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Yandex self-driving car

Yandex Self-Driving Group is a developer of self-driving cars and delivery robots. It is headquartered in Moscow, Russia. Yandex Self-Driving Group is a part of the Russian company Yandex LLC.

The self-driving cars are based on mass-produced car models, such as the Toyota Prius and Hyundai Sonata. Each vehicle is equipped with four proprietary lidars, six radars and from 8 to 12 cameras. The company's semi-solid state lidars can recognize objects as far as 500 meters away and are capable of changing the scanning pattern on-flight. They can increase point cloud density in the area near the vehicle when it is moving through a courtyard, or increase range when driving at a high speed on a highway. The company has specific technologies developed to deal with bad weather. These include lidar cloud filtering from snowflakes reflections, and measuring coefficient of friction for speed and maneuver planning.[1]

The delivery robots operate on the same technology as the company's self-driving cars and are manufactured in Taiwan. Robots are equipped with the same types of sensors as the cars including lidars, radars and cameras, and can reuse localization and perception algorithms developed for cars. Robots also reuse many neural networks, specifically for prediction of other road users’ behavior. These networks were initially developed for cars, and were tested, adapted, and implemented for the robots.[2] Robots move at a speed of 5–8 km/h (3-5 mph), can autonomously navigate crosswalks and recognize traffic lights. Average working time on a single battery charge is about 8–12 hours. The third generation of robots, launched in November 2021, have replaceable batteries.[3]

History

2016-2020

In 2016, a 120-person team at the company began assembling the underlying hardware for self-driving cars.[4]

The company launched its first self-driving car prototype in May 2017.[5][6]

In June 2017, the company released a video demonstrating its self-driving car technology.[7] The prototype vehicle was a heavily modified Toyota Prius+ hybrid wagon/compact MPV equipped with three Lidar optical distance sensors by Velodyne Lidar, six radar units, and six cameras and a GNSS sensor for navigation, with Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs[8] using the GNU operating system with the Linux kernel.[5][9]

In November 2017, the company tested the car in winter conditions on a closed course. The car drove successfully along snowy roads, despite the increased difficulties presented by the snow. The vehicle covered 300 km.[10][11]

In February 2018, the company tested the car in snowy conditions on public roads.[12]

Unmanned robo-taxi service was launched on in August 2018 in the university town of Innopolis, Tatarstan.[13][14][15] By February 2020, over 5,000 autonomous passenger rides were completed in Innopolis.[16]

In November 2018, the company obtained a license to use its self-driving cars on public roads in Nevada.

In December 2018, the company received permission from the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety in Israel to test its driverless cars on public roads in Tel Aviv.[17][18] In September, 2019 the testing territory was expanded to include the city center.[19]

In January 2019, demo rides were offered to guests of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.[20][21] Unlike other prototypes demonstrated at the exhibition, the cars operated without any human control. There was no engineer at the wheel, only one in the passenger seat to take control of the car in case of emergency. In January 2020, the company again provided autonomous rides for guests of the convention.[22]

In March 2019, the company partnered with Hyundai Motor Company to develop self-driving car components including control systems for level 4 and level 5, the categories of automation defined as requiring limited to no human intervention, with possible expansions of the venture to areas such as speech, navigation, and mapping technologies, and for technologies for use by other manufacturers.[23][24][25][26][27] In July 2019, Hyundai Mobis and Yandex presented a self-driving Hyundai Sonata as the first result of the collaboration.[28][29][30]

In October 2019, the company's self-driving cars passed 1 million miles in fully autonomous driving.[31][32][33]

In November 2019, the company launched delivery robots based on the same technology stack as the company's self-driving cars.[34][35][36] Robots were the size of a suitcase and navigated sidewalks at the speed of 5–8 km/h. They were tested on Yandex's campus in Moscow, transporting small packages between buildings.[34]

In April 2020, the company launched delivery robots in Skolkovo, Moscow Oblast for uses by city employees.[37] In May 2020, robots entered their first commercial deployment at the Skolkovo Innovation Center, used for document transportation.[38]

In June 2020, the company presented the fourth generation of its self-driving cars, based on the Hyundai Sonata.[39][40][41]

