從2022年CES出發!

在這一集節目中,我們來看看2022年CES期間一些更具啟發性的事件,通常來自於那些特別關注汽車產業的各家廠商發言人話語之間。

時長: 16:03 | 發佈者: EE Times Taiwan | 發佈時間: 2022-01-31

從2022年CES出發!

BRIAN SANTO: The Consumer Electronics Show has become something so much more than simply a trade show about the latest gadgets we might want to buy. CES is evolving towards being a sort of World’s Fair, showing us wonders of the future that no consumer will ever buy, ranging from AI-augmented farming equipment to autonomous delivery drones to quantum computers.

BRIAN SANTO:國際消費性電子展(CES)遠不只是一場貿易展會,展出我們可能想要購買的最新電子產品。它正發展成一種世界博覽會,向我們展示消費者不會買的、未來可能會有的驚奇,從AI強化的農業設備,到自動送貨無人機以及量子電腦…

Today, we’ll be looking at some of the more revelatory events at CES 2022, often in the words of those who made the announcements, with a special focus on the automotive industry.

在這一集節目中,我們來看看2022年CES期間一些更具啟發性的事件,通常來自於那些特別關注汽車產業的各家廠商發言人話語之間。

The Consumer Electronics Show has developed into an event like few others. Once upon a time largely dedicated to consumer electronics, it has expanded to encompass so much more.

國際消費性電子展已經發展成為少有其他同類型展會可比擬的程度,過去它一度把重心放在消費性電子產品上,現在則涵蓋了更多領域。

CES has become a home for consumer-oriented industries that traditionally haven’t actually sold any electronic equipment to their customers, such as cable TV. It has drawn in companies that were never really part of the electronics industry but are evolving to become part of it. A notable example is the automotive industry. We’ll be talking about that soon.

國際消費性電子展已成消費者導向產業的主場;這些產業傳統上並未實際出售任何電子設備給他們的客戶,例如有線電視業者。展會吸引了一些從未屬於電子產業一份子、但正發展為該產業一部分的公司。一個典型案例就是汽車產業,我們待會再討論這一點。

CES has similarly drawn in companies that were never really considered part of the electronics industry at all, but are evolving into it, but only qualify for CES if you adopt a very, very loose definition of “consumer electronics.” I’m thinking of things like automated farm equipment. And semiconductor manufacturers have been showing up for years; you can’t make the definition of the phrase “consumer electronics” loose enough to include chip companies.

CES同樣吸引了一些從未被認為在電子產業範疇內、但正在朝該產業進軍的公司,只有把「消費電子產品」的定義放得非常非常寬,才能認同他們適合參加CES,例如自動化農場設備之類。還有已經參展多年的半導體製造商;但你不至於把「消費性電子產品」的範圍放寬到把晶片公司包括在內。

And then there are exhibits of technological marvels that are essentially laboratory curiosities. For the last few years, IBM has been bringing its massive, gleaming, cryo-cooled quantum computer to CES. Even though it’s now a familiar sight, it still looks like a prop from a science fiction film about the distant future.

會上還展示了一些技術奇蹟,基本上都是實驗室裡的珍奇。例如過去幾年, IBM一直在CES展示其體積龐大、光澤炫目的低溫冷卻量子電腦,儘管現在人們熟悉了它的外觀,但它看起來還是像出現在某部關於遙遠未來的科幻電影裡的道具。

I suggested at the top of the show that CES has taken on some of the elements of classic World Fairs. World Fairs are events where corporate sponsors try to wow visitors with awe-inspiring imaginings of what the future might bring: videoconferencing systems that let you see your grandparents when you talk to them, or robotic servants, or flying cars.

我在節目最前面曾提到CES吸收了一些經典世界博覽會的元素,世博會是由贊助廠商嘗試藉由描繪對未來世界的神奇想像來讓參觀者驚歎,想是讓你能和祖父母面對面交談的視訊聊天系統、機器人服務生或飛天汽車。

CES has become a large, annual stage for the industry to wow the world with what’s coming in terms of gadgets that might change our lives. It’s all in the future, so every new doohickey has the potential to change the way we all live. And while some of those thingamajigs might actually succeed, some are inevitably doomed to languish in drawers or garages, while others might barely sell at all.

