经济学人下载:启动无人机(2)

Since wheeled drones are in effect selfdriving cars, albeit passenger-less ones, they need authorities’ approval to operate. This has not always been forthcoming. Now the “corona shock” is softening up regulators, says Ryu Kentaro of ZMP, a maker of rolling drones in Tokyo. ZMP plans to begin a trial in Japan’s capital this summer, faster than expected. In September another pilot project will see TwinswHeel’s “droids” shuttle mail for La Poste, France’s postal service in Montpelier (postal workers will handle the “last mile” to mailboxes). Officials look kindly on covid-proof contactless delivery, says Qi Kong, in charge of drones at JD Logistics, an arm of jd.com, a Chinese e-commerce giant. Its vehicles’ cargo bays open with a scan of a recipient’s face or smartphone screen. On June 26th Amazon said it would buy Zoox, an autonomous-car startup, for $1.2bn.
因为轮式无人机实际上很像自动驾驶汽车，不过乘客相对较少，所以需要官方批准才能操作。这并不是一直都能做到的。日本旋转无人机制造商ZMP的Ryu Kentaro表示,现在由于“冠状病毒冲击”,监管机构放松了管制。ZMP计划今年夏天在日本首都试飞无人机，这比预期的要快。九月，TwinswHeel将开展另一项试点项目，即利用无人机为法国Montpelier的邮政服务机构配送邮件（邮政工作人员的“最后一公里”信箱配送）。京东物流是中国电子商务巨头京东的分支机构，其无人机主管Qi Kong表示，官方很看好防疫无接触配送，通过扫描收件人的面部或智能手机屏幕，其车辆货舱就会打开。6月26日，亚马逊宣布将收购Zoox，一家价值12亿美元的自动驾驶创业公司。

Drone airmail remains fledgling. Matternet, an American firm, operates a limited network in Switzerland. Wing, Google’s sister company, serves parts of America, Australia and Finland. Zipline, which pioneered medical deliveries by winged drones in Ghana and Rwanda, opened a small droneport in North Carolina in May. But by one reckoning, less than a third of last year’s automated deliveries worldwide were by air. Amazon’s Prime Air, scheduled to launch in late 2019, remains grounded.
无人机空邮仍处于起步阶段。美国公司Matternet在瑞士运营一个有限网络。谷歌的姐妹公司Wing同时为美国、澳大利亚以及芬兰的部分地区提供服务。Zipline公司开创了利用有翼无人机在加纳和卢旺达配送医疗物资的先河，该公司五月份在北卡罗来纳州开辟了小型无人机机场。但据估计，去年全世界的自动配送业务中，空运占比不到三分之一。亚马逊的Prime Air计划于2019年底推出，目前仍处于停滞状态。

At least more regulators are getting on board. After much wavering, Ontario’s have at last allowed a local firm, Drone Delivery Canada, to supply a remote indigenous group called Beausoleil, fearful of lorry drivers bringing in the coronavirus. Flights are to begin in July.
至少有更多的监管机构加入进来。安大略省在经历了多次犹豫不决之后，终于允许一家当地公司，Drone Delivery Canada，为名为Beausoleil的偏远土著群体提供物资，因为他们担心卡车司机带来冠状病毒，空运预计将在七月份开始。