转角遇到通用无人驾驶汽车

    无人驾驶汽车与我们的距离可能比任何人想象的都更近。今年，凯迪拉克（Cadillac）将推出两款新车型的高科技版本，能让我们能一窥未来电脑代替人来开车到底会是什么情景，尽管可能只是惊鸿一瞥。

    据通用汽车（General Motors）的工程师称，一系列全新传感器、报警装置和自动控制已能让驾驶者察觉危险情况、避免事故。通用汽车相信，通过将导航和决策算法与这类系统捆绑，无人驾驶汽车终将成为现实。该公司表示，第一款“半自动”汽车将于2015年问世，更高级的版本则将于2020年面世。

    虽然新款高级安全系统并不能包治百病，但它对那些开车时犯困，或因为打手机、喝咖啡、责骂孩子而注意力涣散的驾驶者来说无疑能达到以防万一的备用效果。 “还存在不少问题必须解决，特别是汽车越来越多的更多功能实现自动化之后，如何让驾驶者保持注意力集中，”即将于下月退休的通用汽车研发部主管陶蔼伦称。“自动汽车不是空想，它离我们比很多人想象的都要近。”

    今年1月，奥迪公司（Audi）在消费电子展（the Consumer Electronics Show）上宣布，它正“积极研发”并拟于“2015年至2020年间”推出一套半自动辅助驾驶系统。在车流拥塞、车速缓慢的路况中，比如在高速公路上，这套系统能让驾驶者切换到半自动模式，从而让汽车以合理的车速在车道上保持行驶，同时避免与其他车辆相撞。这套系统可能会首先装备在奥迪A8旗舰车型上。

    去年，内华达州成为美国首个修改法律、允许无人驾驶车辆上路的州。众所周知，谷歌公司（Google）已用一辆自动驾驶汽车进行过试验。另外德国马牌轮胎公司（Continental）也已开展过类似的试验。

    今年3月，我和几位记者受邀前往通用汽车位于密歇根州米尔福德的测试基地。此次邀请主要是向媒体证明自动驾驶的可靠性，包括展示几项技术和系统。当时最令人兴奋的是我们亲自试驾了一辆特别配置的凯迪拉克SRX，以体验其半自动“超级巡航”（Supercruise）的强大性能。

    当时，副驾驶座上坐着一位通用汽车的工程师。加速到时速60英里时，我启动了“超级巡航”功能。我把从方向盘上拿开，但这辆SRX依然保持了适当的速度，并且丝毫没有偏离车道。很快，另一辆试验用车从左侧逼近，并切入到我们的前方。这时我的车自动减速，与前车保持了安全距离。而当前车变道后，我的车又重新自动加速。

    随后，另一辆车从右侧超车到我们前方。结果，我们的车采用LIDAR，也就是一套运用光波的传感系统，成功地避开了这辆车，并且毫无异常或突发动作。

    Self-driving cars may be closer than anybody realizes. Cadillac is rolling out high-tech options for two new models this year which provide -- however brief -- a glimpse into a future where computers take over from drivers.

    An array of new sensors, warnings and automatic controls can already help drivers detect hazardous situations and avoid accidents, according to General Motors Co. (GM) engineers. Eventually, by bundling navigation and decision-making algorithms with such systems, GM believes a self-driving car is feasible. The automaker said the first version of a "semi-autonomous" car might be available by mid-decade and a more advanced version by the end of the decade.

    While new advanced safety systems aren't a panacea, they will no doubt provide a backup to drivers who doze off or whose attention wanders while using the phone, drinking coffee or scolding the children. "There still are issues that must be solved, specifically how to keep the driver's attention engaged as more of the car's functions become automatic," says Alan Taub, who is retiring next month as head of GM research and development. "The autonomous car is quite real and closer to reality than many people think."

    In January, Audi announced at the Consumer Electronics Show that it is "actively developing" and intends to offer "by mid- to late-decade" a system that will allow drivers in slow-moving heavy traffic, such as on the freeway, to switch to a semi-autonomous mode that will keep the car moving in its lane at a reasonable speed while preventing it from hitting another vehicle. The feature likely will appear first on Audi's A8 flagship sedan.

    Last year, Nevada became the first state in the U.S. to adapt its laws so that driverless cars may operate on its roads. Google (GOOG) has famously experimented with a self-driving car, as has the tiremaker, Continental.

    In March, I was among several journalists invited to GM's Milford, Michigan proving grounds for a briefing on autonomous driving, including demonstrations of several technologies and systems. By far the most dramatic was a "drive" behind the wheel of a specially outfitted Cadillac SRX to show the capability of its "Supercruise" semi-autonomous capability.

    With a GM engineer in the SRX front passenger seat, I accelerated to about 60 miles an hour and activated Supercruise. With my hands off the wheel, the car maintained the proper speed and didn't stray from its lane. Soon a driver in another GM test car approached from the left and cut in front of my car, into my lane. My car slowed down, keeping a safe distance behind it. Once it left, the car sped up again.

    Next the car cut into our lane from the right. Again, our car -- using LIDAR, a sensing system that employs light waves -- avoided the second car without any jarring or abrupt actions.