CES已成為一個大型的年度舞台,讓電子產業透過展示可能改變我們生活的新產品來驚豔世界。這些在未來都會實現,所以每一種新裝置都有可能改變我們所有人的生活方式,雖然這些玩意兒有的可能會成功,有的免不了會被擱置在抽屜或車庫裡,更有甚者可能根本賣不出去。

And that’s the thing about CES. It’s become a forum for hyperbole and hucksterism. It’s where industry executives go to establish their cred as visionaries and gush about how wonderful it will all be.

這就是CES的意義所在,它成為一個讓人們誇大其詞、胡說八道的場所,讓業界高層能在此建立他們作為遠見卓識者的美名,滔滔不絕描繪未來的一切會多麼美好。

And that’s what this episode of the Weekly Briefing will be doing. We’ll dip into some of the keynotes and presentations to get a sense not of what will be, but what might be, if the most fervent dreams of electronics industry execs come true.

這也是本集Weekly Briefing將探討的內容,我們會分析一些專題演說和簡報,了解未來可能會發生什麼,而非一定會發生什麼…如果大多數電子產業高層的狂熱夢想都能成真。

One of the biggest dreams in recent years has been autonomous driving. This is Ali Kani, the VP and General Manager of Nvidia’s Automotive business, in a video address that debuted at CES.

近年來那些偉大夢想之一就是自動駕駛,這也是Nvidia車用業務副總裁兼總經理Ali Kani在CES首發的一段視訊所著墨的內容。

ALI KANI: I’m here to talk about autonomous vehicles. It’s perhaps the most intense AI challenge, but it’s also one with the greatest benefits to society. It will save lives, make roads less congested, and change the way billions of people move around the world.

ALI KANI:我想在此談談自動駕駛車輛,這或許是對人工智慧最嚴峻的挑戰,但也能給社會帶來最大的好處。自動駕駛車輛將挽救生命、減少道路壅塞,並改變全球數十億人的出行方式。

BRIAN SANTO: And this is Mary Barra, the CEO of GM.

BRIAN SANTO:還有這位是GM的執行長Mary Barra。

MARY BARRA: GM and Cruise are also pursuing the most comprehensive path to autonomous mobility in the industry, a journey that will accelerate as we transition to EVs. It’s a journey that started in 2016 with the acquisition of Cruise, and then in 2017, when we introduced Supercruise on the Cadillac brand, offering the industry’s first true hands-free driver-assistance technology. Cruise is on a distinct path to a fully autonomous future. Today, Cruise remains the only company able to conduct rides with passengers and without a driver in the City of San Francisco.

MARY BARRA:GM和Cruise都在尋求業界最全面的自動駕駛路線,這一進程將隨著我們朝電動車轉移而加快。它始於我們2016年收購Cruise,之後在2017年,我們Cadillac車款搭載了超級巡航系統Supercruise,率先實現了業界真正意義上解放雙手的駕駛輔助技術。Cruise正在一條朝向完全自動駕駛未來的獨特道路上。如今,Cruise仍是舊金山市唯一能以無人駕駛車輛載客的公司。

BRIAN SANTO: Autonomous vehicles are already out on the roads. And it is true that they have worked remarkably well… until they didn’t. Out in the road, they occasionally did things that ranged from puzzling to dangerous to fatal. Worse yet, nobody can really say why these things were happening.

BRIAN SANTO:自動駕駛車量已經上路了,而且它們的確運作得相當好…直到後來出了差錯。在路上的時候,它們偶爾會做一些讓人費解的事情,甚至是危險或致命。更糟的是,那些事情為何發生,至今無人能解。

Regulatory agencies overseeing automotive safety are properly alarmed, and the automotive industry’s reasonable response was to emphasize the development of driver-assist technologies and downplay the talk about autonomous driving. Until they got to CES.

