考研英語外刊《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》泛讀：無人駕駛飛機(jī)-【經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人

1、【經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人】無人駕駛飛機(jī) 呼叫這里是你的地面飛行員science and technology科學(xué)技術(shù)pilotless aircraft無人駕駛飛機(jī)this is your ground pilot speaking呼叫，這里是你的地面飛行員autonomous civil aircraft could be flying before cars go driverless民用飛機(jī)會(huì)先于汽車實(shí)現(xiàn)無人駕駛wtthtn the next few weeks a twin-engined jetstream wil1 take off from warton aerodrome in lancas

2、hire, england, and head north towards scotland在接下來的兒周里，一架雙引擎e機(jī)噴流將會(huì)從英格蘭蘭開夏郡的沃頓機(jī)場起向北e往蘇格蘭。like any other fl ight, the smal 1 commuter airl iner wi 11 respond to instructions from air-traffic controllers, navigate a path and take care to avoid other aircraft與其他班機(jī)一樣，這架小型通勤客機(jī)將會(huì)根據(jù)空中交通管制員的指示，沿看-條航路e行，注懣避開其

3、他 飛機(jī)。but the pilot flying the aircraft will not be in the cockpit: he wi 11 have his feet firmly on the ground in a control room back at warton.但是駕駛這架e機(jī)的e行員卻沒在駕駛艙里：他在沃頓機(jī)場的一個(gè)控制室里駕駛?cè)鬳機(jī)，雙腳仍然穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地 踩在地面上。pi lotless aircraft are now widely used by the armed forces, but those drones fly only in restricted ai

4、rspace and confict zones無人機(jī)現(xiàn)在已廣泛應(yīng)川于軍隊(duì)之中，但這些無人機(jī)僅川于在禁e區(qū)及沖突地區(qū)。the jetstream mission is part of a project to develop the technologies and procedures that will al low large commercial aircraft to operate rout in ely and safely without pi lots in the same skies as manned civilian flights而噴流的任務(wù)是某個(gè)技術(shù)及程序開發(fā)項(xiàng)目

5、的一部分，該項(xiàng)目的目的在于能讓大塑商用e機(jī)在沒有e行員的 情況下安全的進(jìn)行常規(guī)飛行，與有人駕駛的民航班機(jī)在同一片天空中飛行。fasten your seat belts系緊您的安全帶to reassure those of a nervous disposition, the test flights do not carry passengers and pilots remain in the cockpit just in case things go wrong為了讓那些神經(jīng)質(zhì)的人安心，測試的飛機(jī)不會(huì)冇乘客，駕駛艙屮仍然冇駕駛員以防萬，in that way they are simi

6、lar to google s trials of driverless cars, which have drivers in side them to take over if necessary while on public roads這冇點(diǎn)類似于谷歌無人駕駛汽車的實(shí)驗(yàn)，在公路上行駛時(shí)，如冇必要，車中的駕駛員可以控制汽車。yet unmanned conunorcial aircraft arc likely to enter service before people can buy autonomous cars 但是無人駕駛的商用飛機(jī)很可能在人們可以買到無人駕駛汽車前便能投入使用

7、。moder n ai rcraft are al ready perfectly capable of automatically taki ng off, flying to a dest in at ion and landing 現(xiàn)代的e機(jī)已經(jīng)完全仃能力進(jìn)行自動(dòng)起飛，自動(dòng)e往目的地，自動(dòng)著陸。these tests are trying to establish whether they can do those things safely without a pilot in the cockpit and at the same time comply with the rules

8、 of the air.而耍進(jìn)行的測試是想確認(rèn)在駕駛艙沒有飛行員的情況下，e機(jī)能否在遵守飛行規(guī)則的同時(shí)，還能安全的完 成以上三件事情。progress is being made, a conference in london heard this week.筆者本周從在倫敦召開的一次會(huì)議上獲悉，事情止在取得進(jìn)展。it was orgtinised by the auto nomous systems tech no loy related airb orne evalucitio n and assessme nt, the group staging the british test fl

9、ights本次會(huì)議是由機(jī)載無人系統(tǒng)技術(shù)評審組織舉辦的，就是該組織在英國進(jìn)行了無人機(jī)測試。this 62m programme, backed by the british government, involvcs seven european aerospace companies: 該項(xiàng)目獲得了英國政府的支持，投資達(dá)六千兩百萬英鎊，共冇七家歐洲的航空工業(yè)公司參與其中：aos, bae systems, cassidian, cobham, qinetiqt rolls-royce and thales機(jī)載觀測系統(tǒng)公司，英國宇航系統(tǒng)公可，凱西典公司，科巴姆公司，奎奈蒂克公司，勞特萊斯公司及泰雷

