上班堵車(chē)很傷神？德國(guó)工程師開(kāi)發(fā)出了一輛黑科技.

　　CNN) As cities continue to grow at a dizzying rate, commuters are constantly battling ever-increasing congestion on the roads and a lack of parking, just to get to work.

　　CNN報(bào)道——隨著城市正以驚人的速度增長(zhǎng)，通勤黨們也越來(lái)越苦于上班路上的堵車(chē)以及停車(chē)位不足。

　　But now a team of German engineers have come up with an ingenious solution -- a "flexible" electric vehicle capable of shrinking, driving sideways (think like a crab) and turning on a dime.

　　但是現(xiàn)在一個(gè)德國(guó)工程師團(tuán)隊(duì)想出了巧妙的解決辦法——一種“靈活的”電子車(chē)。它能夠伸縮，能夠橫著開(kāi)(就像螃蟹那樣)，還能夠在極小的空間中轉(zhuǎn)彎。

　　The EO Smart Connecting Car 2 is an innovative design from DFKI Robotics Innovation Center, based in Bremen, Germany, where a team of software developers and designers, as well as electronics and construction engineers, have been rining the smart micro car project for the last three years.

　　這款EO Smart Connecting 2電動(dòng)車(chē)來(lái)自德國(guó)不來(lái)梅機(jī)器人技術(shù)創(chuàng)新中心，開(kāi)發(fā)團(tuán)隊(duì)由軟件開(kāi)發(fā)者、設(shè)計(jì)師、電子和結(jié)構(gòu)工程師組成，他們最近三年都在改進(jìn)這款智能微型車(chē)。

　　First announced in 2012, the team have moved onto their second iteration of the vehicle. It drives like a traditional car but because each wheel is powered by its own motor, it also has the capability of driving sideways, allowing it to slide into tight spaces in urban areas where parking is limited, explains Timo Birnschein, project manager for the vehicle.

　　這款車(chē)首次發(fā)布于2012年，之后團(tuán)隊(duì)發(fā)布了它的最新版本。項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理提莫·比爾施海因解釋說(shuō)，平時(shí)它像傳統(tǒng)的車(chē)那樣行駛，但是因?yàn)樗膫€(gè)輪子是由自有馬達(dá)驅(qū)動(dòng)的，所以它具有橫向行駛的功能，這樣就能在城市停車(chē)空間有限的情況下滑進(jìn)停車(chē)位。

　　He adds: "The whole process -- the transition between normal driving and driving sideways -- takes about four seconds."

　　他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“整個(gè)過(guò)程——從普通行駛模式到橫向行駛模式——只需要四秒鐘?！?/p>

　　The prototype has a top speed of 65 km/h (or 40mph) and can travel 50 to 70 kilometers (30 to 44 miles) on a single four-hour full charge of the battery. But it’s the two-seater’s ability to shrink to around 1.5 meters in length that has the team excited about its uses in future cities, says Birnschien.

　　這款車(chē)最高時(shí)速為65千米，單塊電池在充滿(mǎn)電的情況下可以堅(jiān)持四個(gè)小時(shí)，行駛50-70公里。比爾施海因說(shuō)，這款兩座車(chē)可以縮小到1.5米左右，團(tuán)隊(duì)對(duì)其在未來(lái)城市的用途很是津津樂(lè)道。

　　"It is able to reduce its own size by about 80cm, which makes it almost as small as a bike in length. And with this kind of feature you can go into very tiny parking spaces," he says. "You are still able to turn on the spot, you are still able to drive sideways and you are still able to connect to charging stations, for example."

　　“它能夠?qū)⒆陨淼拇笮】s小80厘米，這樣就跟一架自行車(chē)一樣長(zhǎng)了。這個(gè)功能可以讓你開(kāi)進(jìn)很小的停車(chē)位里?！彼f(shuō)，“比如，你還可以當(dāng)場(chǎng)轉(zhuǎn)彎、橫向行駛以及將車(chē)連接到充電站。”

　　Looking like part "Transformer" and part DeLorean out of "Back to the Future," the car reduces its size by partly folding itself. It shifts the rear axle to the front and slides on a set of rails which raises the interior upwards, while still remaining comfortable for the passenger.

