot feeling of stepping on the electric pedal is different from that of stepping on the accelerator." At the same time, it also takes time for drivers to become familiar with the intelligent driving experience. ”

In the short term, the controversy over "AEB technology" may be quelled. However, how to better grasp the boundaries of AEB and other functions, and how to better improve the intelligent driving experience of vehicles, so as to find the best balance between drivers and intelligent driving experience, are long-term topics that we need to pay attention to and continue to work on.

(Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter Zeng Le, Tang Zhixiao, Yu Jiaxin)