10、 茲公司。it is potentially a huge new market這是一個(gè)潛在的巨大新興市場。america" s aviation regulators have been asked by congress to integrate unmanned aircraft inlo the air-traffic control system as early as 2015美國國會(huì)已要求該國的航空協(xié)調(diào)員要在2015年將無人駕駛飛機(jī)加入空中交通管制系統(tǒng)。some small drones are already used in commercial applicatio

11、ns, such as aerial photography, but in most countries they arc confined to flying within sight of their ground pilot, much like radio-controlled model aircraft冇些小型無人機(jī)己經(jīng)應(yīng)用于航拉等商業(yè)用途，但在大多數(shù)國家，小型無人機(jī)的飛行范圍被限制在其地面飛 行員的視野以內(nèi)，很像無線電遙控的模型飛機(jī)。bigger aircraft would be capable of flying farther and doing a lot more t

12、hings 再大一點(diǎn)的無人機(jī)能夠飛的更遠(yuǎn)一些，可以做更多的事情。pi lotless aircraft could carry out many jobs at a lower cost than manned aircraft and hel icopters tasks such as traffic monitoring, border patrols, police surveillancc and checking power lines 無人駕駛e機(jī)可以完成很多工作，并h比仃人駕駛的e機(jī)和直升機(jī)成木更低，比如說交通監(jiān)測，邊境巡邏, 警務(wù)監(jiān)視及電纜檢査等任務(wù)。they could a

13、lso operate in conditions that are dangerous for pilots, including monitoring forest fires or nuclear-power accidents 無人機(jī)還可以在對飛行員冇危險(xiǎn)的環(huán)境下工作，包括監(jiān)視森林火災(zāi)或核電事故。and they could fly extended missions for search and rescue, environmental monitoring or even provide temporary airborne wi-fi and mobile-phone serv

14、ices.而h無人機(jī)還可以執(zhí)行更多的任務(wù)，如搜索救援，環(huán)境監(jiān)測，甚至提供臨時(shí)的機(jī)載無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)和移動(dòng)電話服 務(wù)。some analysts think the global civil ian market for unmanned aircraft and services could be worth more than $50 bi 11 ion by 2020.有分析師認(rèn)為，到2020年，無人駕駛e機(jī)及其服務(wù)的全球民用市場的價(jià)值可超過500億美元。whatever happens, pilots will still have a role in aviation, although no

15、t necessarily in the cockpi 匕無論發(fā)生什么，飛行員仍會(huì)在航空業(yè)占有i席z地，雖然不一定是在駕駛艙里。as far as the eye can see there will always be a pilot in comma nd of an aircraft, says lambert dopping-hepenstal, the director of astraea在可以預(yù)見的未來，飛機(jī)一吉都會(huì)由飛行員掌控，astraea的主任lambert dopping-hepenstal說，but that pilot may be on the ground and

16、 he may bo looking after more than one unmanned aircraft at the same time但飛行員或許會(huì)留在地面上，冇可能同時(shí)照看好幾架無人機(jī)。commercial flights carrying freight and express parcels might one day also lose their on-board pilots運(yùn)送貨物和快遞包裹的商用e機(jī)某天也可能會(huì)失去其隨機(jī)的e行員。but would even the most penny-pinching cut-price airlir)e be able to

17、sei 1 tickets to passengers on flights that have an empty cockpit?但就算廉價(jià)航空公司再怎么粘打細(xì)算，它能把沒有e行員的e機(jī)的機(jī)票賣出去嗎？more realistically, those flights might have just one pilot in the future. 更現(xiàn)實(shí)點(diǎn)說，未來的商用飛機(jī)可能只冇一名飛行員。technology has already relieved the flight deck of a number of jobs 飛行班組的許多職位已經(jīng)被技術(shù)取代了。many early lar

18、ge aircraft had a crew of five: two pilots, a flight engineer, a navigator and a radio opcrator許多早期的大型飛機(jī)上有五名機(jī)組成員：兩名飛行員，一名飛行機(jī)師，一名領(lǐng)航員及一名無線電話務(wù)員。first the radio operator went, then the navigator, and by the time the jet era was wel 1 under way in the 1970s flight engineers began to disappear too.最先是無線電話

19、務(wù)員消失了，然后是領(lǐng)航員，等到了 20世紀(jì)70年代，進(jìn)入噴氣機(jī)時(shí)代后，e行機(jī)師也消 失了。next it could be the co-pilot, replaced by the autonomous flight systems now being developed 下一個(gè)消失的會(huì)是副駕駛，被現(xiàn)在e在開發(fā)中的自主飛行系統(tǒng)取代。the flight over scotiand will test how well air-traffic controllers can conununicate with the ground pilot through the aircraft在那架飛往

