News on China's scientific and technological development.

voyager1 said:

To me this sounds more like an improved(evolutionary) articulated bus than a trackless train

I would even say that this is more of an improved tram than anything else.

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It's called trackless train because in a regular train, the turning of all the cars are controlled by physical rails, while in the trackless train, the turning is controlled by virtual rails through the use of computers and computer vision. In both cases, the cars are traveling in a controlled and predictable manner, unlike in articulated buses where trailing segments are not directly controlled and can behave unpredictably.

This is a very significant improvement, making trackless trains safe and practical in crowded urban environments while articulated buses with 3+ segments are just curiosities limited to special settings.

zbb said:

The trackless train has significant advantages in terms of safety and comfort over articulated buses of similar capacity.

Articulated buses with more than 2 segments are difficult to drive due to the driver only directly steering and controlling the front segment. The wrong sequence of steering inputs at even moderate speeds can cause the back segments to whip around and back and forth, which is very dangerous on crowded roads. London got rid of all of their articulated buses (which had only two-segments) after finding them many times more likely to be involved in deadly accidents than regular buses. This is why you mostly see articulated buses with more than 2 segments on roads with minimal other traffic.

Articulated buses are also generally less comfortable than even regular buses, let alone trams and light rail. You have the side to side swaying due to over/under steer as well as up and down bobbing at the articulation points due to later segments each having only one pair of wheels (or multiple pairs of wheels that are placed close together).

The trackless train has multiple pairs of steerable wheels on each segment, where the steering is controlled by computers to prevent over/under steer, greatly improving safety as well as maneuverability. The large number of wheels also make the ride much smoother, potentially even better than trams and light rail as the wheels are air filled rubber instead of hard metal.

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zbb said:

It's called trackless train because in a regular train, the turning of all the cars are controlled by physical rails, while in the trackless train, the turning is controlled by virtual rails through the use of computers and computer vision. In both cases, the cars are traveling in a controlled and predictable manner, unlike in articulated buses where trailing segments are not directly controlled and can behave unpredictably.

This is a very significant improvement, making trackless trains safe and practical in crowded urban environments while articulated buses with 3+ segments are just curiosities limited to special settings.

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I'm not quibbling with you that this is a superior ride to a bus or a better solution to Light Rail in cases.

It's just an inner part of me that rails against the label that this is a rail analogue. Semantics really.

Some random counterpoints to the points you raised above;

(i) Multi-axle steer is something I associate with heavy and/or multi-segment road vehicles. You will never see this on tracked transport. That the ART modules has multi-axel steer and bogie style suspension doesn't make it a train, it makes it an articulated truck chasis with a transport body plugged in. You could improve the uncomfortable articulated buses of old with the above more expensive suspension options and probably arrive at the same.

(ii) The trailing segments in a front steer articulated vehicle do not behave unpredictably. Think semi-trailer. The movement is predictable, just unstable in certain regimes (eg. jacknife). Also, when articulated buses were first introduced, other road users were unfamiliar with the characteristics of these vehicle types and often got into accidents because they misjudged the turning radius of the articulated buses or simply weren't expecting there to be more bus behind the ... bus. Making dedicated lanes and shifting the trafficked route of these articulated vehicles, like what they are doing with ART sanitises the interaction between the public and them, making it safer.

(iii) The painted "tracks", IMHO, are there to lower the requirements of the autonomous operations from L5 to L3-4, making it cheaper and faster to roll out compared to a fully autonomous bus. The safety aspect you allude to is provided by the multi-axle steer and the semi-separation of the ART from regular traffic (like a tram network). That these painted guidelines are referred to as tracks probably led to the labelling of "trackless trains". The official Chinese title doesn't even call it a train/tram/bus.

