给沃尔玛运货的自动驾驶公司，获2500万美元A轮融资
自动驾驶初创公司Gatik今天宣布在由Wittington Ventures 和 Innovation Endeavors领投的A轮融资中筹集了2500万美元。该公司并未在交易中透露其估值。
Gatik还宣布与加拿大最大的连锁超市运营商罗布劳公司（Loblaw Companies）达成一项新的协议，计划建立一支自动驾驶货车车队。此前，货车已在多伦多地区进行了为期10个月的试点运行。Gatik已经与美国零售巨头沃尔玛达成了类似协议。
Gatik联合创始人兼CEO高塔姆·纳兰表示，公司旨在解决长途货车运输与最后一英里配送机器人之间的 “中间里程”自动送货问题。Gatik车队将沿固定线路行驶，纳兰认为这是对现有自动驾驶技术切实可行的应用。
“在过去几年里，人人都知道这个问题很难解决，”在卡内基梅隆大学研究机器人技术的纳兰说。“所以故事已经发生了变化。”研发自动驾驶车辆面临的挑战远超预期，迫使包括特斯拉在内的研发者一再推迟推出这项技术。
纳兰说，让自动驾驶车队沿固定线路行驶，“我们可以消除很多未知因素、很多不确定性。我们可以挑选十字路口。我们可以避开学校和消防站。”
Those unknowns, often referred to as “edge cases,” present the greatest challenge to fully self-driving vehicles, which must be able to correctly interpret and react to any conceivable traffic situation. Edge cases might include construction work, confusing lane markings, or a sudden snowstorm disrupting visibility. Minimizing such edge cases is one reason autonomy leader Waymo chose to pilot its robotaxi service in Chandler, Arizona—a place with wide, well-maintained roads and nearly no inclement weather. 这些未知因素通常被称为“边缘情况”，给全自动驾驶车辆带来了最大的挑战，而这些车辆必须能够正确识别可能出现的任何交通状况并做出准确响应。边缘情况可能包括建筑工程、混乱的车道标线或突然遭遇的影响能见度的暴风雪。最大限度地减少此类边缘情况是自动驾驶行业领先者Waymo选择在亚利桑那州钱德勒进行自动驾驶出租车服务试点运行的原因之一，因为该地区道路宽阔，维护良好，几乎没有恶劣天气。
Gatik于2019年7月开始为沃尔玛运营自动驾驶面包车，负责在大型中央仓库与本地商店之间运送客户在网上订购的货物。目前，这些面包车配备安全驾驶员，他们负责监控自动驾驶系统的运行情况并在必要时进行操控。
Gatik将为罗布劳商店提供类似的服务。虽然沃尔玛车队是配备自动驾驶系统的福特面包车，但罗布劳车队将采用大型冷藏厢式货车。这些货车将于2021年初开始在五条线路上行驶。罗布劳车队还将配备安全驾驶员，Gatik称其为“副驾驶”。
与Instacart等公司一样，新冠疫情给Gatik的业务也注入了活力。
“一切都源于居家隔离消费者的网购订单激增”，纳兰说。“我要在接下来的一两个小时内以最便宜的价格买到我需要的东西。零售商也在努力满足这一需求。”（财富中文网）
译者：郝秀
审校：汪皓
自动驾驶初创公司Gatik今天宣布在由Wittington Ventures 和 Innovation Endeavors领投的A轮融资中筹集了2500万美元。该公司并未在交易中透露其估值。
Gatik还宣布与加拿大最大的连锁超市运营商罗布劳公司（Loblaw Companies）达成一项新的协议，计划建立一支自动驾驶货车车队。此前，货车已在多伦多地区进行了为期10个月的试点运行。Gatik已经与美国零售巨头沃尔玛达成了类似协议。
Gatik联合创始人兼CEO高塔姆·纳兰表示，公司旨在解决长途货车运输与最后一英里配送机器人之间的 “中间里程”自动送货问题。Gatik车队将沿固定线路行驶，纳兰认为这是对现有自动驾驶技术切实可行的应用。
“在过去几年里，人人都知道这个问题很难解决，”在卡内基梅隆大学研究机器人技术的纳兰说。“所以故事已经发生了变化。”研发自动驾驶车辆面临的挑战远超预期，迫使包括特斯拉在内的研发者一再推迟推出这项技术。
纳兰说，让自动驾驶车队沿固定线路行驶，“我们可以消除很多未知因素、很多不确定性。我们可以挑选十字路口。我们可以避开学校和消防站。”
Those unknowns, often referred to as “edge cases,” present the greatest challenge to fully self-driving vehicles, which must be able to correctly interpret and react to any conceivable traffic situation. Edge cases might include construction work, confusing lane markings, or a sudden snowstorm disrupting visibility. Minimizing such edge cases is one reason autonomy leader Waymo chose to pilot its robotaxi service in Chandler, Arizona—a place with wide, well-maintained roads and nearly no inclement weather. 这些未知因素通常被称为“边缘情况”，给全自动驾驶车辆带来了最大的挑战，而这些车辆必须能够正确识别可能出现的任何交通状况并做出准确响应。边缘情况可能包括建筑工程、混乱的车道标线或突然遭遇的影响能见度的暴风雪。最大限度地减少此类边缘情况是自动驾驶行业领先者Waymo选择在亚利桑那州钱德勒进行自动驾驶出租车服务试点运行的原因之一，因为该地区道路宽阔，维护良好，几乎没有恶劣天气。