20、蘇格蘭的飛機(jī)上將會(huì)測試空屮交通管制員通過飛機(jī)與其地面飛行員通話的質(zhì)量。the project is also exploring ways to make the radio and satellite links secure and reliable. 該項(xiàng)目還在探尋使無線電及衛(wèi)星連接安全可靠的方法。but eng in eers still have to prepare for the eventual ity that the 1 ink breaks; the aircraft the n has to have eno ugh aut onomy to operate safel

21、y until comm un icati ons are restored or i t can land using its own guidance systems但是工程師仍必須為連接中斷的可能性做好準(zhǔn)備；然后飛機(jī)必須要仃足夠的自主權(quán)來保證飛行安全，直至 通訊恢復(fù)正常，或者能夠使用自己的導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)著陸。unmanned aircraft will, therefore, need a sense and avoid capability.因此無人駕駛e機(jī)需耍感應(yīng)并規(guī)避的能力。this can be provided by transponders that bleep the aircr

22、afts presence to other aeroplanes and air-traffic controllers界頻雷達(dá)收發(fā)機(jī)便貝備這一功能，它會(huì)發(fā)出嘩嘩聲來提示其它飛機(jī)及空中交通管制員本飛機(jī)的存在。but not all manned aircraft have such kit但并菲所冇的冇人駕駛飛機(jī)都冇該功能。some 1ight aircraft and gliders operating at low altitudes in clear weather are not required to have even radios, let alone transponders

23、 or radar一些在晴朗天氣下進(jìn)行低空e行的輕型e機(jī)和滑翔機(jī)共至不需要無線電，更別提界頻宙達(dá)收發(fā)機(jī)或宙達(dá)了。which is why pilots keep their eyes peeled when such traffic might be about.這也是為什么在可能發(fā)生這種悄況時(shí)，e行員要時(shí)刻保持警惕。astraea' s jetstream, therefore, also uses video cameras to allow the ground pilot to look around outside the cockpit因此astraea的捷流號(hào)還使用了攝像

24、頭以便使地面飛行員可以杳看駕駛艙外的情況。image-recognition software can warn of other aircraft影像識(shí)別軟件可以在出現(xiàn)其它飛機(jī)時(shí)發(fā)出警告，this is being tested against different backgrounds, such as a cluttered landscape or a hazy sky.目前正在不同的環(huán)境下對該功能進(jìn)行測試，如地形復(fù)雜或天空霧蒙蒙的環(huán)境。tn other trials, different aircraft are being flown in the vicinity of the

25、jetstream, and some of them will be flown deliberately towards it on a potential col 1isi on course, to see if these intruding aircraft can be recognised by the automated systems and the appropriate avoiding action taken.在其它的試驗(yàn)中，不同的飛機(jī)飛至捷流附近，其中幾架故意以可能與z相撞的航線飛向捷流，以測試自動(dòng) 系統(tǒng)能否識(shí)別這些入侵的飛機(jī)并采取適當(dāng)?shù)囊?guī)避措誕。these fl

26、ights arc taking place in an area cleared of other aircraft over the irish sea 以上飛行測試是在愛爾蘭海上空一片沒仃其它飛機(jī)經(jīng)過的空域進(jìn)行的。the results to date suggest you can do sense-and-avoid as wel 1 as a human, says mr dopp i n g-llepenstal 迄今為止的測試結(jié)果表明系統(tǒng)的感應(yīng)并規(guī)避的能力能做到和人一樣，dopping-hcpcnsta說。a pilotless plane must also be able

27、to act autonomously in an emergency. 在發(fā)生緊急狀況時(shí)，無人機(jī)必須能夠自行采取行動(dòng)。in the event of an engine failure, for instance, it could use its navigational map to locate a suitable area to put down比如，如果一臺(tái)引擎發(fā)生故障，無人機(jī)需要使用其航行圖來找到介適地點(diǎn)降落。but what if this was an open field that happened to be in use for, say, a fair?但如果其選擇

28、的空地恰好被占用了，比如說成了集市，怎么辦？a forward-looking video camera might show a ground pilot that此時(shí)前視攝像頭會(huì)將此影像傳給地面飛行員。but if communications were lost the aircraft would rely on image-recognition software and an infra-red ccimera to detect the heat given off by people end machines and so decide to try to land elsew

29、here但如果通訊屮斷，飛機(jī)將依靠影像識(shí)別軟件及紅外攝像頭來感知人或機(jī)器發(fā)出的熱島 以此來決定去其它地點(diǎn)降落。the astraea researchers are carrying out a lot of their work using flight simulators and ai r-traffic-control dataastraea的研究人員的許多工作都是通過飛行模擬裝置及空中交通管制數(shù)據(jù)來完成的。but eventually they will still heive to prove that their systems can work in the real world even during emergency iandings但最終他們還是要證明他們的系統(tǒng)要能應(yīng)用在現(xiàn)實(shí)的世界里，其至在緊急迫降時(shí)也能使用。in order to satisfy risk-averse avialion r