監督車輛安全的主管機關適時被警告,汽車產業也做出了合理回應,轉而著重駕駛輔助技術的開發,淡化對自動駕駛的討論。直到他們參加CES。

Nvidia, Ford, Intel, GM, Mercedes-Benz and others reaffirmed their commitment to autonomous driving, albeit this time around stressing safety over and over.

Nvidia、Ford、Intel、GM、Mercedes-Benz 和其他公司都重申對自動駕駛所做的努力,不過這一次反覆強調了安全性。

Nvidia’s Ali Kani talked about the company’s machine learning system for autonomous driving, which consists of three functional elements: an AI-based software stack running in every individual vehicle, cloud servers, and a simulation environment. Here’s Ali Kani again.

Nvidia的Ali Kani提及該公司用於自動駕駛的機器學習系統,該系統由三個功能要素構成:在每輛車上執行的人工智慧軟體堆疊、雲端伺服器和軟體模擬環境。以下同樣是Ali Kani的發言。

ALI KANI: This machine learning pipeline is never ending. Autonomous driving software will need to continuously develop and improve. New data will be collected and synthetically generated models will be retrained in the data center then validated in simulation before new software is ultimately updated for use on the road.

ALI KANI:這種機器學習工作流程是沒有止境的,自動駕駛軟體會需要不斷發展和演進,新的資料會被收集,綜合生成的模型會在資料中心重新訓練,然後在模擬中進行驗證,直到新軟體完成更新並使用於道路上。

We’ve created this end-to-end automotive platform and modules so that our partners can use exactly what they need to speed time to market and build a product that can stay true to their brand.

我們已經創建了這種端對端的車用平台和模組,讓我們的合作夥伴可以確實用到他們加速上市時間所需的,打造不失其品牌特色的產品。

We have some partners that just buy our chips and core operating system while developing their own software applications. Other partners like Mercedes-Benz rely on us across this entire stack. From our self-driving software running on Nvidia drive computers in each car to training AI models in the cloud, synthetic data generation, vehicle validation and testing of new features through simulation, which finally get pushed over the air into each Mercedes Benz vehicle.

我們有些合作夥伴只購買我們的晶片和核心作業系統,同時開發他們自己的軟體應用程式。像是Mercedes-Benz等其他合作夥伴則仰賴我們提供完整堆疊,從執行於每輛車上Nvidia Drive電腦的自動駕駛軟體,到在雲端訓練人工智慧模型、合成資料生成、車輛驗證和透過模擬測試新功能,最終利用空中下載技術傳輸到每輛 Mercedes Benz車中。

Developing an autonomous vehicle requires an entirely new platform architecture and software development process. Both the hardware and software must be comprehensively tested and validated to ensure they can handle the harsh conditions of daily driving with the stringent safety and security needs of an automated vehicle.

研發自動駕駛車輛需要一個全新的平台架構和軟體開發流程。硬體和軟體都必須經過全面測試和驗證,以確保它們能夠因應日常駕駛中遇到的惡劣條件,達到自動駕駛車輛嚴格的安全標準。

BRIAN SANTO: Kani went on to talk about Nvidia’s 8th-generation automotive SoC, the Hyperion 8, a high-powered chip that supports a combination of sensors. He stressed it would provide the highest levels of safety and security. He said it’ll go into production as early as this year. That sounds like a hedge, meaning we might not see it until next year.

BRIAN SANTO:Kani還談到了Nvidia的第8代車用SoC——Hyperion 8,它是一款支援多種感測器組合的高運算能力晶片。他強調,這種晶片可提供最高水準的安全保障。他也表示,該晶片最早會在今年投入生產。這聽起來像在避險,意味著我們可能得等到明年才能看到它問世。

Okay, there’s Kani and Nvidia. Here’s GM’s Mary Barra again. She makes a distinction between autonomous driving — vehicles driving themselves without a human at the wheel — and Supercruise driver-assist technology, which includes vehicles driving themselves with a human at the wheel. GM’s chip supplier, by the way, is Qualcomm.