In August 2020, the company opened an autonomous vehicle testing center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[42][43]

In September 2020, the self-driving division was spun-off into a standalone company under the name of Yandex Self-Driving Group (Yandex SDG) and Yandex invested $150 million into the company.[44]

In December 2020, robots were used for the Yandex.Eats food delivery service to make food and grocery deliveries in Moscow.[45]

2021-present

In August 2021, in partnership with Grubhub, the company launched autonomous delivery robots at Ohio State University for food delivery.[46] In November 2021, the service was launched at the University of Arizona.[47]

Also in August 2021, Yandex acquired Uber's stake in the company as part of a $1 billion transaction.[48]

As of September 2021, the company had around 170 autonomous vehicles in its fleet, which had driven over 14 million kilometers (10 million miles) in Russia, Israel and the United States.[49]

In October 2021, the company partnered with Russian Post and 36 robots started making autonomous deliveries from 27 post offices in Moscow.[50]

In November 2021, the company transitioned to using proprietary lidars on autonomous vehicles.[51]

In March 2022, the company paused operations in the United States, including its robotaxis in Ann Arbor and its partnership with Grubhub, as a result of international sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[52]

In June 2024, Yandex announced the creation of a separate brand of self-driving cars and delivery robots — Yandex Self-Driving Group.[53]

