Autonomous vehicles---Look, no hands!

A driverless lorry is put through its paces on a famous test track

經(jīng)濟學人11月刊

THANKS TO“Top Gear”, a British television show for motoring enthusiasts?that is now a global brand, a former second-world-war airfield called Dunsfold has become one of the best known testing tracks in the world. On October 15th, however, instead of reverberating?to the roar of supercars driven by the show’s anonymous racing driver, the Stig, it witnessed the sight of what appeared to be the cabless trailer of an articulated lorry belting?almost silently around the course?at over 80kph.

enthusiast ?n. /?n?θju?zi?st/ 愛好者，熱心家；熱烈支持者；狂熱者，基督教狂熱分子

Reverberate ?v. /r??v??b?re?t/ ?

1.(聲音)回響；回蕩??Her voice reverberated around the hall. 她的聲音在大廳里回蕩。

2.~ (with/to sth) ( 地方 )（由于強大的噪音）震顫，搖晃??The hall reverberated with the sound of music and dancing. 音樂和舞蹈的聲音使得整個大廳似乎都在震顫。

3.有長久深刻的影響；產(chǎn)生廣泛影響??Repercussions /?ri?p??k???n/ of the case continue to reverberate through the financial world. 這件事持續(xù)影響著整個金融界。?

articulated ?adj. /ɑ??t?kjule?t?d/ (車輛 ) 鉸接的? an articulated lorry/truck 鉸接式卡車

the course?: 比賽路線，使用過程中

The Pod (see picture), as this vehicle is known, was made by Einride, a Swedish firm founded in 2016 by Robert Falck, an engineer who used to work for Volvo. Mr Falck thinks that the technology of vehicle autonomy, long experimental, has now evolved sufficiently for driverless goods vehicles to begin earning their livings properly. Some Pods are already in trials for real jobs: running between warehouses,?hauling logs?from forests and delivering goods for?Lidl, a supermarket group.

Pods use the same technology of cameras, radar, lidar?(the optical equivalent of radar) and satellite-positioning as other contenders?in the field, but they differ from those others in the way their maker tries to deal with the regulatory concerns which prevent fully autonomous vehicles from being let loose?on public roads. Emride’s approach, at least at the moment, is to avoid these by avoiding the roads in question. Instead, the Pod’s first version operates on designated routes within the?confines of enclosed, private areas such as ports and industrial parks. Here, Pods act like bigger and smarter versions of the delivery robots which already run around some factories though by having the ability to carry 16 tonnes and with room on board for 15 industrial pallets’-worth of goods they are indeed quite a lot bigger.

Lidar：激光雷達???optical ?/??pt?kl/光學的；眼睛的，視覺的

contender ?n. /k?n?tend?(r)/ ?競爭者；角逐者；爭奪者?? a leading/serious/strong contender for the party leadership 該黨領導權最重要的╱強勁的╱有實力的角逐者

let loose釋放；使隨心所欲；屈服；突然倒塌?·A team of professionals were let loose on the project. 有一組專業(yè)人員在放心大膽地做這個項目。

confine ?v. /k?n?fa?n/ ?

1.~ sb/sth to sth 限制；限定 ?The work will not be confined to

2.~ sb/sth (in sth) 監(jiān)禁；禁閉 ?Keep the dog confined in a suitable travelling cage. 把狗關進適于旅行的籠子里。

3. be confined to bed, a wheelchair, etc. 使離不開（或受困于床、輪椅等）?She was confined to bed with the flu. 她因患流感臥病在床。

enclosed ?adj. /?n?kl??zd/ ?

1.（用墻等）圍住的，封閉的 ?Do not use this substance in an enclosed space. 切勿在不透氣的地方使用此物質(zhì)。

2. 隨函附上的；附上的 ?Please complete the enclosed application form. 請?zhí)詈秒S函所附的申請表。

3.(宗教團體 ) 與外界隔絕的

The second difference from most other attempts at vehicle autonomy is Einride’s approach to the word “autonomy”. Some makers take the idea literally, and aim to keep humans out of the decision-making?loop entirely. Others, often prompted by traffic regulations, arrange things so that a normally passive human occupant?can take the controls if necessary. Pods represent a third way. They always have a human in the loop to keep an eye on what is happening and to take over the driving for a difficult manoeuvre?or if something goes wrong. But this human operates remotely.

Occupant /??kj?p?nt/ （房屋、建筑等的）使用者，居住者；（汽車等內(nèi)的）乘坐者，占用者

Manoeuvre??/m??nu?v?(r)/ ?

名詞?1.?細致巧妙的移動；機動動作?a complicated/skilful manoeuvre 復雜的╱熟練的移動2. 策略；手段；花招；伎倆·diplomatic manoeuvres 外交策略?3.軍事演習；作戰(zhàn)演習?The army is on manoeuvres in the desert. 軍隊在沙漠中進行軍事演習。

freedom of/room for ma?noeuvre改變事態(tài)的機會；回旋余地

動詞1.（使謹慎或熟練地）移動，運動；轉(zhuǎn)動?There was very little room to manoeuvre. 幾乎沒有什么活動空間。 2. 操縱；控制；使花招??The new laws have left us little room to manoeuvre 新法律沒給我們留下多少回旋的余地。

Having the driver sitting back at HQ?rather than in the vehicle itself is a departure from convention, but not a huge one. Aerial drones are usually controlled in this way. The radical step is that Mr Falck believes you do not need a remote driver for each Pod. Einride already uses one person to control two Pods, but plans eventually for a single driver to look after ten.

