[Photo/People's Daily]

Two smart buses drove out slowly from Tianjin University on Tuesday, marking the official debut of a 28-kilometer-long bus lane pilot for smart buses within Tianjin Haihe Education Zone.

It is one of the cloud intelligence experience activities included in the 4th World Intelligence Congress, an all-level platform that promotes the release of cutting-edge intelligent technologies and their application, which opened on the same day in Tianjin.

The bus lane, built through the joint efforts of Tianjin Haihe Education Zone and Tianjin University Smart Vehicle Research Center, comprises several smart buses and specially-designed bus stations and traffic lights. Technologies and infrastructures that help realize intersection perception, intelligent light control, 5G communication and optical fiber communication have been employed and installed to ensure the smooth running of the buses through 20 road junctions and 10 bus stops.

The first three smart buses put to the test look no different from ordinary buses except that their fronts, rears and corners are installed with intelligent sensing systems, and there is an autonomous control “brain” within the vehicle.

“The intelligent sensation system installed in the smart bus can not only provide a full view of 360 degrees with no blind spots, but also take into consideration the effects inflicted by rain, snow and smog,” said Prof. Xiehui from Tianjin University, who’s in charge of the research. “Real-time monitoring of the buses is realized by the panoramic simulation system and the human-vehicle interactive driving system enables the stand-by driver to take control of the bus in an emergency.” He added that lidar, millimeter wave radar and cameras are also used for intersections with complicated road conditions.

“Passengers can have real time access to the bus’s location, speed, capacity and other information at the smart bus stations, and they are able to gather information about the bus route and driving condition with the help of a voice interaction and face recognition system developed by Tianjin University,” Prof. Xie added.

It is reported that the smart bus lane pilot will serve as the starting point for Tianjin Haihe Education Zone, where a dozen universities and colleges are located, to build the world’s largest intelligent smart logistics pilot zone and foster an intelligent technology industry cluster in the future.