References

  1. Saqib Shah. Yandex's autonomous cars have driven over six million miles in 'challenging conditions' Engadget, March 19, 2021^
  2. Kyle Wiggers. How Yandex plans to expand its autonomous robot delivery service VentureBeat, March 26, 2021^
  3. Christopher Albrecht. Yandex Unveils Third Gen Delivery Robot with Swappable Battery OttOmate, November 18, 2021^
  4. Kyle Wiggers. Yandex let us ride in its autonomous Prius VentureBeat, 21 January 2019^
  5. Darrell Etherington. Yandex's on-demand taxi service debuts its self-driving car project TechCrunch, May 30, 2017^
  6. Jon Fingas. Russian internet giant Yandex shows off its self-driving car Engadget, May 30, 2017^
  7. Stephen Edelstein. Russian Tech Giant Yandex Jumping Into the Self-Driving Taxi Fray The Drive, 31 May 2017^
  8. Nvidia reveals new computing platform for 'fully autonomous robotaxis' Robotics & Automation News, October 11, 2017^
  9. David Silver. Russia's Yandex Offers Driverless Rides And Passengers Say 'Da!' Forbes^
  10. Natasha Lomas. Yandex takes its self-driving test cars out for a spin in the snow TechCrunch, November 28, 2017^
  11. Yandex tests self-driving taxis in the snow - for the first time! Russia Beyond, November 28, 2017^
  12. Andrew J. Hawkins. Watch this self-driving car navigate the snowy streets of Moscow The Verge, February 16, 2018^
  13. Europe's first unmanned taxi launched in Russia Herald Globe, 14 September 2018^
  14. Paul Sawers. Yandex leads Europe‘s autonomous taxi push with public test launch in Russia VentureBeat, August 28, 2018^
  15. Europe’s First Driverless Taxis to Launch in Russia The Moscow Times, August 28, 2018^
  16. Нет закона и интернета: почему по дорогам Татарстана не ездят беспилотники? Inkazan, February 12, 2020^
  17. Simon Griver. Yandex to operate self-driving cars in Israel Globes, 26 December 2018^
  18. HAGAY HACOHEN. The Russians are coming! Yandex-built smart cars to be tested in Tel Aviv Jerusalem Post, December 25, 2018^
  19. Yandex' Autonomous Vehicles to Roam Around the Heart of Tel Aviv CTech, 19 September 2019^
  20. Yandex Demonstrates Self-Driving Car Technologies on the streets of Las Vegas During CES 2019 GlobeNewswire, January 7, 2019^
  21. Jack Stewart. The Bold Robocar Roaming Las Vegas Without a Human Backup Wired, January 16, 2019^
  22. Zoe Kleinman. Russian car with no driver at wheel tours Vegas BBC News, January 6, 2020^
  23. Ingrid Lunden. Yandex inks deal with Hyundai to build self-driving car tech for its Mobis OEM division TechCrunch, 19 March 2019^
  24. Kyle Wiggers. Yandex and Hyundai ink deal to develop driverless car components VentureBeat, March 19, 2019^
  25. Hyundai Signs Deal With Russia's Yandex for Autonomous Cars The Moscow Times, March 19, 2019^
  26. Ilya Khrennikov. Hyundai signs deal with Russia's Yandex for autonomous cars The Star, March 19, 2019^
  27. Richard Windsor. Autonomous Autos: Deal With Hyundai Mobis Is A Big Credibility Boost For Yandex Forbes, March 19, 2019^
  28. Sasha Lekach. Hyundai Sonata gets a self-driving makeover from Yandex Mashable, July 11, 2019^
  29. Andrew Krok. Hyundai Mobis and Yandex reveal 2020 Sonata self-driving prototype CNET, July 11, 2019^
  30. Phil Dzikiy. Watch the new self-driving Sonata from Hyundai and Yandex, due to hit Moscow streets soon Electrek, July 11, 2019^
  31. Ilya Khrennikov. Russia's Yandex Joins the Self-Driving Car Million-Mile Club Bloomberg News, October 18, 2019^
  32. Kyle Wiggers. Yandex’s self-driving cars have driven 1 million miles VentureBeat, October 17, 2019^
  33. Yandex's self-driving cars reach one million autonomous miles driven on public roads Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, October 17, 2019^
  34. Isobel Asher Hamilton. The 'Google of Russia' has built a fleet of self-driving food-delivery robots Business Insider, November 8, 2019^
  35. Darrell Etherington. Yandex is now testing a self-driving sidewalk cargo delivery robot TechCrunch, November 7, 2019^
  36. Kris Holt. Yandex is testing autonomous delivery robots at its Moscow HQ Engaget, November 7, 2019^
  37. Kyle Wiggers. Yandex deploys autonomous delivery robots in Moscow’s Skolkovo district VentureBeat, April 29, 2020^
  38. Delivery robots appear on the streets of Moscow Russia Beyond, September 9, 2020^
  39. Sam Abuelsamid. Yandex Debuts Automated Driving Prototypes Based On Hyundai Sonata Forbes, June 2, 2020^
  40. Yandex starts regular tests of self-driving cars in US TASS, August 6, 2020^
  41. Christine Fisher. Yandex updates its self-driving tech on the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Engadget, June 2, 2020^
  42. Greg Gardner. Yandex, Uber's Russian Partner, Kicks Off Self-Driving Car Tests In Ann Arbor Forbes, August 6, 2020^
  43. Kyle Hyatt. Russian company Yandex sets up self-driving car testing in Ann Arbor, Michigan CNET, August 6, 2020^
  44. Ingrid Lunden. Yandex spins out self-driving car unit from its Uber JV, invests $150M into new company TechCrunch, September 4, 2020^
  45. Yandex Launches Food Delivery Robots The Moscow Times, December 9, 2020^
  46. Grubhub and Yandex SDG Launch Robot Delivery Technology at The Ohio State University PR Newswire, August 19, 2021^
  47. Daniel Stolte. Delivery Robots are Ready to Take Your Order University of Arizona, November 17, 2021^
  48. Rebecca Bellan. Yandex buys out Uber’s stake in Yandex Self-Driving Group, Eats, Lavka and Delivery for $1B TechCrunch, August 31, 2021^
  49. Gleb Stolyarov. Russian tech firm Yandex to test self-driving taxis in Moscow this year Reuters, September 8, 2021^
  50. Jake Rudnitsky. Yandex Puts Delivery Robots on Moscow Streets for Russian Post Bloomberg News, October 25, 2021^
  51. Jake Rudnitsky. Yandex Self-Driving Cars Rely On In-House Sensor to See the Road Bloomberg News, November 21, 2021^
  52. Russian autonomous-driving company Yandex SDG idles U.S. operations amid Ukraine invasion Automotive News, March 4, 2022^
  53. Yandex will create a separate brand for self-driving cars and delivery robots TASS, June 14, 2024^