????目前，少數(shù)幾家汽車廠商，如奧迪（Audi）、豐田的雷克薩斯（Lexus）和梅賽德斯奔馳（Mercedes-Benz）正在越來越公開地展示自己的自動駕駛技術，它能讓車只需要極少的駕駛者指令就能自動行駛。據(jù)稱這項技術幾年內(nèi)就能投入應用。

????不過，各大廠商擔心消費者和監(jiān)管層可能不會那么痛快地放棄對車的操控權。駕車者正越來越多地用上了防抱死剎車系統(tǒng)、車輛穩(wěn)定控制系統(tǒng)、自適應巡航控制系統(tǒng)、車道偏離警示系統(tǒng)和其他高科技配置。但各大廠商表示，絕大多數(shù)人還沒意識到只需要一小步就能邁入近乎全自動駕駛控制系統(tǒng)的時代。

????奧迪美國分公司總裁斯科特?吉奧稱：“把所有這些系統(tǒng)放在一起，汽車就基本能幫著司機自動駕駛了。”本周在拉斯維加斯舉辦的消費電子展（Consumer Electronics Show）上，奧迪展示了一套名為“交通擁堵輔助系統(tǒng)”的原型，它主要用于時速低于60公里（37英里）時的交通狀況。

????光學和雷達傳感器通過識別道路標志使這輛載有特殊裝備的奧迪A6不會偏離車道，并強制車輪按預定方向行駛。當車輛與前車過于接近時，前進傳感器就會使其減速，當車距過大時，又會使其加速。用于處理信息的傳感器和芯片正飛快地變得日益小巧、便宜，同時性能更為強大。

????奧迪是繼谷歌公司（Google）之后的第二家公司，也是首家獲準在內(nèi)華達州公路上測試其自動駕駛系統(tǒng)的汽車公司。而其他大公司，包括通用汽車（General Motors）和福特汽車（Ford Motor）也都在開發(fā)自己的自動駕駛系統(tǒng)，不過它們在本次展會上都沒有發(fā)布任何聲明或召開發(fā)布會。

????吉奧及奧迪其他高管和來自德國的工程師都拒絕表明“交通擁堵輔助系統(tǒng)”可能將何時用于奧迪車型上——只來了一句“就這十年吧”。他們還迫不及待地指出，盡管技術能減輕走走停停狀態(tài)中的單調(diào)乏味，同時提高安全性，但司機“決不能”完全放棄操控。高管們表示，讓大眾對當前開發(fā)的技術先睹為快，主要是為了讓大家先熟悉起來，打消陌生感和戒懼感。

????谷歌正在加州和內(nèi)華達州的道路上測試它開發(fā)的一輛無人駕駛的豐田普銳斯（Prius），以實現(xiàn)完全無人駕駛的目標。與谷歌不同，奧迪絕不茍同那種認為司機今后將毫無作為的看法。

????但奧迪其實離這個目標也就咫尺之遙。在拉斯維加斯的一個停車場車庫，奧迪還展示了一輛自動泊車的車。它能根據(jù)“司機”的指令，自己找到停車位，并駛回原處。負責奧迪研發(fā)的董事沃爾夫?qū)?杜爾海姆稱：“奧迪能提供這項技術和一些公關活動來展示其價值。”但要想讓消費者接受它，“關鍵”在于證明“它能解決客戶面臨的問題?！?/p>

????Technology that will allow cars to operate with minimal input from human drivers is being demonstrated more openly by a few automakers, notably Audi, Toyota's Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. The technology will be available in a few years, they say.

????Automakers worry, however, that consumers and regulators may balk at giving up control. Drivers increasingly use anti-lock brakes, stability control, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warnings and other high-tech gadgetry. Most don't realize it's a small step to a nearly fully automatic control system, carmakers say.

????"You put all these thing together and already the car is helping to drive itself," says Scott Keogh, president of Audi AG's U.S. subsidiary. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week Audi showed a prototype of "Traffic Jam Assist" for use in traffic traveling below 60 kilometers (37 miles) per hour.

????Optical and radar sensors identify lane markers to keep the specially equipped Audi A6 from drifting out of its lane, nudging the wheel in the direction it must go. Forward sensors slow the car down when it gets too close to a vehicle ahead, or speeds it up when the gap is large. The sensors and the chips that process information are getting smaller, cheaper and more powerful at a dramatic pace.

????Audi is the second company, and first automaker after Google (GOOG), to receive permission to test its systems on Nevada roads. Other major automakers, including General Motors Co. (GM) and Ford Motor Co. (F), are working on autonomous systems but sidestepped making any announcements or holding briefings at the show.

????Keogh and other Audi executives and engineers from Germany declined to say exactly when "Traffic Jam Assist" might be available in an Audi model -- except to say "this decade." They were quick to point out that while the technology could relieve the monotony and improve safety in stop-and-go driving, the driver "must not" relinquish control entirely. The sneak peek at the technologies is designed, executives said, to familiarize a public that might otherwise find them strange or frightening.

????Unlike Google, which it testing a driverless Toyota Prius it developed for on California and Nevada roads toward a future of driverless cars, Audi rejects the notion that drivers might one day become obsolete.

????Well, almost. Audi also demonstrated a self-parking car at a Las Vegas parking garage that found its own space and returned at the summons of its "driver." "Audi can provide the technology and some public relations to show the value," says Wolfgang Durheimer, Audi board member in charge of research and development. "The key" for consumer acceptance is to show "that it solves a problem consumers have."