2022年9月30日

機器人還遠沒有做好接管一切的準備，但年複一年，我們越來越接近至少部分無人駕駛的未來。去年年底，全球最後一英裏自動送貨市場的總價值預計將達到近130億美元。根據聯合市場研究公司(Allied Market Research)發布的一份題為《2022年最後一英裏自動配送市場》的報告，到2030年，這一數字預計將增長7倍多，達到902.1億美元。該報告預計，隨著自動駕駛汽車的普及在本十年內逐步增加，北美將成為最賺錢的地區。自主食品和飲料配送將成為增長最快的行業之一，僅次於零售業。在過去的一年裏，一些新興設備供應商在自動駕駛汽車領域取得了一些進展。今年7月，位於加州聖地亞哥的自動駕駛公司TuSimple宣布與歐洲主要運輸和物流供應商Hegelmann Group達成合作。Hegelmann計劃將TuSimple先進的自動駕駛係統裝備在北美的專門製造的自動駕駛國際卡車車隊上。該係統將基於Navistar開發的全球車輛平台。TuSimple還開發了美國首條全自動卡車車道，預計將在2023年底實現完全的商業可行性。 Kodiak Kodiak recently announced its fourth-generation (Gen4) autonomous truck, which, the company says, integrates an optimized suite of proven, truck-ready technology and is a culmination of its work with partners such as Cummins, Bridgestone Americas, Luminar, Hesai Technologies and others. Kodiak has developed a hardware system it has dubbed SensorPods, which replace a truck’s stock side-view mirrors and house the sensors necessary for operation. The SensorPods significantly reduce the maintenance time typically required for such systems, and can be changed without specialized training or equipment, allowing for quick and easy service at any time and location — including out on the road, the company says. SensorPods come pre-built, pre-calibrated and changing the SensorPods is as easy as (and faster than), changing a tier, it adds. Locomation Late last year, Pittsburgh, Pa.-based autonomous vehicle solution provider Locomation announced a comprehensive collaboration with Cummins for joint testing and integration of Cummins powertrain systems in trucks equipped with Locomation’s autonomous technology. When integrated with the firmware running on the powertrain system, Locomation’s autonomous operation software will enable more precise powertrain control, which, Locomation says, will result in greater fuel efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. The company projects that the integrated Locomation-Cummins system could reduce fuel consumption by 10% for each vehicle. In April, Locomation released a projections analysis that demonstrated a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. If autonomous vehicle adoption continues on its current track, the report projected that, by 2030, the emissions savings achieved would be the equivalent of that emitted from 2 million passenger vehicles. Aurora Innovation Aurora Innovation released an update in the second quarter of this year that enables its Aurora Driver system to detect and safely respond to issues on the road without the aid of a vehicle operator. Its Fault Management System is able to detect problems and safely pull the vehicle over to the side of the road without any human involvement. The Fault Management System is designed to actively monitor the vehicle’s health — everything from the self-driving software and sensors to the on-board computer, the company says. When an issue is detected, the system will navigate the truck to a safe place to stop where the problem can be rectified, it adds. During tests, engineers created artificial issues, to which the Aurora system responded by activating the vehicle’s hazard lights, reducing speed and, ultimately, pulling over to a full stop on the side of the road.