好的,以上是Nvidia的Kani。以下再次出場的是GM的Mary Barra,她將自動駕駛--車輛在無人駕駛的情況下自己行駛--和Supercruise輔助駕駛技術、即配備駕駛員但可自動駕駛的車輛做了區別。GM的晶片供應商是Qualcomm。

MARY BARRA: In addition to Cruise’s leadership on full autonomous capability, GM is also working on advanced Driver Assistance technology with Supercruise and Ultracruise. Supercruise has resonated with our customers, with more than 85% of those who experienced the technology telling us they want it in their next vehicle.

MARY BARRA:除了Cruise在全自動駕駛能力方面佔據領先地位,GM還致力於透過Supercruise和Ultracruise開發先進駕駛輔助技術。Supercruise非常受我們的顧客歡迎,超過85%的體驗者告訴我們,他們希望在購買的下一輛車中用到這項技術。

More than 10 million miles have been driven using Supercruise. And that number grows every day. We’ll have Supercruise available on 22 models across our GM brands next year, and we’ll add even more each year, ultimately making the technology available across the majority of our portfolio.

採用Supercruise技術的行駛里程數已超過1,000萬英哩,該數字每天都在增加。明年,我們將在GM品牌的22個車款上搭載Supercruise,每年還會增加更多搭載該技術的車款,最終讓該技術出現在我們大多數產品。

BRIAN SANTO: There is a distinction, as Barra pointed out, between fully autonomous driving — a vehicle driving itself — and driver assist — when a human must remain behind the wheel. This is basically the distinction between what’s called Level 4 and Level 5 driving. But it remains unclear from a safety perspective if there’s all that much of a difference between the two.

BRIAN SANTO:正如Barra所說,全自動駕駛(車輛會自行駕駛)和駕駛輔助(必須有人掌控方向盤)之間存在區別。這基本上就是所謂Level 4和Level 5自動駕駛技術之間的區別,但從安全性的角度來看,尚不清楚兩者之間的差異是否類似。

Mobileye is a self-driving technology company owned by Intel; its product line is called EyeQ. It sounds like the letters that stand for Intelligence Quotient, but it’s spelled like the word eye, implying a combination of machine vision and artificial intelligence. At CES, Mobileye announced its EyeQ Ultra, which it called an AV-on-chip, which it said is purpose-built for Level 4 self-driving vehicles.

Mobileye是Intel旗下的自動駕駛技術供應商;其產品線叫做EyeQ,發音接近IQ (Intelligence Quotient),但拼字則是跟eye相似,含義是機器視覺和人工智慧的結合。在CES,Mobileye發表了EyeQ Ultra晶片,號稱AV-on-chip,據說是專門為Level 4自動駕駛車輛設計的。

Now, Mobileye made no direct statement saying any automotive company is going to be using the new EyeQ Ultra. That said, the company announced at the same time that it will be extending its decade-long collaboration with Ford. We’ll find out soon enough if Mobileye and Ford were signaling that the two are collaborating on Level 4 driving together, or if we’re just inferring that.

目前,Mobileye沒有直接聲明哪家車廠將採用新款EyeQ Ultra晶片。話雖如此,該公司同時也宣佈將延長與Ford十年期的合作。我們很快就會知道Mobileye和Ford是否在暗示它們正合作研究Level 4自動駕駛,又或者只是我們的猜想。

The other big trend in automotive is electric vehicles. Here’s Nvidia’s Kani again:

汽車領域的另一個大趨勢是電動車,讓我們再聽一段 Nvidia的Kani發言:

ALI KANI: The transportation industry is going through a rapid transformation. This change started with a move from internal combustion engines to electric motors. Electric vehicles are not just better for the environment; they fundamentally improve the driving experience for consumers. They drive more quietly, accelerate faster, and they will last longer.

ALI KANI:交通運輸產業正在經歷快速轉型,這種變化始於內燃機到電動馬達的轉變,電動車不僅更有利於環境,而且從根本上提升了消費者的駕駛體驗。電動車行駛時的噪音更小、加速更快,而且更耐用。

Over the course of the next several decades, we will see the majority of cars sold be electric. This transformation has given way to dozens of new energy vehicle startups. They have reimagined the car, starting with a new vehicle architecture based on programmable software-defined computers.

