優步與沃爾沃合作開發自動駕駛車大綱

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.

優步(Uber)將在幾周內啓動世界首支自動駕駛出租車車隊的測試，這使其在把自動駕駛車輛服務帶給消費者的競賽中走在谷歌(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.

這支新車隊是優步和沃爾沃(Volvo)的合作的一部分，兩家公司將共同投資3億美元開發一款新的自動駕駛汽車。

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.

匹茲堡的優步客戶很快就能通過自己的智能手機，叫到這些首批自動駕駛測試車輛，車型將是沃爾沃XC90。在試行階段，司機依然會坐在駕駛座，試行期間服務對乘客將是免費的。

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，優步宣佈已收購自動駕駛卡車技術開發公司奧托(Otto)，這是優步迄今最大的一筆收購交易。

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.

優步一直在大力投資無人駕駛技術，其首席執行官特拉維斯•卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)認爲，這種技術將成爲未來城市交通網絡的基石。“不上馬這種技術，優步就不可能實現自己的使命——在每個地方爲每個人提供像自來水一樣可靠的交通服務，”卡蘭尼克告訴英國《金融時報》。

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.

優步和沃爾沃的合作凸顯出自動駕駛汽車的到來正如何飛速地改變這個行業，迫使科技創業型企業和傳統汽車製造商決定是要合作還是要競爭。優步選擇沃爾沃作爲發展合作伙伴的決定，讓這家以注重安全而著稱的瑞典汽車製造商喜出望外。

“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期行業夥伴關係的第一步，”沃爾沃首席執行官霍坎•薩穆埃爾鬆(Hakan Samuelsson)告訴英國《金融時報》。他補充到，智能地圖可能是兩家公司未來合作的另一個領域。

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)自己的無人駕駛技術主管不久前離職，優步在這樣一個時候收購奧托(Otto)，會加劇優步在無人駕駛方面與谷歌(Google)的東家Alphabet的競爭。奧托正是由包括安東尼•列萬多夫斯基(Anthony Levandowski)在內的幾位傑出的Alphabet前員工創立的。

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.

優步開發無人駕駛汽車的努力始於去年。當時，它從位於匹茲堡的卡內基梅隆大學(Carnegie Mellon University)的機器人系挖走了數十名研究人員，並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於1%的優步股份，以及優步未來卡車業務20%的利潤。

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

該協議也標誌着優步首次涉足遠途卡車運輸業務。

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.

優步無人駕駛汽車研究的一個方面是開發優步自己的地圖和地圖測繪軟件，該公司準備斥資5億美元用於世界各地的地圖測繪。目前，優步已經擁有多輛地圖測繪車，在美國和墨西哥的各條道路上收集圖像和數據。

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.

奧托創始人在一篇博客文章中表示，他們與優步聯手是爲了“打造即將問世的自動駕駛貨運系統的骨架”。該公司近來在測試一種“跨州自動駕駛”系統，有了這個系統，司機在車上打瞌睡也沒關係。

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

薩穆埃爾鬆表示，雙方的合作會讓開發成本減半，通過讓沃爾沃向優步銷售汽車，這種合作還將提振沃爾沃的銷量。