也許有人會(huì)認(rèn)為，豐田汽車(chē)（Toyota）將“集中火力”研發(fā)自動(dòng)駕駛技術(shù)，但事實(shí)上，這家日本最大的汽車(chē)制造商卻一直在有意回避全自動(dòng)駕駛的熱浪。豐田首席安全技術(shù)官、先進(jìn)研發(fā)與工程公司總裁 伊勢(shì)清貴表示，在自動(dòng)駕駛方面，豐田的動(dòng)作“要比其他公司更加謹(jǐn)慎”。在豐田看來(lái)，自動(dòng)駕駛的首要意義是提升安全，而非增加便利。
絕對(duì)不搞“自動(dòng)駕駛車(chē)橫跨全國(guó)之旅”
最近，伊勢(shì)先在接受《汽車(chē)工程》的采訪(fǎng)中表示，“在自動(dòng)駕駛方面，我們首先強(qiáng)調(diào)的是安全，也就是創(chuàng)造一個(gè)更加安全的交通環(huán)境。”
相較于其他廠(chǎng)商風(fēng)風(fēng)火火的SAE 4級(jí)到5級(jí)全自動(dòng)駕駛研發(fā)，伊勢(shì)稱(chēng)豐田將主要專(zhuān)注于SAE 2級(jí)到3級(jí)之間的駕駛員輔助功能。這主要是為了極大地降低，甚至完全避免交通事故的發(fā)生；并在特定條件下，為駕駛員提供領(lǐng)航駕駛的選擇。豐田曾在2015年提出“出行駕駛伙伴（Mobility Teammate）”的概念，也就是說(shuō)自動(dòng)駕駛系統(tǒng)將以伙伴的身份，配合駕駛員的駕駛。
伊勢(shì)表示，豐田的目標(biāo)在于促進(jìn)“零車(chē)禍社會(huì)”的實(shí)現(xiàn)。他并未透露具體時(shí)間點(diǎn)，但也明確表示“宜早不宜遲”。
SAE 3級(jí)伙伴駕駛輔助技術(shù)
盡管許多汽車(chē)廠(chǎng)商和一級(jí)供應(yīng)商均認(rèn)為，最合理的做法是集中研發(fā)資源，跳過(guò)SAE 2級(jí)到3級(jí)的“方向盤(pán)脫手”自動(dòng)駕駛系統(tǒng)，直接追求更高級(jí)別的自動(dòng)駕駛功能。但伊勢(shì)表示，為了盡快打造“更安全”的道路環(huán)境，豐田選擇追求中級(jí)自動(dòng)駕駛目標(biāo)是最明智的。為了實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)，過(guò)去20多年來(lái)，豐田一直在進(jìn)行自動(dòng)技術(shù)方面的研發(fā)，主要力量主要有三支：豐田研究所（Toyota Research Institute）、協(xié)同安全研究中心（Collaborative Safety Research Center），以及豐田互聯(lián)公司（Toyota Connected，成立于2016年，為豐田的“大數(shù)據(jù)”中心）。
豐田的努力方向主要集中在復(fù)雜車(chē)載主動(dòng)安全功能與系統(tǒng)、V2V和V2I通信以及自動(dòng)駕駛技術(shù)的整合。舉個(gè)例子，豐田曾許諾在2017年底前，為旗下幾乎所有豐田和雷克薩斯產(chǎn)品線(xiàn)配備“安全感知（Safety Sense）”主動(dòng)安全技術(shù)套裝。該套裝包括碰撞前預(yù)警/避免、行人監(jiān)測(cè)、道路偏離協(xié)助、自動(dòng)頭燈控制，以及自適應(yīng)性巡航控制等功能。
伊勢(shì)表示，豐田計(jì)劃將車(chē)載技術(shù)與V2I通信結(jié)合起來(lái)，從而極大地避免道路交叉口處的事故發(fā)生，要知道，此類(lèi)交通事故所致的死亡人數(shù)占全美總數(shù)的四分之一。
豐田認(rèn)為，公司的“出行駕駛伙伴”理念主要可以延伸至兩個(gè)方向，分別為“公路駕駛伙伴”和“城市道路駕駛伙伴”。其中，“公路駕駛伙伴”旨在接管公路駕駛中“無(wú)趣”或“危險(xiǎn)”的部分。舉個(gè)例子，在準(zhǔn)備進(jìn)入州際公路時(shí)，駕駛員可以輕松按下開(kāi)關(guān)，此時(shí)車(chē)輛就會(huì)進(jìn)行自動(dòng)并道與變道，還可自動(dòng)控制車(chē)輛的油門(mén)和剎車(chē)；而當(dāng)車(chē)輛駛離公路時(shí)，駕駛員則可以“重新接管”對(duì)車(chē)輛的控制，更多參與到車(chē)輛的駕駛之中。“公路駕駛伙伴”預(yù)計(jì)將于2020年左右在日本市場(chǎng)推出。
