In Beijing E-Town, unmanned patrol cars have an unusual task – that of air quality monitoring.

On Jan 16 this year, the first batch of unmanned patrol cars in China approved for road testing began round-the-clock operations in various densely populated and key locations in Beijing E-Town, including parks, subway stations and commercial plazas. 

The cars are the first unmanned vehicles in the country to perform mobile intelligent monitoring of atmospheric environment quality, equipped with radar and multi-parameter environmental quality monitoring sensors.

The unmanned patrol cars use mobile monitoring to operate continuously for 24 hours, achieving real-time monitoring of road dust load, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), coarse particulate matter (PM10), gaseous pollutants with eight parameters and nitrogen oxides, according to sources.

Unmanned vehicles can also automatically perform various urban sanitation operations such as road sweeping and sprinkling to reduce dust, complementing traditional sanitation operations by working during off-peak hours.

Since 2017, Beijing E-Town has installed 100 micro-stations near intersections, enterprises, business circles and parks. These inconspicuous rectangular boxes play a significant role in monitoring PM2.5 values in the area. 

The AI technology 'bird surveyor' at Milu Garden – an intelligent bird monitoring system – can accurately identify the types and numbers of birds in the area. 

At the beginning of 2023, Milu Garden used artificial intelligence to monitor a national first-class protected animal, the white-tailed sea eagle, for the first time.

As of June 30, the cumulative concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing E-Town has decreased by 9.5 percent year-on-year, road dust load has decreased by 53 percent and the section compliance rate has reached 100 percent.