百度無人車在美獲准路試

Beijing Baidu said it would soon begin testing driverless cars on US roads, as China’s largest search engine looks to draw alongside the likes of Google and Tesla in developing autonomous vehicles.

百度(Baidu)表示將很快在美國道路上測試無人駕駛汽車，中國最大搜索引擎正在向谷歌(Google)、特斯拉(Tesla)等公司靠攏，研發自動駕駛汽車。

Wang Jing, general manager of Baidu’s Autonomous Driving Unit, said the California Department of Motor Vehicles had issued Baidu USA an autonomous vehicle testing permit.

百度自動駕駛事業部總經理王勁表示，美國加州機動車輛管理局(Department of Motor Vehicles)已向百度美國(Baidu USA)發放自動駕駛汽車上路測試牌照。

We will start testing our autonomous driving technologies on public roads very soon in California, he said.

王勁表示，百度將很快在加州的公共道路上展開無人車測試。

Baidu has already built a strong team in Silicon Valley to develop autonomous driving technologies, and being able to do road tests will greatly accelerate progress.

百度在硅谷已建立了一個強大團隊開發自動駕駛技術，而能夠上路測試將極大地加快進度。

The company completed the first fully autonomous road test in China last December, using Baidu’s self-driving system — a clunky-looking sensor package mounted on a BMW.

百度去年12月在北京完成了首次完全自動駕駛汽車道路測試，使用了百度的自動駕駛系統——一套看上去笨重的傳感器安裝在一輛寶馬(BMW)上。

In 2018, it plans a small-scale commercial launch of fully autonomous cars, with mass production following by 2020.

百度計劃在2018年在商業基礎上小規模推出完全自動駕駛汽車，批量生產將在2020年進行。

Baidu yesterday announced a partnership with US graphics processor maker Nvidia to accelerate its self-driving car plans.

百度昨日宣佈與美國圖形處理器製造商Nvidia打造合作伙伴關係，以推進其無人駕駛汽車計劃。

Jen-hsun Huang, Nvidia’s chief, said the goal is a fleet of driverless taxis.

Nvidia首席執行官黃仁勳(Jen-hsun Huang)表示他們的目標是建立無人駕駛出租車隊。

We will be able to deliver a cloud-to-car architecture platform that promises to get cars on the road in the next several years, said Mr Huang.

他說：我們將推出一個汽車雲架構平臺，有望在未來幾年讓汽車上路。

Baidu also said it had invested, along with Ford, in a laser radar company, Velodyne LiDAR.

百度還表示已與福特(Ford)一起投資了激光雷達公司Velodyne LiDAR。

The self-driving car venture exploits Baidu’s lead over Chinese competitors in artificial intelligence, according to HSBC bank.

匯豐(HSBC)表示，自動駕駛汽車項目利用了百度相對於中國競爭對手在人工智能領域的領先地位。

In a note yesterday, HSBC said: In our view, Baidu is the AI leader in China and among an elite group of internet giants globally . . . Self-driving technology combines all of Baidu’s strengths enabled by AI.

該行昨日在一份報告中指出：我們認爲百度是中國人工智能的領導者，而且是全球互聯網巨頭精英羣體的成員之一……自動駕駛技術結合了百度藉助人工智能具備的全部優勢。

The safety of driverless cars has been called into a question by a fatal road accident in the US in May, when a Tesla operating in autopilot mode crashed into a truck crossing a highway.

今年5月美國一輛特斯拉在自動駕駛模式下撞上了一輛在公路上換車道的卡車，這起致命交通事故使無人駕駛汽車的安全性受到質疑。

James Peng, Baidu’s chief computer architect, claimed during a presentation yesterday that its own vehicles’ sensors were superior to Tesla’s and the same road accident could not have happened with its cars.

百度首席架構師James Peng在昨日的演示中表示，百度車輛的傳感器優於特斯拉，百度無人駕駛汽車不可能發生這樣的交通事故。