【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 gram, which is designing the smart car and road of the future.汽車及其行駛的道路，將在21世紀(jì)發(fā)生重大變革。未來(lái)“智能汽車”的關(guān)鍵在于傳感器。“我們會(huì)見到能看、能聽、有知覺、具嗅覺、會(huì)說(shuō)話并能采取行動(dòng)的車輛與道路，”正在設(shè)計(jì)未來(lái)智能汽車和智能道路的通用汽車公司ITS項(xiàng)目的技術(shù)主任比爾斯普雷扎預(yù)言道。4 Approximately 40,000 people are killed each year in the United States in traffic accidents. The number of people that are killed or badly injured in car accidents is so vast that we don39。t even bother to mention them in the newspapers anymore. Fully half of these fatalities e from drunk drivers, and many others from carelessness. A smart car could eliminate most of these car accidents. It can sense if a driver is drunk via electronic sensors that can pick up alcohol vapor in the air, and refuse to start up the engine. The car could also alert the police and provide its precise location if it is stolen.美國(guó)每年有大約4萬(wàn)人死于交通事故。在汽車事故中死亡或嚴(yán)重受傷的人數(shù)太多，我們已經(jīng)不屑在報(bào)紙上提及。這些死亡的人中至少有半數(shù)是酒后開車者造成的，另有許多死亡事故是駕駛員不小心所導(dǎo)致。智能汽車能消除絕大多數(shù)這類汽車事故。它能通過(guò)會(huì)感測(cè)空氣中的酒精霧氣的電子傳感器檢測(cè)開車者是否喝醉酒，并拒絕啟動(dòng)引擎。這種車還能在遇竊后通報(bào)警方，告知車輛的確切地點(diǎn)。5 Smart cars have already been built which can monitor one39。s driving and the driving conditions nearby. Small radars hidden in the bumpers can scan for nearby cars. Should you make a serious driving mistake (., change lanes when there is a car in your blind spot) the puter would sound an immediate warning. 能監(jiān)控行車過(guò)程以及周圍行車狀況的智能汽車已經(jīng)建造出來(lái)。藏在保險(xiǎn)杠里的微型雷達(dá)能對(duì)周圍的汽車作掃描。如果你發(fā)生重大行車失誤（如變道時(shí)有車輛你“盲點(diǎn)”內(nèi)），計(jì)算機(jī)立即會(huì)發(fā)出警報(bào)。6 At the MIT Media Lab, a prototype is already being built which will determine how sleepy you are as you drive, which is especially important for longdistance truck drivers. The monotonous, almost hypnotic process of staring at the center divider for long hours is a grossly underestimated, lifethreatening hazard. To eliminate this, a tiny camera hidden in the dashboard can be trained on a driver39。s face and eyes. If the driver39。s eyelids close for a certain length of time and his or her driving bees erratic, a puter in the dashboard could alert the driver.在麻省理工學(xué)院媒介實(shí)驗(yàn)室，業(yè)已制造出能測(cè)知你行車時(shí)有多少睡意的樣車，這對(duì)長(zhǎng)途卡車司機(jī)意義尤其重要。一連數(shù)小時(shí)注視著中夾分道線這樣一個(gè)單調(diào)、幾乎能催眠的過(guò)程是被嚴(yán)重低估的威脅生命的重大隱患。為消除這一隱患，藏在儀表板里的一架微型相機(jī)可對(duì)準(zhǔn)開車者的臉部及眼睛。如果司機(jī)的眼簾合上一定時(shí)間，行車變得不穩(wěn)，儀表板里的計(jì)算機(jī)就會(huì)向司機(jī)發(fā)出警報(bào)。7 Two of the most frustrating things about driving a car are getting lost and getting stuck in traffic. While the puter revolution is unlikely to cure these problems, it will have a positive impact. Sensors in your car tuned to radio signals from orbiting satellites can locate your car precisely at any moment and warn of traffic jams. We already have twentyfour Navstar satellites orbiting the earth, making up what is called the Global Positioning System. They make it possible to determine your location on the earth to within about a hundred feet. At any given time, there are several GPS satellites orbiting overhead at a distance of about 11,000 miles. Each satellite contains four atomic clocks, which vibrate at a precise frequency, according to the laws of the quantum theory.開車最頭疼的兩大麻煩是迷路和交通堵塞。雖然計(jì)算機(jī)革命不可能徹底解決這兩個(gè)問題，但卻會(huì)帶來(lái)積極的影響。你汽車上與繞軌道運(yùn)行的衛(wèi)星發(fā)出的無(wú)線電信號(hào)調(diào)諧的傳感器能隨時(shí)精確地確定你汽車的方位，并告知交通阻塞情況。我們已經(jīng)有24顆環(huán)繞地球運(yùn)行的導(dǎo)航衛(wèi)星，組成了人們所說(shuō)的全球衛(wèi)星定位系統(tǒng)。