奥迪激光车灯亮相消费电子展

    让今天的汽车不同于过去廉价小汽车的，是一系列创新技术的应用，车前灯技术便是其中一种。最开始使用的是传统卤素灯泡，之后出现了氙气灯，直至今天，发光二极管（LED）车灯已经成了数款豪华车时尚与特色的代名词。

    通过激光前照灯的使用，德国奥迪公司（Audi）又将汽车技术向前推进了一小步。这次在消费电子展上发布的车灯，光照强度约为奥迪现有LED车灯的三倍，照射距离能够达到五个足球场的长度。

    奥迪及其母公司大众汽车公司（Volkswagen AG）最高技术主管乌尔里奇•哈肯贝格说：“我们将是第一个量产激光车灯的品牌”。奥迪2014年勒芒耐力赛的参赛车型将会装配激光车灯。

    哈肯贝格是在拉斯维加斯的消费电子展（Consumer Electronics Show）上说这番话的。这个展会如今已经逐渐成为汽车制造商展示前沿汽车电子技术的舞台。哈肯贝格提到，“我们有一支由10，000名工程师组成的技术队伍”。

    德国宝马汽车公司（BMW）是奥迪在豪华轿车领域的主要竞争对手之一，它也在开发激光车灯技术，还有可能将这项技术用在它旗下的i系列电动汽车上。激光车灯的光并非来自激光本身，而是一些发磷光物质被激光激发而产生的光。对于某些消费者来说，好的电子配件会比高燃油效率更有吸引力。

    哈肯贝格说，他确信这次发布的激光车灯系统会得到监管部门的批准。此前，奥迪的矩阵LED大灯（Matrix LED）因为一个法规上的障碍而在美国遭遇禁令（美国上世纪60年代发布的一项法规规定，汽车远光灯必须有开关控制打开和关闭），因此即使矩阵LED大灯的技术先进性一目了然，也得遵从法规的规定。但是哈肯贝格说，奥迪未来会将矩阵LED车灯“用于更多的车型，卖到更多的国家，其中包括美国”。2012年美式橄榄球超级碗（2012 Super Bowl）比赛中，奥迪曾将矩阵LED车灯作为一个亮点，在A8豪华轿车广告中加以展示。

    奥迪在全球共招募了10，000名工程师。凭借强大的技术力量作后盾，奥迪一直在努力吸引顾客购买自己的高档车型。在某些系列的车型中，奥迪用以吸引顾客的恰恰是一些新奇的技术，而不是常规的优势，新颖的样式，也不是更强劲的发动机性能等。

    奥迪电子产品研发部门主管里基•胡迪说，奥迪公司正在改进所谓的自动驾驶辅助系统。一些人认为，以自动驾驶辅助系统作为先驱，不远的未来会产生能够自动驾驶或接近自动驾驶的车辆。

    谷歌公司（Google）正在开发用于商业用途的无人驾驶车辆系统。与谷歌的大胆形成对比的是，奥迪和其它汽车制造商还不敢明确制订这样的目标。虽然他们承认，经过艰苦研发，无人驾驶车辆的实现是有可能的。

    “某些特定情况下，新开发的系统能够接管驾驶任务”，胡迪说。“这一功能让驾驶变得更加舒适、安全。但无论怎样，方向盘还得由驾驶者自己控制。”

    在奥迪“堵车辅助系统”的展示中，试驾员在汽车低速前进时，可以将双手从方向盘上拿开。此时汽车仍能保持在原先的车道，还能按要求刹车或加速，确保能跟着前面的车移动，并保持预定的距离。奥迪还没有这个系统投入商用。

    奥迪的这个“堵车辅助系统”目前还不够完善，它的自动驾驶还需要司机时不时加以修正。但奥迪的工程师们表示，他们并不担心这些小问题，因为它们会被减少到最低水平，最终这个系统在几年之内就可推向市场。

    奥迪在豪华轿车行业的技术领袖中率先圈出了自己的领地，此举掀起的一轮技术竞争造就了很多不可思议的新功能。第一次驾驶这些新式车辆的人会发现，这些新功能的效果相当惊人。（财富中文网）

    译者：朱毓芬/汪皓  

    Among the innovative technologies that distinguish today's cars from the flivvers of yesteryear are headlights. Conventional halogen bulbs begat xenon which begat LED (light emitting diodes), now all the rage and featured in several luxury models.

    Audi is stepping things up a notch with laser light headlamps. The advanced system is roughly three times as powerful as the German automaker's current LED and will be able to project light the length of about five football fields.

    "We will be the first brand to put laser lights into production," said Ulrich Hackenberg, top technical executive for Audi and its parent, Volkswagen AG (VLKPY). Audi's entry in the 2014 LeMans endurance race will be equipped with the lamps.

    Hackenberg was speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, increasingly a venue that automakers are using to display cutting-edge electronic technologies used in cars. He referred to "my team of 10,000 engineers."

    BMW, one of Audi's German archrivals in the luxury space, also is developing laser light technology, likely for use on its i-series electric vehicles. The light comes from phosphorescent material excited by the lasers, rather from the lasers themselves. For some consumers, a car's electronic gadgetry can be a bigger draw than fuel efficiency.

    Hackenberg said he is confident the laser light system will meet with regulatory approval. Audi's Matrix LED headlamp system, featured in an advertisement for the A8 luxury sedan during the 2012 Super Bowl, so far has been banned in the U.S. due to a regulatory hangup (a 1960s-era regulation that requires high-beams to be switchable on and off), despite its apparent technical sophistication. He added that Matrix LEDs, will become "available in even more Audi models and more countries, including the U.S."

    Audi, employing 10,000 engineers worldwide, has been pushing to attract customers to its upscale models by dint of technical wizardry in a number of categories other than the usual, styling, and engine performance.

    Ricky Hudi, head of Audi's electronic research and development, said the company is refining so-called piloted driving systems, which some regard as precursors to cars of the not-too-distant future that can drive -- or very nearly drive -- themselves.

    In contrast to Google (GOOG), which is working to create a driverless vehicle system for commercial use, Audi and other automakers are more circumspect about defining such a goal, even though they concede it's a possible outcome of research and development efforts.

    "The new systems will take over the driving in certain situations," said Hudi, "making it more comfortable and safer. Nevertheless, it always remains the driver's choice to turn over the wheel."

    In a demonstration of "traffic jam assist," an Audi system not yet offered commercially, a test driver was able to take his hands off the wheel at low speeds. The vehicle remained in its lane, following the car in front of it at a predetermined distance, braking and accelerating as required.

    But the "traffic jam assist" isn't yet foolproof, occasionally requiring correction from the driver. Audi engineers said they weren't worried that glitches would be reduced to a minimal level, allowing the system to be introduced within a few years.

    Audi has staked out territory among the technology leaders in luxury automobiles, stoking a competition that's producing unimaginable features. For anyone who drives these up-to-date cars for the first time, the effect will be quite startling.