ABSTRACT

Autonomous vehicles (AV) have become a symbol of futuristic and intelligent transport innovation. This new driving technology has received heightened attention from academic, public, and private sectors. Nonetheless, a big challenge limiting a clear understanding of AV research is its scale. A large volume of literature is produced—covering various fields. This paper aims to map out the research on AV for a better understanding of the trends, patterns, and interconnections, and it critically reflects on their implications for research. A scientometric analysis technique is applied to analyze 4,645 papers published between 1998 and 2017. The findings disclose that (a) 87.7 percent of the AV studies was conducted by educational institutes; (b) Europe is the most productive continent in AV research with a 35.9 percent share of publications; (c) North America is the most influential continent in AV research, receiving 41.1 percent of the citations; (d) Over 50 percent of the studies were conducted during the last three years of the analysis period; (e) Urban and social contexts of AV research are still at their early stage; and (f) Relatively limited collaboration and knowledge sharing between academia and industry exist.

摘要

自动驾驶汽车 (AV) 已成为未来智能交通创新的象征。这种新的驾驶技术受到了学术界、公共部门和私营部门的高度关注。尽管如此，限制对 AV 研究的清晰理解的一大挑战是其规模。产生了大量的文献——涵盖各个领域。本文旨在描绘 AV 的研究，以便更好地了解趋势、模式和相互关联，并批判性地反映了它们对研究的影响。应用科学计量分析技术分析了 1998 年至 2017 年间发表的 4,645 篇论文。调查结果显示 (a) 87.7% 的 AV 研究是由教育机构进行的；(b) 欧洲是 AV 研究最多产的大陆，发表论文的份额为 35.9%；(c) 北美是 AV 研究中最具影响力的大陆，获得了 41.1% 的引用；(d) 50% 以上的研究是在分析期的最后三年进行的；(e) 自动驾驶研究的城市和社会背景仍处于早期阶段；(f) 学术界和工业界之间的合作和知识共享相对有限。