“城市道路駕駛伙伴”可在擁堵環(huán)境下為駕駛員提供自動(dòng)駕駛服務(wù)，此時(shí)車(chē)內(nèi)的行人監(jiān)測(cè)/避讓等主動(dòng)安全系統(tǒng)將開(kāi)始發(fā)揮作用。
根據(jù)豐田對(duì)“出行駕駛伙伴”的描述，“這種方法可以享受自動(dòng)駕駛帶來(lái)的實(shí)用性，但也同時(shí)能夠?yàn)轳{駛員保留駕駛本身的樂(lè)趣。”
人工智能將扮演更大角色
豐田認(rèn)為，隨著技術(shù)的進(jìn)步，未來(lái)人工智能將發(fā)揮更大的作用，比如利用激光雷達(dá)和攝像頭視覺(jué)生成超高精度的即時(shí)地圖，這不僅可以服務(wù)于車(chē)輛本身，而且還能造福周邊的道路使用者，或者即將使用道路的車(chē)輛和行人。
同時(shí)，豐田的安全高管認(rèn)為，SAE 2級(jí)到3級(jí)自動(dòng)駕駛系統(tǒng)并不存在“切換”方面的障礙。目前，公司正在尋求最有效的駕駛員警示或提醒方法，并希望能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)接口的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化。
伊勢(shì)也承認(rèn)，世界不同地區(qū)采用自動(dòng)技術(shù)的步伐快慢有所不同。他表示， “城市道路駕駛伙伴”應(yīng)用相較于美國(guó)市場(chǎng)，日本市場(chǎng)將更加關(guān)鍵。而由于美國(guó)的駕駛環(huán)境以郊區(qū)道路的長(zhǎng)距離駕駛為主，而且事故中更多涉及到大型卡車(chē)，因此美國(guó)可能會(huì)更快采用SAE 4級(jí)到5級(jí)自動(dòng)駕駛。
One might expect Japan’s largest automaker to be “all-in” on promoting autonomous-driving technology, but Toyota has rather conspicuously avoided self-driving hype. Instead, said Kiyotaka Ise, the company’s chief safety technology officer and President of its Advanced R&D and Engineering Company, Toyota is being “more cautious than others” because it sees the chief promise of autonomy to be enhanced safety rather than enhanced convenience.
Definitely a little tamer than cars driving themselves across the country.
“Our stress with autonomous is safety first, a safer traffic environment,” insisted Ise in a recent interview with Automotive Engineering.
Instead of focusing on the gee-whiz potential of SAE Level 4-5 fully-autonomous driving, Ise said Toyota instead is concentrating on the driver-assist possibilities of Levels 2-3: the potential to drastically reduce or even eliminate accidents altogether—while still providing the driver with the opportunity to enjoy piloting the vehicle under conditions of choice. The autonomous vehicle works with the driver in a “mobility teammate” collaboration, a strategic concept Toyota revealed in 2015.
