今天很多人被市場調(diào)研公司Navigant的自動駕駛汽車調(diào)研報(bào)告看傻眼了，因?yàn)樵谶@份報(bào)告中，福特以排名第一的成績顛覆了我們原有的印象。很多人以為谷歌或者特斯拉的自動駕駛技術(shù)才是最好的，其實(shí)這份報(bào)告對我們沒有多大的參考價(jià)值，本著不關(guān)我事的原則去看淡這個(gè)排名。
但是今天我們要說的是排名第四的戴姆勒和竟然沒有上榜的博世。這兩家公司今天宣布建立重要伙伴關(guān)系，共同開發(fā)自動駕駛系統(tǒng)的軟件和算法，將奔馳的車輛工程優(yōu)勢和博世的硬件技術(shù)相結(jié)合，目標(biāo)是在2021年推出達(dá)到L4和L5級別的自動駕駛汽車。
在自動駕駛領(lǐng)域戴姆勒公司早有動作，這次排名第四也證明了技術(shù)實(shí)力很強(qiáng)。在2014年發(fā)布了高速公路自動駕駛連接系統(tǒng)（Highway Pilot Connect）。還擁有汽車分享服務(wù)car2go，用戶可以通過智能手機(jī)找到并租賃戴姆勒車隊(duì)的汽車。2015年CES上，展示了無人駕駛概念車F 015 Luxury in Motion。2017年宣布和Uber共同開發(fā)穿梭于優(yōu)步召車共乘網(wǎng)絡(luò)中的無人駕駛汽車。
其實(shí)這不是兩家公司第一次在自動駕駛領(lǐng)域合作，此前梅賽德斯-奔馳和博世在共同測試一項(xiàng)能夠讓車位尋找流程變得更簡單快捷的全新社區(qū)停車智能服務(wù)。項(xiàng)目已在斯圖加特進(jìn)行試點(diǎn)，其中囊括了多種不同的奔馳測試車。車載傳感器能讓這些車輛生成路邊空置車位的相關(guān)數(shù)據(jù)，同時(shí)通過所配備的通訊界面，提供和接受這些數(shù)據(jù)。博世在近幾年的CES展上也有展示這個(gè)社區(qū)停車項(xiàng)目。
從自動駕駛的發(fā)展情況來看，全球的汽車廠商和科技公司已經(jīng)加入到開發(fā)無人駕駛汽車的比賽中，合作也是層出不窮，很多汽車制造商，供應(yīng)商和技術(shù)公司意識到合作的優(yōu)點(diǎn)。比如：百度和福田等國內(nèi)汽車企業(yè)，菲亞特克萊斯勒和谷歌，沃爾沃和Uber，德爾福和Mobileye ，現(xiàn)在戴姆勒和博世也走在了一起（戴姆勒和Uber也有合作），也許大家都很清楚自動駕駛還要很長的路要走，需要各個(gè)公司聯(lián)合起來共同努力，匯集資源并研究推動自動駕駛汽車項(xiàng)目。
《Daimler and Bosch join forces to build level 4 and 5 autonomous driving systems》
Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler, announced today an important partnership with German auto supplier Bosch to develop self-driving technology aimed at the taxi and ridesharing industries.
The agreement includes the goal to reach level 4 and 5 autonomous driving systems “by the start of the next decade” – 2020-2021 – which is in line with each company’s previous timelines for autonomous driving.
Daimler and Bosch, both Germany-based companies, have been developing self-driving technologies on their own and through different partnerships in the industry, but this new alliance appears to be a more important step for each company.
They wrote in a press release today:
“The objective is the joint development of software and algorithms for an autonomous driving system. The project will take the comprehensive vehicle expertise of Daimler – the world’s leading premium-class automaker – and combine it with the systems and hardware expertise of Bosch, the world’s biggest automotive supplier. The synergies that arise as a result will be channeled into making this technology ready for production as early as possible.”
Bosch has probably the most impressive self-driving program out of the two companies right now. They supply parts, like the radar antenna, for Tesla’s Autopilot program and they used Tesla’s vehicles to develop their own self-driving software on an updated hardware suite.
Last year, they deployed a Tesla Model S self-driving prototype in Australia and they showed a new Model S prototype with similar capabilities as Tesla’s Enhanced Autopilot.
On the other hand, Daimler has been working on self-driving with the gradual approach of implementing autonomous driver assist features in its vehicles – like the level 2 features in the Mercedes E-Class.
The company has been working with suppliers like Mobileye, Tesla’s former Autopilot supplier, to deliver the system.
But the goal of the partnership looks beyond level 2 driving and leapfrogs the level 3 to reach level 4 and 5, which are fully autonomous driving systems in some and all conditions respectively. Those levels of autonomous driving are essential to create any driverless taxi service or ride-sharing service, which seem to be the goal here.
