Yandex self-driving car (Yandex Self-Driving Group) is a
autonomous car
A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car, driver-less car, or robotic car (robo-car), is a car that is capable of traveling without human input.Xie, S.; Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Ding, Z.; Arvin, F.,Distributed Motion Planning for S ...
project of the Russian-based
technology company
A technology company (or tech company) is an electronics-based technological company, including, for example, business relating to digital electronics, software, and internet-related services, such as e-commerce services.
Details
According to ''Fo ...
Yandex
Yandex LLC (russian: link=no, Яндекс, p=ˈjandəks) is a Russian multinational technology company providing Internet-related products and services, including an Internet search engine, information services, e-commerce, transportation, maps ...
. The first driverless prototype launched in May 2017. As of 2018, functional service was launched in Russia with prototypes also being tested in Israel and the United States. In 2019, Yandex revealed autonomous delivery robots based on the same technology stack as the company's self-driving cars. Since 2020, autonomous robots have been delivering food, groceries and parcels in Russia and the USA. In 2020, the self-driving project was spun-off into a standalone company under the name of Yandex Self-Driving Group (Yandex SDG).
History
2017
In June 2017, Yandex.Taxi released a video demonstrating its
driverless car
A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car, driver-less car, or robotic car (robo-car), is a car that is capable of traveling without human input.Xie, S.; Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Ding, Z.; Arvin, F.,Distributed Motion Planning for S ...
technology. The prototype vehicle was a heavily modified
Toyota Prius
The is a car built by Toyota which has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door Sedan (automobile), sedan, it has been produced only as ...
+ hybrid wagon/compact MPV equipped with three
LiDAR
Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...
optical distance sensors by
Velodyne, six radar units, and six cameras and a
GNSS
A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pre ...
sensor for navigation, with
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
CPUs
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
and
NVIDIA
Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
GPUs
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobil ...
using the
GNU
GNU () is an extensive collection of free software (383 packages as of January 2022), which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operat ...
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
with the
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ope ...
.
In November 2017, the results of a winter test were presented. The car drove successfully along snowy roads, despite the increased difficulties presented by the snow. The vehicle covered 300 km on a closed track.
2018
![Yandex robotaxi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Yandex_robotaxi.jpg)
Robo-taxi service was launched on in August 2018 in the university town of Innopolis in western Russia's
Republic of Tatarstan
The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...
. Service is free of charge. There is no one behind the wheel during the rides, and Yandex engineers occupy passenger seats and act as safety observers. In February 2020, it was reported that over 5,000 autonomous passenger rides were made in Innopolis.
At the end of 2018, Yandex obtained a license to use its self-driving cars on public roads in
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
. In early 2019, the driverless cars carried out demo rides for the guests of the
CES 2019 in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. Unlike other prototypes demonstrated at the exhibition, the cars were circulating the streets of the city 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 Yandex provided autonomous rides for CES guests for the second time.
In December 2018, the company received permission from the
Israeli Transport Ministry to test its driverless cars on public roads. This makes Israel the third country where the company is testing its self-driving vehicles. In September, 2019 the testing territory was expanded to include the city center.
2019
In October 2019 Yandex made an announcement its self-driving cars passed 1 million miles in fully autonomous driving since it started testing the technology. Four other companies which previously announced similar or bigger distances are
Waymo
Waymo LLC, formerly known as the Google self-driving car project, is an American autonomous driving technology company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google.
Waymo opera ...
,
GM Cruise,
Baidu
Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the la ...
and
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
.
In November 2019, the company presented its autonomous delivery robot, based on the same self-driving technology the company is using for its autonomous cars. The robot is the size of a suitcase and navigates sidewalks at the speed of 5-8 km/h. As part of the initial testing phase, robots were operating on the Yandex 7,000 employees campus in Moscow, transporting small packages from one building to another.
2020
![YandexSDG in Ann Arbor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/YandexSDG_in_Ann_Arbor.png)
In June 2020, Yandex presented the fourth generation of its self-driving cars. The vehicles are based on the Hyundai Sonata and developed in partnership with Hyundai Mobis.
In August 2020, the company opened an autonomous vehicle testing center in
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
.
In September 2020, the self-driving department of Yandex was spun-off into a standalone company under the name of Yandex Self-Driving Group (Yandex SDG) and received $150mln from the parent company.
2021
In July 2021, Yandex SDG partnered with
Grubhub
Grubhub Inc. is an American online and mobile prepared food ordering and delivery platform. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Founded in 2004, it is a subsidiary of the Dutch company Just Eat Takeaway since 2021. Grubhub has been criti ...
for robot delivery on US college campuses. By the end of 2021, Yandex SDG and Grubhub had launched autonomous robotic delivery at
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
and the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
.
