Dongwu Securities has highlighted that unmanned sanitation represents the most extensive application scenario within the autonomous driving sector. As of March 15, 2026, a total of 288 units of unmanned sanitation equipment have been deployed, marking a year-on-year surge of 102.8%. Among these, 162 units are actively engaged in 'sanitation + autonomous driving' pilot projects, constituting 56% of the total. The primary drivers behind the cost reduction of unmanned sanitation equipment encompass technological advancements on the hardware front, economies of scale achieved through mass production, localized substitution strategies, as well as the amortization of software and algorithm R&D expenditures following market expansion.

The cost structure of unmanned sanitation vehicles predominantly consists of three key components: firstly, vehicle hardware, encompassing the vehicle body, battery, chassis, and sweeping mechanisms; secondly, intelligent driving hardware, including sensing systems (cameras, millimeter-wave radars, ultrasonic radars, LiDAR, etc.), domain control systems (computing chips, storage, etc.), with certain manufacturers also incurring modification expenses; and thirdly, software and algorithms. Within this framework, hardware cost reduction is primarily contingent upon technological innovations, mass production efficiencies, and localized substitution initiatives. Conversely, software costs predominantly benefit from the dilution of per-unit expenses following market scale-up.