Shanghai (ZXZC)- On Sept. 1, WeRide, a Chinese autonomous driving startup, entered into a cooperation agreement with the City Management and Comprehensive Law Enforcement Bureau of Huangpu District, Guangzhou to launch its innovative pilot operation of self-driving sweeper vehicles on Guangzhou International Bio Island ("Bio Island").

According to WeRide's press release, the latest move marks the launch of China's first project for operation of fully driverless sanitation vehicles on open roads.

Photo credit: WeRide

WeRide names its mass-produced and purpose-built self-driving sweeper vehicle as Robo Street Sweeper. The vehicle is designed and produced for city-level environmental services under a strategic collaboration with Yutong Group. It features a cockpit-free design without a steering wheel, accelerator or brake pedals.

WeRide's Robo Street Sweeper; photo credit: WeRide

The electric Robo Street Sweeper has a fully redundant chassis and is powered by WeRide’s Level 4 autonomous driving solution, enabling safe, fully driverless, and round-the-clock operations. Under the self-driving mode, the fleet is able to perform various environmental sanitation services, such as sweeping, sprinkling, and disinfection spraying.

The company has also developed a cloud-based remote controlling platform to manage the Robo Street Sweeper fleet. The platform can provide real-time information of routes, operations and autonomous driving status. It facilitates intelligent scheduling, automated activation, remote dispatching, and route management, ensuring daily operations, such as charging, water filling, waste discharge, vehicle activation and parking without human intervention.

Starting Sept. 1, WeRide's Robo Street Sweeper fleet has been put into operation on Bio Island to offer environmental sanitation services from 0 to 19 o'clock seven days per week.

The Guangzhou-headquartered startup has developed a series of innovative products, namely Robotaxi, Mini Robobus, Robovan and the aforesaid Robo Street Sweeper, aiming to bring smart mobility, smart freight and smart environmental services to commercial applications.