The Guide to Driverless Cars
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Passage 1
无人驾驶汽车的革命已经开始
The Driverless Car Revolution Has Begun
From Wired · 232 words · 3 mins
In the past five years, autonomous driving has gone from “maybe possible” to “definitely possible” to “ inevitable” to “how did anyone ever think this wasn’t inevitable?” Every significant automaker is pursuing the tech, eager to rebrand and rebuild itself as a “mobility provider” before the idea of car ownership goes kaput.
Waymo, the company that emerged from Google’s self-driving car project, has been at it the longest, but its monopoly has eroded of late.Ride-hailing companies like Lyft and Uber are hustling to dismiss the profit-gobbling human drivers who now shuttle their users about.
Tech giants like Intel, IBM, and Apple are looking to carve off their slice of the pie as well. Countless hungry startups have materialized to fill niches in a burgeoning ecosystem, focusing on laser sensors, compressing mapping data, and setting up service centers to maintain the vehicles.
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And cars that drive themselves are now everywhere. They’re prowling the streets of California and Michigan, Paris and London, Singapore and Beijing. This 21st-century gold rush is motivated by the intertwined forces of opportunity and survival instinct.
By one account, driverless tech will add $7 trillion to the global economy and save hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few decades. Simultaneously, it will devastate the auto industry and its associated gas stations, drive-thrus, taxi drivers, and truckers. Some people will prosper. Most will benefit. Many will be left behind.
Passage 2
谁是无人驾驶汽车的开辟者？
Who Invented Self-Driving Cars?
From ThoughCo · 177 words · 2mins
It was around the early part of the 20th century that a real concerted effort to develop a driverless car that actually worked started to take shape, beginning with the Houdina Radio Control Company’s first public demonstration of a driverless car in 1925. The vehicle, a radio-controlled 1926 Chandler, was guided through traffic on a route along Broadway and Fifth Avenue with signals sent from another car following close behind.
A year later, distributor Achen Motor also showcased a remote-controlled car called the “Phantom Auto” on the streets of Milwaukee.
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Though the Phantom Auto drew large crowds during its tour of various cities throughout the 20’s and 30’s, the pure spectacle of a vehicle seemingly traveling without a driver amounted to little more than a curious form of entertainment for onlookers. Furthermore, the setup didn’t make life any easier since it still required someone to control the vehicle from a distance. What was needed was a bold vision of how cars operating autonomously could better serve cities as part of a more efficient, modernized approach to transportation.
Passage 3
自动化等级说明
Autonomy Levels Explained
From dryve & Digital Trends · 466 words · 5mins
While the terms “self-driving” and “autonomous” are thrown around a lot, not all vehicles have the same bold capabilities. The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineer) Autonomy Scale is used by the auto industry to determine different levels of autonomous capability. Here’s a breakdown.
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Level 0: No automation. The driver controls steering, and speed (both acceleration and deceleration) at all times, with no assistance at all. This includes systems that only provide warnings to the driver without taking any action.
Level 1: Limited driver assistance. Human drivers control the critical driving tasks – but may get minor technological assistance. The car might include a system that operates steering. Or the car may be able to help with acceleration/deceleration in certain scenarios. Level 1 cars typically never take over both functions. All cars on the market today classify as Level 1 vehicles because deceleration Stability Control was required for 2012 models. Cruise control (acceleration/deceleration) or lane correction technology (steering) also qualify as Level 1 technologies.
Level 2: Level 2 automation vehicles take over both steering and acceleration/deceleration capabilities in fixed scenarios. Although level 2 vehicles can take over certain “driving modes” or tasks, the driver is still in control over the vehicle at all times. Tesla’s Enhanced Autopilot or Volvo’s Pilot Assist II are Level 2 automation features. They can help a driver stay in their lane and even slow down to avoid cars in traffic. Self-park features also help a driver with certain functions.
Level 3: At level 3 automation, cars safely control all aspects of driving in a mapped environment. Human drivers still need to be on board monitoring and managing changes in road environments or unforeseen scenarios. To date, no Level 3 cars are being sold to consumers. Level 3 technology has stirred up controversy, with some industry players saying it’s not realistic to expect a driver to remain as alert as needed, if they’re only passively monitoring driving functions.
Level 4: In level 4 vehicles, no driver interaction is needed. A level 4 car can stop itself if the systems fail. These cars will be able to handle driving from point A to point B in most use-cases. However, the cars will include functional driving apparatus, like wheels, brakes and gas pedals. So humans can manually drive when conditions befuddle predefined use cases (i.e., off-roading,) or when humans feel like actually driving.
Level 5: Fully autonomous. Level 5 cars are completely autonomous. Besides controlling the destination, humans have no other involvement in driving a level 5 car – nor can they intervene. Prototypes of level 5 vehicles look nothing like the cars that we drive today. There are no steering wheels, gas or brake pedals. Instead, the interiors of level 5 vehicles are designed around and productivity of its passengers, with features such as offices or entertainment lounges.