未來幾十年,我們會看到大多數市售車輛車都是電動的,這種轉變已經催生了數十家新能源車輛新創公司,他們對車輛進行了重新設計,從以可程式化軟體定義的電腦架構為基礎著手,開發全新的車輛架構。

I’m very pleased to announce that our Drive Hyperion platform has been adopted by leading New Energy Vehicle OEMs in the industry. Volvo established Polestar is bringing a storied heritage of safe driving into the modern era with electric vehicles that emphasize the joy of driving. The upcoming Polestar 3 SUV features a centralized compute architecture powered by Nvidia drive.

我很高興宣佈,我們的Drive Hyperion平台已經被業界領先的新能源車製造商採用。Volvo成立的Polestar品牌正將傳統安全駕駛推向現代,推出著重駕駛體驗的電動車。即將推出的 Polestar 3休旅車款搭載了Nvidia Drive驅動的集中式運算架構。

China, now the world’s largest auto market, has also been very successful driving the transition to NEVs, with nearly 20% of all cars sold in China this past quarter being electric. We’re really excited to work with the vast majority of the leading NEV companies in China, including Neo, Xpeng, Li Auto, R Auto and SAIC’s premium electric vehicle brand, IM. These new electric cars will get better and better over time with each over-the-air update.

中國現在是世界上最大的汽車市場,朝新能源車的轉移也成績斐然;上一季,中國市場銷售的車輛總數中有近20%是電動車。我們很高興能與中國絕大多數領先的新能源車輛業者合作,包括Neo、小鵬汽車(Xpeng)、理想汽車(Li Auto)、R Auto和上汽集團的高端電動汽車品牌IM。隨時間推移,這些新型電動車會逐步透過空中下載技術完成多次更新,從而不斷提高其性能。

BRIAN SANTO: And once again, GM’s CEO, Mary Barra:

BRIAN SANTO:接下來又是GM執行長Mary Barra:

MARY BARRA: We made a crucial decision to invest in a dedicated all-electric vehicle platform that has scale and flexibility that’s designed to provide GMs EV customers with longer range, faster charging times at lower costs, while providing our designers and engineers with the kind of freedom to create vehicles they previously could only dream about. And that’s Ultium, a revolutionary vehicle platform that can be used to make EVs ranging from compact crossovers to trucks to sports cars.

MARY BARRA:我們做了一個重大決定,要投資一個專門的全電動車輛平台,具備一定的規模和靈活性,旨在為購買我們電動車的顧客延長車輛的續航里程、縮短充電時間和降低成本,同時讓我們的設計師和工程師有機會打造之前只存在於想像中的車輛。這就是Ultium,一個革命性的車輛平台,用於打造各式各樣的電動車,包括小型跨界車款、卡車、跑車等。

Ultium features a combination of groundbreaking battery architecture, electric propulsion systems, and a common high-energy, chemistry-agnostic battery cell that will power an entire range of next-generation electric vehicles.

Ultium平台的特色在於將全新的電池架構、電動推進系統,以及無關化學高能量電池芯相結合,能為下一代整個系列的電動車提供動力。

The same hardware platform that created a super truck like the GMC Hummer EV will also create the stunning Cadillac Lyric, and soon higher volume entries across the globe, across the spectrum of GM brands that gets us even closer to our vision of a zero-emission and carbon-neutral future.

同一個硬體平台可用以打造像是GMC的Hummer EV這樣的超級越野車,也能打造令人驚艷的Cadillac Lyric,很快會在全球範圍內、GM旗下的各品牌中創造更高的銷量,讓我們朝著未來實現零排放與碳中和未來願景更近一步。

BRIAN SANTO: The transition to electric vehicles seems to be accelerating pretty rapidly. There remain questions about the process. Battery technology is currently reliant on rare earth materials that are in short supply, and much of that supply is controlled by China, which has a thriving EV market at home to cater to. There is constant carping about the lack of recharging infrastructure so far, but that is getting built. The global automotive industry is committed to the transition. All of those caveats are going to be solved one way or another.