Gatik于2019年7月开始为沃尔玛运营自动驾驶面包车，负责在大型中央仓库与本地商店之间运送客户在网上订购的货物。目前，这些面包车配备安全驾驶员，他们负责监控自动驾驶系统的运行情况并在必要时进行操控。
Gatik将为罗布劳商店提供类似的服务。虽然沃尔玛车队是配备自动驾驶系统的福特面包车，但罗布劳车队将采用大型冷藏厢式货车。这些货车将于2021年初开始在五条线路上行驶。罗布劳车队还将配备安全驾驶员，Gatik称其为“副驾驶”。
与Instacart等公司一样，新冠疫情给Gatik的业务也注入了活力。
“一切都源于居家隔离消费者的网购订单激增”，纳兰说。“我要在接下来的一两个小时内以最便宜的价格买到我需要的东西。零售商也在努力满足这一需求。”（财富中文网）
译者：郝秀
审校：汪皓
Autonomous vehicle startup Gatik announced today that it has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Wittington Ventures and Innovation Endeavors. The company did not disclose its valuation in the deal.
Gatik also announced a new agreement with Loblaw Companies, Canada’s largest supermarket operator, to create a fleet of self-driving delivery vehicles. The announcement follows a ten-month pilot in Toronto. Gatik already has a similar agreement with U.S. giant Walmart.
Gatik cofounder and CEO Gautam Narang describes his company’s goal as addressing the “middle mile” of autonomous transport, between long-haul trucking and last-mile delivery robots. Gatik’s fleets will also be limited to fixed routes, which Narang describes as a realistic approach to the current state of self-driving technology.
“Over the last few years everyone realized, okay, this is a very difficult problem to solve,” says Narang, who has researched robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. “So the narrative has changed.” The greater-than-expected challenge of creating autonomous vehicles has forced developers including Tesla to repeatedly delay the rollout of the technology.
By limiting its driverless fleets to fixed routes, Narang says, “we can get rid of a lot of unknowns, a lot of uncertainties. We get to pick intersections. We can avoid schools and fire stations.”
Gatik began operating autonomous vans for Walmart in July 2019, shuttling customers’ online grocery orders between a large central warehouse and local stores. For now, those vans use human safety drivers, who are responsible for monitoring the autonomy system's behavior and taking control when necessary.
Gatik will provide similar services for Loblaw stores. While Walmart’s vehicles are Ford vans retrofitted with autonomous driving tech, the Loblaw fleet will consist of larger, refrigerated box trucks. Those trucks will begin operating over five routes in early 2021. The Loblaw vehicles will also have human safety drivers, who Gatik describes as “co-pilots.”
As with companies like Instacart, Gatik’s business has been juiced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everything is centered around the spike in online grocery orders” from shoppers isolating at home, Narang says. “I want my groceries in the next hour or two, and at the cheapest price. And retailers are struggling to fulfill that demand.”