　　這款車(chē)有點(diǎn)像“變形金剛”，還有點(diǎn)像“德羅寧跑車(chē)”。它減少大小的方式是將自身的一部分折疊起來(lái)——它將后軸沿著一套軌道向前推，將車(chē)的內(nèi)部抬高，不會(huì)給乘客造成不適感。

　　Touted as a "micro car for a megacity," the team are working hard to make their vehicle roadworthy and envision it as a communal public resource, similar to existing urban car-sharing schemes. The idea is that when you need a car, you could head to your nearest docking station and select the vehicle that’s charged enough to drive the distance you need. It would then detach itself and you would be on your way.

　　這款車(chē)一直作為“超大城市里的超小車(chē)”宣傳，團(tuán)隊(duì)的努力工作使其更加適宜在道路上使用，并將其展望成一種公共資源，和現(xiàn)在城市里的車(chē)輛共享計(jì)劃類(lèi)似。這個(gè)計(jì)劃就是如果你想用車(chē)，就去最近的泊車(chē)站選一輛充電量足夠行駛你需要里程的車(chē)。屆時(shí)這輛車(chē)將自動(dòng)脫離泊車(chē)站，你就可以上路了。

　　"[It] is very comparable feature-wise to the first prototype," says Birnschein. "The second version is much more reliable and almost road-legal. It’s not really, but it’s almost there and we are trying to bring this car to the road -- but it’s a big hassle to be honest because we have so many new technologies in the car that the technical advisory guys are skeptical."

　　“這比第一代車(chē)的特性智能得多?！北葼柺┖Ｒ蛘f(shuō)，“第二代車(chē)更加安全可靠，也幾乎符合道路法。我們還沒(méi)爭(zhēng)取到這款車(chē)的路權(quán)——不過(guò)也快了。但是說(shuō)實(shí)話，這里有一個(gè)巨大的障礙——我們?cè)谶@款車(chē)?yán)飸?yīng)用了太多新技術(shù)，那些技術(shù)顧問(wèn)表示很懷疑?！?/p>

　　He adds that the team have invited several manufacturers to test drive the vehicle, with positive response, but the enthusiasm ends there.

　　他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，團(tuán)隊(duì)已經(jīng)邀請(qǐng)了幾家制造商試駕這款車(chē)，回應(yīng)是很熱情，但是熱情僅止于此了。

　　"The problem is for most car manufacturers, they are not really interested if they didn’t invent it themselves. They may buy from Bosch or Siemens or whatever, technology parts like ESP and other things, but not complete systems."

　　“問(wèn)題是，對(duì)大多數(shù)制造商來(lái)說(shuō)，如果不是他們自己開(kāi)發(fā)的車(chē)，他們就不是真正的感興趣。他們可能會(huì)向博世或者西門(mén)子采購(gòu)電子穩(wěn)定裝置之類(lèi)的技術(shù)零件，但是不會(huì)采購(gòu)整個(gè)系統(tǒng)。”

　　But his team remains undeterred as they continue working on autonomous features like auto pilot and self-parking. Meanwhile Birnschein likens the situation to the rise in smartphones over the last decade -- from non-existence to oversaturation.

　　但是他的團(tuán)隊(duì)依然不屈不撓，繼續(xù)研究自動(dòng)導(dǎo)航、自動(dòng)停車(chē)等特性。同時(shí)比爾施海因還將現(xiàn)狀比作近十年內(nèi)智能手機(jī)的崛起——從不存在到無(wú)處不在。

　　"It will be the same with computer power and autonomy," he says. "In the next 10 years we will most likely see autonomous cars from big car manufacturers -- Mercedes S class will have autonomous functions within three or four years. Some of other manufacturers like GM announced they will have semi-autonomous cars by 2020. And many other car manufacturers are already working on this type of technology.

　　“電腦技術(shù)和自動(dòng)化技術(shù)也是一樣?！彼f(shuō)，“在未來(lái)的十年里，我們很有可能看到大汽車(chē)制造商的自動(dòng)汽車(chē)——梅賽德斯奔馳S系列將在三四年內(nèi)擁有自動(dòng)化功能。像通用電氣這樣的制造商也宣布他們將在2020年之前開(kāi)發(fā)出半自動(dòng)汽車(chē)。還有很多汽車(chē)制造商已經(jīng)在開(kāi)發(fā)這類(lèi)技術(shù)了。

　　"They are driving all the time on the autobahn with autonomous vehicles. I believe it will be coming -- it will be there within the next decade."

　　“將來(lái)高速公路上將會(huì)全都是自動(dòng)汽車(chē)。我相信那一天一定會(huì)到來(lái)的——就在這十年里?！?/p>