HQ?：headquaters的縮寫，總部

Aerial/?e?ri?l/ adj. 空中的，航空的；空氣的；空想的n. [電訊] 天線

Drone?/dr??n/n. 雄蜂；嗡嗡的聲音；懶惰者；無人機（非正式）?vi. 嗡嗡作聲；混日子?vt. 低沉地說?

Aerial drones ：無人飛機

radical ?/?r?d?kl/ adj. 激進的；根本的；徹底的?n. 基礎；激進分子；[物化] 原子團；[數(shù)] 根數(shù)

譯文

THANKS TO“Top Gear”, a British television show for motoring enthusiasts?that is now a global brand, a former second-world-war airfield called Dunsfold has become one of the best known testing tracks in the world. On October 15th, however, instead of reverberating?to the roar of supercars driven by the show’s anonymous racing driver, the Stig, it witnessed the sight of what appeared to be the cabless trailer of an articulated lorry belting?almost silently around the course?at over 80kph.

多虧了《Top Gear》，一檔深受汽車愛好者喜愛的英國汽車節(jié)目，現(xiàn)在聞名全球，Dunsfold，二戰(zhàn)停機場，變成了世界汽車道路檢測數(shù)一數(shù)二的地方。今年10月15號，沒了節(jié)目無名賽車駕駛員Stig駕駛跑車不斷回響的轟鳴聲，Dunsfold見證了一輛似乎是無駕駛室連接的拖車靜靜地在賽道上以80km/h的速度行進。

The Pod (see picture), as this vehicle is known, was made by Einride, a Swedish firm founded in 2016 by Robert Falck, an engineer who used to work for Volvo. Mr Falck thinks that the technology of vehicle autonomy, long experimental, has now evolved sufficiently for driverless goods vehicles to begin earning their livings properly. Some Pods are already in trials for real jobs: running between warehouses,?hauling logs?from forests and delivering goods for?Lidl, a supermarket group.

Pod（車名）是Einride建造，Einride由Robert Falck（沃爾沃前工程師）創(chuàng)辦的瑞典公司。Falck認為交通工具自動化的科學技術，經(jīng)過長期試驗，已經(jīng)完全可以支持無人駕駛貨物運輸，并從中獲利。一些Pod已經(jīng)在現(xiàn)實中投入使用：倉儲間運輸、林場托運木頭、超市配送（已為Lidl連鎖超市送貨）。

Pods use the same technology of cameras, radar, lidar?(the optical equivalent of radar) and satellite-positioning as other contenders?in the field, but they differ from those others in the way their maker tries to deal with the regulatory concerns which prevent fully autonomous vehicles from being let loose?on public roads. Emride’s approach, at least at the moment, is to avoid these by avoiding the roads in question. Instead, the Pod’s first version operates on designated routes within the?confines of enclosed, private areas such as ports and industrial parks. Here, Pods act like bigger and smarter versions of the delivery robots which already run around some factories though by having the ability to carry 16 tonnes and with room on board for 15 industrial pallets’-worth of goods they are indeed quite a lot bigger.

Pod與它的競爭者一樣，采用相機、雷達、激光雷達（光學原理的雷達）和衛(wèi)星定位等技術。它不同之處在于，不像競爭者的打造者們一門心思想要處理管制方面的問題，而這些管制嚴防死守無人駕駛交通工具在公共道路上自由行駛。Emride公司的策略，至少現(xiàn)在是避免道路管制成為問題。取而代之，Pod的第一個版本是在封閉環(huán)境的定制路線下運行，私有區(qū)域例如港口、工業(yè)園。在這些環(huán)境下，Pod就像是更大、更聰明的已在一些工廠使用的運輸機器人，但能運載16噸貨物和運輸15個工業(yè)托盤的貨物。確實不是一般的大。

The second difference from most other attempts at vehicle autonomy is Einride’s approach to the word “autonomy”. Some makers take the idea literally, and aim to keep humans out of the decision-making?loop entirely. Others, often prompted by traffic regulations, arrange things so that a normally passive human occupant?can take the controls if necessary. Pods represent a third way. They always have a human in the loop to keep an eye on what is happening and to take over the driving for a difficult manoeuvre?or if something goes wrong. But this human operates remotely.

第二個不同之處在于Einride與其他企業(yè)對于交通工具自動化的詞“自動”的理解。一些制造商完全接受字面意思，意圖將人類從決策權踢出。另外一些則受交通管制的推動，安排駕駛?cè)藛T在必要的時候掌控汽車。Pod代表了第三種方式。人一直都在決策圈內(nèi)，觀察發(fā)生了什么，在復雜操作中或者情況不對勁的時候可以接管汽車。不過是遠程操控。

Having the driver sitting back at HQ?rather than in the vehicle itself is a departure from convention, but not a huge one. Aerial drones are usually controlled in this way. The radical step is that Mr Falck believes you do not need a remote driver for each Pod. Einride already uses one person to control two Pods, but plans eventually for a single driver to look after ten.

有別于傳統(tǒng)，Pod的司機坐在不大的總部而不是車上。無人飛機也是通過這種方式進行操控。比較激進點在于Falck認為不需要一人遠程負責一輛Pod。Falck已經(jīng)采用一人負責兩輛Pod，目標是一人負責10輛Pod。