Ise won’t commit to a timeframe, but he admitted Toyota’s goal is no less than “accident-free society.” But it’s clear he means sooner than later.
Level 3 Teammate
Although many automakers and Tier 1 suppliers say it’s most logical to direct development resources to achieving high-level autonomy, skipping the “handoff” complications of Level 2-3 systems, Ise said Toyota’s mid-level autonomy focus makes the most sense to more quickly produce safer roads. That’s the endgame to which the company has been directing more than 20 years of autonomous-technology research from three primary corporate R&D channels: the Toyota Research Institute, the Collaborative Safety Research Center and Toyota Connected (formed in early 2016 to be Toyota’s “big data” hub).
Toyota’s efforts are focused on integration of sophisticated onboard active-safety features and systems, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication and automated-driving technology. The company has pledged, for example, to have its “Safety Sense” active-safety technology suite (pre-collision alert/avoidance, pedestrian detection, lane-departure assist, automatic headlight high-beam control and adaptive cruise control) standard for nearly every vehicle in the Toyota and Lexus model lines by the end of 2017.
Combine the onboard technology, Ise said, with V2I communication and go after a big-time reduction in intersection accidents, which account for a quarter of all vehicle fatalities in the U.S.
Toyota sees the approach extending into two distinct paths for its Mobility Teammate philosophy, a “Highway Teammate” and an “Urban Teammate.” The highway teammate is targeted at taking over the mundane and riskier aspects of highway driving; flip a switch when preparing to enter an Interstate, say, and the system automatically merges the vehicle, accelerates and brakes and changes lanes. Leaving the highway, the driver resumes control for the presumably more-engaging (or more complex, depending on one’s perspective) aspects of the trip. Highway Teammate is targeted for introduction in Japan sometime around 2020.
The urban teammate seeks to deliver automated driving in more-congested environments, where active-safety systems such as pedestrian detection and avoidance come into play.
According to Toyota’s description of the Teammate strategy, “This approach acknowledges the utility of automated-driving technologies while maintaining the fun experience of driving itself.”
AI to assume a larger role
As technology advances, Toyota sees artificial intelligence assuming a larger role, using LiDAR and camera vision to generate, on-the-fly, ultra-precise maps for the vehicle, but also for others in the vicinity or scheduled to use that road.
Meantime, Toyota safety executives are not unaware of the development hurdles surrounding the driver handoff required for engaging and disengaging with Level 2-3 autonomous systems. They’re studying the most effective methods to alert and inform the driver and hope to standardize that interface.
Ise also acknowledges that different world regions will adopt autonomy at a different pace. In Japan, he said, the Urban Teammate concept is more critical than in the U.S., where more suburbanized driving, lengthy highway travel and more crashes with big trucks might suggest quicker adoption of Level 4-5 autonomy.
Author: Bill Visnic
Source: SAE Automotive Engineering Magazine
豐田認(rèn)為，先進(jìn)的即時(shí)路線(xiàn)圖編制功能將有助于大幅降低交通事故發(fā)生率。
豐田首席安全技術(shù)官、先進(jìn)研發(fā)與工程公司總裁伊勢(shì)清貴稱(chēng)，“在自動(dòng)駕駛方面，我們首先強(qiáng)調(diào)的是安全?！?/span>
豐田正在尋求最有效的駕駛員警示或提醒方法，協(xié)助駕駛員及時(shí)在自動(dòng)駕駛和手動(dòng)操作之間進(jìn)行“切換”，比如利用儀表板顯示切換信息。
豐田的“公路駕駛伙伴”系統(tǒng)可自動(dòng)執(zhí)行包括變道在內(nèi)的各種駕駛?cè)蝿?wù)，駕駛員僅需在“非公路環(huán)境”或者“自己想開(kāi)車(chē)”時(shí)控制車(chē)輛。