2020年经济学人 启动无人机(1)（在线收听）

Business

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Logistics (2)

物流栏目（第二部分）

Droning on

启动无人机

Automated deliveries get a fillip

自动配送注入强心剂

Unmanned vehicles, airborne or earthbound, have been pressed into anti-pandemic service the world over. In Mexican slums they spray disinfectant from the sky. “Shout drones” with loudspeakers scold socially undistanced Americans, Chinese and Europeans. Most consequential, the popularity of contactless provision of food and medical supplies is boosting the drone-delivery business.

无论是无人机还是无人车，都已经投入到世界各地的抗疫服务中。在墨西哥贫民窟，无人机从空中喷洒消毒剂。“广播无人机”利用扬声器谴责未保持社交距离的美国人、中国人和欧洲人。最重要的是，无接触食品和医疗用品供应的普及，推进了无人机配送业务的发展。

Before covid-19 MarketsandMarkets, a research firm, reckoned this would generate revenues of $800m this year. Now it says $1bn is closer to the mark, and has revised its forecast for 2022 from $1.6bn to $2.2bn. Many other analysts agree.

在新冠肺炎疫情爆发之前，咨询公司MarketsandMarkets估计，无人机业务在今年可以产生8亿美元的收入。现在，这家公司表示，收入目标会接近10亿，并将对于2022年的预测收入从16亿调整至22亿美元。很多其他分析师也同意这一点。

Drone-delivery firms typically operate vehicles on behalf of corporate clients. Some bigger drones, like those made by TwinswHeel of France, which can carry up to 300kg, can cost $20,000 or more apiece, as much as a van. Kiwibot of California makes $2,500 cart-like drones.

无人机配送公司通常代表公司客户操作无人机。一些大型无人机，如法国TwinswHeel公司生产的无人机，可以携带重达300公斤的物品，每架无人机价格高达2万美金或者更多，与一辆面包车的价格相当。加利福尼亚州的Kiwibot制造了价值2500美元的汽车式无人机。

Kiwibot’s pre-pandemic fleet of 20 or so has grown to about 50, ferrying meals and shopping in two Californian cities, and two others in Colombia and Taiwan; 500 more Kiwibots are in production. Using them adds just $2 to a shopper’s bill. Another Californian firm, Starship Technologies (which despite its name makes wheeled drones), has seen its fleet expand threefold in a year, to 1,000 across five countries.

疫情爆发前，Kiwibot的无人机队伍仅有20架左右，现在已经发展到50架，大多数无人机在加州的两个城市配送食物和商品，另外两架在哥伦比亚和台湾配送。目前仍有500架Kiwibot正在生产。商家们使用无人机只需要增加2美元的费用。另一家加州公司，Starship Technologies（尽管名字中包含星际飞船，实际制造轮式无人机），其无人机队伍在一年内扩大了三倍，拥有1000架无人机，服务五个国家。