In October 2021, Yandex SDG announced a partnership with the
Russian Post
Russian Post ( rus, Почта России, a=RU-Почта России.wav, ''Pochta Rossii'') is an Aktsionernoye Obschestvo (AO, private limited company) . As a part of this partnership, 36 robots started making autonomous deliveries from 27 post offices across Moscow.
In November 2021, the company announced that it would transition to using proprietary
lidar
Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...
s on their autonomous vehicles.
2022
In March 2022, the company said that it paused operation of its robotaxis in
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
, and ended a delivery partnership with Grubhub as
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
continues.
Self-driving cars
![YandexLidarCloud](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/YandexLidarCloud.png)
At the end of 2021, Yandex had around 170 autonomous vehicles in its fleet, which have driven over 14m kilometers (10m miles) across Russia, Israel and the USA.
The AVs are based on mass-produced car models, like the Toyota Prius and Hyundai Sonata. Each vehicle is equipped with four lidars, six radars and from 8 to 12 cameras. Since November 2021 Yandex is using proprietary lidars. Yandex SDG semi-solid state lidars can recognize objects as far as 500 meters away and are capable of changing the scanning pattern on-flight. Yandex SDG 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.
Most of the fleet is operated in Moscow throughout the whole year, and are thoroughly tested in various weather conditions, including rain and snow. The company reported specific technologies developed to deal with bad weather. These include lidar cloud filtering from snowflakes reflections, and measuring friction coefficient for speed and maneuver planning.
Autonomous delivery robots
![YandexRobotArizona](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/YandexRobotArizona.png)
Yandex SDG presented its autonomous delivery robots in late 2019. The first prototypes were delivering documents between buildings on Yandex campus in Moscow. In May 2020 robots entered their first commercial deployment at the
Skolkovo Innovation Center
The Skolkovo Innovation Center is a high technology business area at Mozhaysky District in Moscow, Russia. Although historically Russia has been successful with development of science and technology, its lack of entrepreneurial spirit led to g ...
, where they were helping the town's administration with document transportation across the Center territory.
In late 2020, robots joined
Yandex.Eats
Yandex Eats (russian: Яндекс Еда tr. Yandeks Eda; stylised as Yandex.Eda) is a Russian online food ordering and delivery platform launched by Yandex in 2018. Delivery is carried out by courier services partnered with Yandex. Customers ...
food delivery service and started making food and grocery deliveries in several districts of Moscow. Half a year later Yandex SDG partnered with Grubhub for robot delivery on US college campuses. By the end of 2021 companies launched autonomous robotic delivery in The Ohio State University and the University of Arizona.
Yandex autonomous delivery robots operate on the same technology as the company's autonomous cars. Robots are equipped with the same types of sensors as the cars (lidars, radars and cameras) which means they 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, with the data being tested, adapted, and implemented for robots.
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 charge is about 8–12 hours. The last generation of Yandex robots have replaceable batteries.
Partnerships
Hyundai Mobis
![Yandex Self-driving Sonata 6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Yandex_Self-driving_Sonata_6.jpg)
In March 2019, an agreement was signed between Yandex and
Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups:
* Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested
** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company
** Hyundai ...
to work on autonomous car systems. They will develop control systems for autonomous vehicles for
level
Level or levels may refer to:
Engineering
*Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights
*Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical
*Canal pound or level
*Regr ...
4 and level 5, the categories of automation defined as requiring limited to no human intervention.
The objective of the partnership is to provide a turnkey solution, which can be used by other manufacturers.
The companies plan to show the first prototype of the joint project by the end of 2019.
The companies noted that it is also possible to expand cooperation in the areas such as speech, navigation, and mapping technologies.
In July 2019 Hyundai Mobis and Yandex presented self-driving
Hyundai Sonata 2020 as the first result of the collaboration. In June 2020, Yandex presented the fourth generation of its self-driving cars, based on Hyundai Sonatas.
Criticism
Yandex discloses only the number of autonomous kilometers driven by cars in autonomous mode, but does not disclose the disengagement rate.
As for all autonomous machines, disengagement rate (the frequency in which human drivers were forced to take control) is crucial. Due to the lack of standards for the data which is indicated in the reports, companies are allowed to exclude certain incidents in a manner which is not standardised, making direct comparison impossible.
See also
*
Yandex.Taxi
Yandex.Taxi (Russian: Яндекс.Такси) is an international company owned by Russian IT-giant Yandex and that operates taxi aggregation and food tech businesses across Russia, CIS, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The compan ...
References
{{Self-driving cars and enabling technologies
Experimental self-driving cars
Yandex
2017 establishments in Russia