通過(guò)這些衛(wèi)星我們有可能以小于100英尺的誤差確定你在地球上的方位。在任何一個(gè)特定時(shí)間，總有若干顆全球定位系統(tǒng)的衛(wèi)星在11000英里的高空繞地球運(yùn)行。每顆衛(wèi)星都裝有4個(gè)“原子鐘”，它們根據(jù)量子理論法則，以精確的頻率振動(dòng)。8 As a satellite passes overhead, it sends out a radio signal that can be detected by a receiver in a car39。s puter. The car39。s puter can then calculate how far the satellite is by measuring how long it took for the signal to arrive. Since the speed of light is well known, any delay in receiving the satellite39。s signal can be converted into a distance.衛(wèi)星從高空經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí)發(fā)出能被汽車上計(jì)算機(jī)里的接收器辨認(rèn)的無(wú)線電信號(hào)。汽車上的計(jì)算機(jī)就會(huì)根據(jù)信號(hào)傳來(lái)所花的時(shí)間計(jì)算出衛(wèi)星有多遠(yuǎn)。由于光速為人熟知，接收衛(wèi)星信號(hào)時(shí)的任何時(shí)間遲緩都能折算出距離的遠(yuǎn)近。9 In Japan there are already over a million cars with some type of navigational capability. (Some of them locate a car39。s position by correlating the rotations in the steering wheel to its position on a map.)在日本，具有某種導(dǎo)航能力的汽車已有一百萬(wàn)輛之多。（有些導(dǎo)航裝置通過(guò)將方向盤的轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)與汽車在地圖上的位置并置來(lái)測(cè)定汽車的方位。）10 With the price of microchips dropping so drastically, future applications of GPS are virtually limitless. The mercial industry is poised to explode, says Randy Hoffman of Magellan Systems Corp. , which manufactures navigational systems. Blind individuals could use GPS sensors in walking sticks, airplanes could land by remote control, hikers will be able to locate their position in the woods the list of potential uses is endless.隨著微芯片價(jià)格的大幅度下降，未來(lái)對(duì)全球衛(wèi)星定位系統(tǒng)的應(yīng)用幾乎是無(wú)限的。“制造這一商品的工業(yè)定會(huì)飛速發(fā)展，”生產(chǎn)導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)的麥哲倫航儀公司的蘭迪霍夫曼說(shuō)。盲人可以在手杖里裝配全球衛(wèi)星定位系統(tǒng)傳感器，飛機(jī)可以通過(guò)遙控著陸，徒步旅行者可以測(cè)定自己在林中的方位—其潛在的應(yīng)用范圍是無(wú)止境的。11 GPS is actually but part of a larger movement, called telematics, which will eventually attempt to put smart cars on smart highways. Prototypes of such highways already exist in Europe, and experiments are being made in California to mount puter chips, sensors, and radio transmitters on highways to alert cars to traffic jams and obstructions.全球衛(wèi)星定位系統(tǒng)其實(shí)只是叫做“遠(yuǎn)程信息學(xué)”的這一更大行動(dòng)的一部分，這一行動(dòng)最終將把智能汽車送上智能高速公路。這種高速公路的樣品已經(jīng)在歐洲問世，加州也在進(jìn)行試驗(yàn)，在高速公路上安裝計(jì)算機(jī)芯片、傳感器和無(wú)線電發(fā)射機(jī)，以便向汽車報(bào)告交通擁擠堵塞情況。12 On an eightmile stretch of Interstate 15 ten miles north of San Diego, traffic engineers are installing an MITdesigned system which will introduce the automated driver. The plan calls for puters, aided by thousands of threeinch magnetic spikes buried in the highway, to take plete control of the driving of cars on heavily trafficked roads. Cars will be bunched into groups of ten to twelve vehicles, only six feet apart, traveling in unison, and controlled by puter.在圣迭戈以北10英里的15號(hào)州際公路一段8英里長(zhǎng)的路面上，交通工程師正在安裝一個(gè)由麻省理工學(xué)院設(shè)計(jì)的引進(jìn)“自動(dòng)司機(jī)”的系統(tǒng)。這一計(jì)劃要求計(jì)算機(jī)在公路上埋設(shè)的數(shù)千個(gè)3英寸長(zhǎng)的磁釘?shù)膮f(xié)助下，在車輛極多的路段完全控制車輛的運(yùn)行。車輛會(huì)編成10輛或12輛一組，車距僅6英尺，在計(jì)算機(jī)的控制下一齊行駛。13 Promoters of this puterized highway have great hopes for its future. By 2010, telematics may well be incorporated into one of the major highways in the United States. If successful, by 2020, as the price of microchips drops to below a penny a piece, telematics could be adopted in thousands of miles of highways in the United States. This could prove to be an environmental boon as well, saving fuel