In any case, I'll be happy to call it a hybrid bus-tram or trackless tram but I draw the line at trackless train. I know, it's just me being a grumpy old man

ansy1968 said:

@AssassinsMace Sir, Picture yourself riding one here in Manila especially in EDSA, a dedicated lane for this impressive machine hauling in 180 passenger per unit. A very short time to construct (need to build loading and unloading terminals) with minimal expenses. No right of way issue using existing roads and if electrify helps the environment especially with ordinary buses who are diesel powered clogging the lane causing traffic and pollution. For traversing the whole 24 kilometers length of EDSA highway should takes 1 hours from end to end in a normal no traffic scenario, but in reality stuck in traffic it takes nearly 12 hours (causing huge expense in fuel, productivity cost, valuable personal time and mental stress) . When travelling abroad I have to leave my house in Manila 6 hours before my schedule flight if not will never arrive in time. This is the answer for our horrendous traffic problem, with a dedicated lane and designated loading and unloading stops it will displaced a lot of unruly polluting buses therefore easing traffic. A win win solution.

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You better put a hard kerb between that dedicated lane and physically separate it from the rest of EDSA or I can guarantee you it will travel at the same speed as the rest of EDSA very quickly.

Heliox said:

You better put a hard kerb between that dedicated lane and physically separate it from the rest of EDSA or I can guarantee you it will travel at the same speed as the rest of EDSA very quickly.

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@Heliox bro that dedicated road systems is being trialed its called the EDSA Carousel Bus system(please Check Youtube), this vehicle is ideal instead of multiple buses plying that route, the savings and the environmental impact will be pronounced. EDSA highway design vehicle capacity is 350,000 per day, its been surpass 7 years ago(right now its 680,000). The snail pace of movement is due to Public buses crowding out and occupying valuable road space, this will be an immediate solution to our worsening traffic problem while waiting for our Subway and Light Rail transit to finished within 4 years.

ansy1968 said:

@Heliox bro that dedicated road systems is being trialed its called the EDSA Carousel Bus system(please Check Youtube), this vehicle is ideal instead of multiple buses plying that route, the savings and the environmental impact will be pronounced. EDSA highway design vehicle capacity is 350,000 per day, its been surpass 7 years ago(right now its 680,000). The snail pace of movement is due to Public buses crowding out and occupying valuable road space, this will be an immediate solution to our worsening traffic problem while waiting for our Subway and Light Rail transit to finished within 4 years.

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The Cebu traffic was a hell when I visited family, my niece even offered me to drive her car in Cebu and I said if you want me to shit my pants and stain your car its better I don't drive. We are not used seeing that amount of traffic all day long here in western Europe. So its a good thing if it can take cars off the road, it should also boost regional cargo transport by not being stuck in gridlock all the time.

I was told by family members that manila is even worse than Cebu when it comes to traffic.

BlackWindMnt said:

The Cebu traffic was a hell when I visited family, my niece even offered me to drive her car in Cebu and I said if you want me to shit my pants and stain your car its better I don't drive. We are not used seeing that amount of traffic all day long here in western Europe. So its a good thing if it can take cars off the road, it should also boost regional cargo transport by not being stuck in gridlock all the time.

I was told by family members that manila is even worse than Cebu when it comes to traffic.

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@BlackWindMnt hello kabayan, It happen to me once, stuck in traffic in Roxas Blvd going to the airport and had to urinate outside the car...lol Its embarrassing and Bro there is a joke if you board a flight to Singapore and comeback the same day the driver who drove you to the airport is still stuck in traffic that's how bad the traffic situation is...hehehe and we use ODD EVEN scheme but the major drawbacks are the Public utility vehicle like Jeepneys and buses they're not covered and are clogging the lane unruly.

Ohh there is a plan BRT system in Cebu by the National gov't but is being hampered and opposed by the City officials who wanted a LRT (light rail transit). I think there is corruption involved cause LRT is not feasible especially the cost, the Right of Way alone will be problematic. This machine is ideal for Metro Cebu and EDSA, it will displaced a lot of those dilapidated Jeepneys and old Buses which are a public hazard.

And by the way I hope you had enjoy your stay and had eaten the renowned Cebu Lechon which is super delicious, it's better than the Spanish Cochinillo asado way way better.

