无人驾驶的空中出租车
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2021-02-23 03:22 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
你有足够的勇气踏上 “空中出租车”吗?那么,如果这辆飞车连驾驶员都没有呢?事实上,建造出世界首辆无人驾驶的空中出租车正是一些公司期望达成的目标。
 
You know the feeling. You're stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It's going to be hours before you get home. As we know all too well, congestion1 is one of the downsides of modern city living. Don't you wish you could just take to the skies and soar2 above it all in a helicopter? 
 
Well, wish no more. Right now, the race is on to release the first commercially viable3 sky taxi. No longer will personal air travel be the preserve of the super wealthy, say optimistic tech entrepreneurs4. There's just one catch: how do you feel about having no pilot? 
 
For brave passengers, the city of Dubai plans to roll out rides on their pilotless drone taxi project by the end of this year. You can buckle5 up and share the ride with one other passenger in their 18-rotor craft, developed by German start-up Volocopter, with a top speed of 100km/h and a flight time of around 30 minutes. 
 
If you have more friends, French aviation6 company Airbus are working on a drone which can carry four to six customers. Or if you prefer your own company, Chinese firm Ehang are pioneering a single-seater drone, which stays airborne for 23 minutes. 
 
Ride-hailing company Uber also want a piece of the action. They say drones like this are the "future of on-demand urban air transportation". They recently poached NASA chief technologist Mark Moore to help them develop a drone taxi. And he claims it won't cost the earth. Moore told the BBC that with three or four passengers sharing, it would be "very similar to what an UberX [car] costs today".
 
So far so good. But naturally, a number of questions remain. On the technical side, there's the problem of batteries. A 23-minute flight could get you across town, but how and where does the battery recharge?
 
And regulations are a challenge too. US authorities require aircraft to carry at least 20 minutes of spare fuel. If you only have 23 or even 30 in total, that leaves very little leeway. Control of access to flight paths will also need to be worked out.
 
Even if these issues are tackled7 successfully, there's still the biggie: safety. Will passengers really be willing to put their lives in the hands of a flying robot? Winning the trust of the regulators and the public may take time. But when they do, well, the sky's the limit.


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1 congestion pYmy3     
n.阻塞,消化不良
参考例句:
  • The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
  • Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。
2 soar kwzwx     
vi.猛增,高飞,升腾,高涨,屹立
参考例句:
  • The eagle can soar without flapping their wings.老鹰无需振翼就能翱翔。
  • Borrowing is set to soar to an astonishing £60 billion.借款很可能猛增至惊人的600亿英镑。
3 viable mi2wZ     
adj.可行的,切实可行的,能活下去的
参考例句:
  • The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
  • The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。
4 entrepreneurs 5afc430276c5c70045b0424c9352a3bf     
企业家( entrepreneur的名词复数 ); 主办人
参考例句:
  • He is one of the entrepreneurs of the concert. 他是这场音乐会的主办人之一。
  • Entrepreneurs are free to develop their businesses. 企业家们可以任意发展自己的企业。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
5 buckle zsRzg     
n.扣子,带扣;v.把...扣住,由于压力而弯曲
参考例句:
  • The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
  • She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。
6 aviation aviation     
n.航空,航空学,飞机制造业
参考例句:
  • Ten years ago,they began to develop the aviation. 十年前,他们开始发展航空工业。
  • Pilots of large aircraft are masters of aviation.大型飞行器的驾驶员是航空学方面的专家。
7 tackled 4b6ff8fbb7a32c10c6138dc501f126ab     
解决( tackle的过去式和过去分词 ); 应付; 与某人交涉; 向某人提起(问题或困难情况)
参考例句:
  • The robber tried to run away but a man tackled him. 强盗企图逃跑,但一个人把他抓住了。
  • The policeman tackled the thief. 警察捕捉小偷。
TAG标签: city traffic taxi
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