BEIJING, China - On Saturday, China’s Alibaba unveiled its new driverless delivery bot, which the retail giant said could serve a
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According to Alibaba, its new automated vehicle is easy to mass-produce and could
be used as a delivery courier or an automated coffee vendor. Reports
noted that the new vehicle called the Cainiao G Plus can travel at up to
nine miles per hour. Alibaba founder Jack Ma announced a $15.5 billion
investment in smart logistics while addressing a news conference where
the vehicle was unveiled. Ma said that the newly announced investment
includes devices such as warehouse robots as well as delivery aids.
According to the company, the G Plus vehicle is fitted with solid state Lidar -
the laser sensors which form an important part of the system autonomous
vehicles use to be aware of their surroundings. Experts noted that solid
state Lidar is more compact, cheaper and easier to manufacture than the
traditional system, which involves spinning multiple lasers in circles
to help build up a 360-degree image of what surrounds the vehicle.
Alibaba and Robosense have touted the G Plus as a reduced cost option compared
to cars or delivery trucks. The company said that the unmanned vehicle
is currently being tested by Cainiao, an Alibaba logistics subsidiary
using technology developed by another Chinese company, RoboSense on
roads around its headquarters in Hangzhou.