BRIAN SANTO:看來朝電動車轉移的進程正在加速,但這一過程中仍存在問題。電池技術目前仰賴稀土材料,而稀土供不應求,且其大部分供應受中國控制,而中國本土的電動車市場正蓬勃發展,需求龐大。人們一直抱怨目前的充電基礎設施不夠,但這個問題已經在著手解決了。全球汽車產業正致力於轉型,這些問題都會通過某種方式得到解決。

* As for the enabling technology, we’ve heard from Nvidia. Qualcomm similarly has an automotive platform and a few key Tier 1 customers. We’ve heard about Mobileye and its AV on a chip.

在實現的技術方面,我們已經聽到Nvidia的介紹。Qualcomm也有一個類似的車用平台,並有幾家重要的Tier 1客戶。我們也對Mobileye與其自動駕駛車輛晶片技術有所耳聞。

* Also in conjunction with CES, Infineon also announced a microcontroller supporting driver-assist technology and automotive artificial intelligence applications.

Infineon也在CES發表了一款支持駕駛輔助技術和車用人工智慧應用的微控制器。

* NXP announced new, better versions of its radar processors.

NXP發表了更優異的新版雷達處理器。

* Onsemi teamed with a company called Emotion3D, which specializes in camera-based automotive in-cabin analysis software. The two announced a joint reference design for a driver and occupant monitoring system. That’s a newer twist on monitoring systems in that it covers all vehicle passengers, not just the driver. That reference design includes Emotion3D’s software and Onsemi’s image sensor.

Onsemi與一家名為Emotion3D的公司合作,該公司專門研究以攝影機為基礎的車輛座艙分析軟體;兩家公司聯手推出駕駛人與乘客監控系統參考設計,這是監控系統的一個新變化,因為監控範圍涵蓋了車內所有乘客,不僅是駕駛員。該參考設計包含了Emotion3D的軟體和Onsemi的影像感測器。

* Finally, a company called Aceinna has introduced an inertial navigation technology for the automotive market. The company believes its systems will be unaffected by the different environmental conditions that can variously compromise cameras, lidar and radar.

最後,一家名為Aceinna的公司針對車用市場推出了一種慣性導航技術;該公司認為其系統不受到各種可能妨礙攝影機、光達與雷達的環境條件影響。

After going virtual in 2021, CES organizers held a live event this year, but the pandemic that had seemed to be dwindling instead roared back. Exhibitors and attendees began to cancel, a few at a time, and then in a rush. Live photos at CES make the Las Vegas Convention Center look like a ghost town, a particularly polished and tastefully appointed ghost town, but a ghost town nonetheless.

在2021年將展會改為虛擬的CES主辦單位,今年又舉辦了實體展,但看似已平息的疫情又捲土重來,許多參展商和參觀者紛紛取消行程,一開始只是幾家,後來是一群。從CES的現場照片看,拉斯維加斯會議中心像一座空蕩的鬼城,雖然看上去富麗堂皇、裝潢雅致,仍顯得冷冷清清。

Some people are happy to see the end of live events. As one EE Times reader sniffed, he doesn’t miss the $28 corn dogs and $7 Diet Cokes in the overpriced hotel rooms. Others argue there is plenty of value in live events. Some things do need to be seen and felt. Live conversations can be richer, and the serendipity of chance meetings can’t be quantified.

有些人樂於見到實體展取消,一位《EE Times》的讀者就嗤之以鼻,說他一點也不懷念在漲價的酒店房間裡吃28美元炸熱狗、7美元健怡可樂的時光,但也有人認為實體展有很多價值,有些東西確實需要親眼目睹、親身體驗,現場交流會更豐富,而偶遇帶來的驚喜無法量化。

We’ve got a couple of op-eds on either side of that fence. Visit the web site to check them out.

我們的網站上有幾篇專欄文章探討這個問題的兩面性,歡迎造訪閱讀。

That concludes this episode of the Weekly Briefing. Thank you for listening.

以上是本周的新聞播報。感謝您的收聽。

 

(責編:Judith Cheng完整節目與原文請點擊此連結:Drive! From CES 2022!)

 

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