软银集团已向位于犹他州的自动驾驶技术公司Autonomous Solutions, Inc.（ASI）注资2.25亿美元。这家公司专门研发可自主行驶的工程车辆。双方还共同成立了一家合资企业，致力于开发用于道路、铁路及机场建设领域的自动驾驶机械设备。
SoftBank Group has invested $225 million into Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI), a Utah company that makes work vehicles drive themselves. The two have also set up a joint venture to build self-driving machines for big road, rail and airport jobs.
软银为该合资企业提供资金支持，用于各类建筑工程，尤其是土木工程及施工现场的物料运输。不过，具体的出资规模、双方持股比例以及合资企业的名称均未对外公布。
SoftBank is funding the joint venture to cover several kinds of building work, mainly civil construction and moving materials on site. The size of that funding, who owns what and the name of the venture were not disclosed.
这2.25亿美元直接拨给ASI公司，后者将利用这笔资金进一步拓展建筑行业的市场业务。
The $225 million goes to ASI itself, and the company will use the money to sell more widely across the building trade.
ASI的核心产品为Mobius软件，该软件可控制多台自动驾驶工程车辆的协同作业。据公司介绍，该软件兼容各大制造商生产的各类设备，因此建筑企业可轻松实现现有设备的自动化升级。
ASI’s main product is Mobius, software that runs fleets of self-driving work vehicles. The company says it works with machines from any major maker, so a builder can automate the mix of equipment it already owns.
ASI首席执行官梅尔·托里表示：“通过合作，我们能够提供不受设备品牌限制的自动化重型工程解决方案，助力客户灵活调配各类自卸卡车、推土机、装载机及压路机等设备。”
“Together, we offer automated OEM-agnostic heavy equipment solutions that let customers deploy mixed fleets of haul trucks, dozers, loaders, compactors, and more,” said Mel Torrie, ASI’s chief executive.
托里还指出，双方计划重点服务道路、机场、铁路及垃圾处理设施的建设企业，相关设备可胜任从土方挖掘、物料搬运到高层建筑施工等各类作业。
Torrie said the partners want to work with firms that build roads, airports and railways, as well as waste sites. He said the machines can handle jobs from digging and moving earth to building upwards.
ASI由一批工程师于2000年创立，他们将犹他州立大学的研究成果成功转化为商业产品。公司总部设在犹他州门登市，当地拥有面积超80公顷的测试场地，此外在盐湖城、达拉斯-沃思堡及科罗拉多州朗蒙特也设有办公点。
ASI was founded in 2000 by engineers who turned research from Utah State University into a business. It is based in Mendon, Utah, where it has a test site of more than 80 hectares, and also has offices in Salt Lake City, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Longmont, Colorado.
据ASI介绍，其技术目前已广泛应用于农业、建筑工地、物流运输及园林工程等领域。
Its technology is used on farms and building sites, and in logistics and landscaping, according to the company.
值得一提的是，软银此前也曾投资同类自动驾驶设备企业：今年8月，软银牵头为瑞士初创企业Gravis Robotics完成了2亿美元的融资，这家公司专门为挖掘机配备自动驾驶系统。
Moreover, SoftBank has invested in this kind of machine before; in August, it led a $200 million round for Gravis Robotics, a Swiss startup that fits excavators with self-driving software.