By Eileen Yu

 

Baidu has confirmed it is developing a self-driving car, just like its U.S. rival Google, but says the vehicle it is working on will require a driver and serve mainly to assist drivers on the road.

 

The Chinese search giant said development work had already begun and made it clear its vehicle would not replace the need for human drivers. Instead, the car will be "highly autonomous", collecting data about traffic and road conditions to assist the human driver, deputy managing director of Baidu's Institute of Deep Learning, Yu Kai, said in an interview with The Next Web.

The vehicle, though, will be able to self-drive if the need arises. Yu said the goal is to allow the driver to decide when he wants to take the wheel and resume control, or let the car operate itself.

 

He said in a China Daily report that the car will be armed with camera, radar, sensors, and a navigation system, and drive itself to the destination that's entered into the navigation device. Data sensors will collect information about traffic conditions and the vehicle will plan its route and speed accordingly based on big data technology. Yu said the first prototype should be ready in 2015.

 

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