GUIYANG, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Without a steering wheel nor rearview mirror, a driverless minibus drew quite a crowd at an expo in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Robobus, the 6-seat minibus manufactured by a local company PIX Moving, has a panoramic window shape around the carriage that gives it a sense of high-tech and futuristic vibe.

The audience queued up to experience the digital future of smart transportation at the China International Big Data Industry Expo, which concluded last week in the provincial capital of Guiyang.

During the expo, the peculiar bus was used as public transportation on certain road sections.

Local citizen Wu Yun made such a special trip with her friends. She said she had a wonderful journey of "future travel."

"As soon as we got on the bus, soft music was played to greet us. The interior was very spacious and bright. The wide view through the panoramic window gave us an immersive trip of appreciating Guiyang's city scenery," Wu said.

The driverless bus flexibly avoided pedestrians and vehicles along the way, and reacted smoothly to the complex city road conditions, according to Wu. "Robobus turned science fiction into reality, presenting us a smarter and more convenient life."

Siddharth Suhas Pawar, an Indian mechanical engineer who has worked at PIX Moving for six years, witnessed the whole process of developing the Robobus from design to reality.

Siddharth came to Guiyang after obtaining his master's degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan in 2018. "China's current autonomous driving technology is the most competitive one around the world, and China's manufacturing technologies of lithium batteries and automobiles are very mature."

Siddharth said that in the future, driving a car without autonomous driving technology is like riding a horse.

"We are currently developing a high-strength aluminum alloy smart chassis to make Robobus lighter and faster. We will continue to explore and develop new forms of Robobus with the help of new composite materials, and apply emerging technologies such as AI design and 3D printing," Siddharth added.

In the wave of digital transformation, Guizhou, known as China's "digital valley," is using its big data ecology and innovation capabilities to bring strong impetus into the global intelligent networked automobile manufacturing industry.

PIX Moving, among other local companies, has received many global orders with its autonomous driving vehicle solutions integrating both software and hardware.

Since its establishment in 2013, PIX Moving has sold its Robobus and other smart vehicle products to over 30 countries and regions such as Germany, United Arab Emirates, the United States, Britain, Japan and India, according to Li Yaling, the overseas marketing director.

"Our company has established in-depth cooperative relationships with many well-known enterprises and scientific research institutions in Germany," Li said, adding that PIX Moving has reached a cooperation with Japan's TIS INTEC Group and just established its first overseas robotic factory in Kanagawa to assemble vehicle parts. Besides, the Robobus project in Turin, Italy has entered the trial operation phase of commissioning and map collection.

"Guizhou provides us with a unique innovation environment and strong policy support, helping us to continue to accumulate advantages in the field of autonomous driving algorithm data. We hope that through continuous innovation, China's smart vehicle products will shine more brightly on the global stage," Li said. Enditem

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