優(yōu)步與沃爾沃合作開(kāi)發(fā)自動(dòng)駕駛車(chē)

Uber will start testing the world’s first autonomous taxi fleet in the next few weeks, putting it ahead of Google and Ford in the race to bring self-driving car services to consumers.

優(yōu)步(Uber)將在幾周內(nèi)啟動(dòng)世界首支自動(dòng)駕駛出租車(chē)車(chē)隊(duì)的測(cè)試，這使其在把自動(dòng)駕駛車(chē)輛服務(wù)帶給消費(fèi)者的競(jìng)賽中走在谷歌(Google)和福特(Ford)的前面。

The new fleet is part of a partnership between Uber and Volvo that will see the companies jointly invest $300m to develop a new self-driving vehicle.

這支新車(chē)隊(duì)是優(yōu)步和沃爾沃(Volvo)的合作的一部分，兩家公司將共同投資3億美元開(kāi)發(fā)一款新的自動(dòng)駕駛汽車(chē)。

Uber customers in Pittsburgh will soon be able to hail the first self-driving test vehicles, which will be Volvo XC90s, from their smartphones. Drivers will remain behind the wheel during the pilot, which will be free for passengers.

匹茲堡的優(yōu)步客戶很快就能通過(guò)自己的智能手機(jī)，叫到這些首批自動(dòng)駕駛測(cè)試車(chē)輛，車(chē)型將是沃爾沃XC90。在試行階段，司機(jī)依然會(huì)坐在駕駛座，試行期間服務(wù)對(duì)乘客將是免費(fèi)的。

At the same time, Uber announced it had bought Otto, a maker of self-driving technology for trucks, its largest acquisition to date.

同時(shí)，優(yōu)步宣布已收購(gòu)自動(dòng)駕駛卡車(chē)技術(shù)開(kāi)發(fā)公司奧托(Otto)，這是優(yōu)步迄今最大的一筆收購(gòu)交易。

Uber has been investing heavily in driverless technologies, which chief executive Travis Kalanickbelieves will be a cornerstone of future city transportation networks. “Uber’s mission — to provide transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone — is not possible without moving into this kind of technology,” Mr Kalanick told the Financial Times.

優(yōu)步一直在大力投資無(wú)人駕駛技術(shù)，其首席執(zhí)行官特拉維斯•卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)認(rèn)為，這種技術(shù)將成為未來(lái)城市交通網(wǎng)絡(luò)的基石。“不上馬這種技術(shù)，優(yōu)步就不可能實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的使命——在每個(gè)地方為每個(gè)人提供像自來(lái)水一樣可靠的交通服務(wù)，”卡蘭尼克告訴英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》。

The tie-up with Volvo underscores how the advent of self-driving cars is rapidly changing the industry, forcing tech start-ups and traditional carmakers to decide whether to work together or compete. The decision of Uber to pick Volvo as its development partner is a coup for the Swedish carmaker best known for its focus on safety.

優(yōu)步和沃爾沃的合作凸顯出自動(dòng)駕駛汽車(chē)的到來(lái)正如何飛速地改變這個(gè)行業(yè)，迫使科技創(chuàng)業(yè)型企業(yè)和傳統(tǒng)汽車(chē)制造商決定是要合作還是要競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。優(yōu)步選擇沃爾沃作為發(fā)展合作伙伴的決定，讓這家以注重安全而著稱(chēng)的瑞典汽車(chē)制造商喜出望外。

“We see this as the first step in a long-term industrial partnership,” Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo chief executive, told the Financial Times. He added that smart maps may be another area of future co-operation between the two companies.

“我們把這看成一段長(zhǎng)期行業(yè)伙伴關(guān)系的第一步，”沃爾沃首席執(zhí)行官霍坎•薩穆埃爾松(Hakan Samuelsson)告訴英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》。他補(bǔ)充到，智能地圖可能是兩家公司未來(lái)合作的另一個(gè)領(lǐng)域。

The acquisition of Otto will heighten Uber’s driverless competition with Google owner Alphabet, at a time when Google’s own head of driverless technology has recently left. Otto was founded by several prominent ex-Alphabet employees including Anthony Levandowski.

谷歌(Google)自己的無(wú)人駕駛技術(shù)主管不久前離職，優(yōu)步在這樣一個(gè)時(shí)候收購(gòu)?qiáng)W托(Otto)，會(huì)加劇優(yōu)步在無(wú)人駕駛方面與谷歌(Google)的東家Alphabet的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。奧托正是由包括安東尼•列萬(wàn)多夫斯基(Anthony Levandowski)在內(nèi)的幾位杰出的Alphabet前員工創(chuàng)立的。

Uber’s effort to develop driverless cars began last year, when it poached dozens of researchers from the robotics department of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and set up its own research centre in the city.

優(yōu)步開(kāi)發(fā)無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)的努力始于去年。當(dāng)時(shí)，它從位于匹茲堡的卡內(nèi)基梅隆大學(xué)(Carnegie Mellon University)的機(jī)器人系挖走了數(shù)十名研究人員，并在該市成立了自己的研究中心。

Otto’s investors will receive an equity stake in Uber of slightly less than 1 per cent, as well as 20 per cent of profits from Uber’s future trucking business.

奧托的股東們將獲得略低于1%的優(yōu)步股份，以及優(yōu)步未來(lái)卡車(chē)業(yè)務(wù)20%的利潤(rùn)。

The deal also marks Uber’s first foray into long-haul trucking.

該協(xié)議也標(biāo)志著優(yōu)步首次涉足遠(yuǎn)途卡車(chē)運(yùn)輸業(yè)務(wù)。

One component of Uber’s driverless car research is developing its own maps and mapping software, and the company is prepared to spend half a billion dollars on mapping efforts around the world. Uber already has mapping vehicles gathering images and data on roads in the US and Mexico.

優(yōu)步無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)研究的一個(gè)方面是開(kāi)發(fā)優(yōu)步自己的地圖和地圖測(cè)繪軟件，該公司準(zhǔn)備斥資5億美元用于世界各地的地圖測(cè)繪。目前，優(yōu)步已經(jīng)擁有多輛地圖測(cè)繪車(chē)，在美國(guó)和墨西哥的各條道路上收集圖像和數(shù)據(jù)。

The founders of Otto said in a blog post that they were combining with Uber to “build the backbone of the rapidly-approaching self-driving freight system”. The company has been testing an “interstate autopilot” system that allows drivers to snooze in their cabs.

奧托創(chuàng)始人在一篇博客文章中表示，他們與優(yōu)步聯(lián)手是為了“打造即將問(wèn)世的自動(dòng)駕駛貨運(yùn)系統(tǒng)的骨架”。該公司近來(lái)在測(cè)試一種“跨州自動(dòng)駕駛”系統(tǒng)，有了這個(gè)系統(tǒng)，司機(jī)在車(chē)上打瞌睡也沒(méi)關(guān)系。

Mr Samuelsson said the partnership would reduce its development costs by half, and boost volumes through the sale of cars to Uber.

薩穆埃爾松表示，雙方的合作會(huì)讓開(kāi)發(fā)成本減半，通過(guò)讓沃爾沃向優(yōu)步銷(xiāo)售汽車(chē)，這種合作還將提振沃爾沃的銷(xiāo)量。