While the US is racking its brain to rally against China and cracking down on China's tech rise, Chinese high-tech firms are now reaching a "silent consensus" and speeding up efforts to break reliance on the country, and drive localization efforts along the industrial chain from chips, operating system and supercomputers to robots.

During the ongoing fifth World Intelligence Congress (WIC) in North China's Tianjin Municipality from Thursday to Sunday, the Global Times observed that exhibition and products highlighted with "Made in China" and "researched and developed in China" were especially popular.

Almost all industry giants from private firms like Huawei and Tencent, to state-owned companies like China Electronics Corporation (CEC) and rolling stock manufacturer CRRC Corporation have exhibited their latest products featuring self-developed core technology "grasped in its own hands."

Staff from these firms said the US' continuous crackdown on China is adding fuel to the self-reliance drive across China. Chinese firms, led by high-tech ones, are trying to source homegrown parts and shift to domestic suppliers even if they might be more expensive compared with some foreign counterparts.

"Amid the complicated external situation, more patriotic entrepreneurs came to us and voluntarily seek purchase," a staff surnamed Jin at the SIASUN Robot and Automation Company, told the Global Times during the congress on Friday.

We're also hoping to take the chance and break the foreign monopoly in the industrial robot market, Jin said, adding that the localization drive gives them more confidence to invest and march forward.

Shi Yixuan, a staff at Kylinsoft under the CEC, echoed Jin, saying that the Huawei ban has pushed more firms' use of self-developed operating systems - a market that was dominated by foreign giants.

The firm's self-developed operating system Kylinsoft V10 was officially launched on August 13 last year. The system can offer a similar experience with Microsoft's Windows system, and can also support China's self-made CPUs, including those from Phytium Information Technology Company, which was added to the US Entity List in April this year.

The core of competition among many countries in the intelligent industry is the mastery of the underlying technology and core technology. China's own CPUs and operating systems are being used in state-owned enterprises and important key industries, which will protect the country's core data to the greatest extent and fundamentally protect China's national security, Shi told the Global Times on Friday.

Shi believes that in the future, China's collective breakthroughs in core technologies in various fields will have important strategic significance in the current complex international situation.

However, industry analysts and company representatives told the Global Times that despite the rapid development and rising self-sufficiency, strength in the high-tech field takes time to accumulate, and that could be a long time.

For instance, in the CNC machine sector, the overall performance of China's high-end CNC machine tools still has a considerable gap with the world's top level, and China still relies on others in core technology in the field, Yu Xubo, chairman of China General Technology (Group) Holding Company, or Genertec, said at a keynote speech of the congress.

In recent years, through the integration of several machine tool firms and other enterprises, the group has established a "national team" for China's machine tool industry, Yu said, adding that the firm will strive to catch up, become a world-class high-end machine tool equipment group with independent core technology and global competitiveness.

In the past, due to geopolitical reasons, we found that we've been strangled in many key technologies. What is the most important way for Chinese companies to catch up in a short period of time, or even exceed the international advanced level is the most important problem, Li Jun, President of Dawning Information Industry Company, or Sugon, told a forum during the congress.

Li suggested China focus more resources in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector to shorten the time that China would take to surpass others, where China has its strength.

According to the Artificial Intelligence Development Report 2020 of the Tsinghua University Artificial Intelligence Research Institute and other departments, in the past decade, the number of global AI patent applications exceeded 520,000, and the number of patent applications in China was 389,571, ranking first in the world, accounting for 74.7 percent of the global total.

While Li cautioned that China is the world's leader in the application scenarios of AI technology, the basic computer technology of AI such as chips and operating systems has shortcomings.

"It will take 10 years or even longer to completely get rid of the predicament," Li said, recommending Chinese firms formulate a complete industrial chain led by industry giants to make China a global leader in the field.

Rest In Peace. This happened so suddenly that a lot of people are still in a state of shock.

The story of the mysterious man behind the world's biggest phone empire. Now I know what BBK stands for.