谷歌創(chuàng)始人投資的“空中出租車”在新西蘭秘密測試
一家獲得谷歌(Google)創(chuàng)始人拉里•佩奇(Larry Page)投資的飛行汽車初創(chuàng)公司周二透露，該公司數(shù)月來一直在新西蘭秘密測試一款電動的自主駕駛飛行器。
Silicon Valley-based Kitty Hawk hopes its Cora aircraft will form the basis of an airborne taxi service in the next few years, after it began testing in New Zealand late last year.
總部設(shè)在硅谷的Kitty Hawk希望，這款Cora飛行器將在未來幾年成為一項(xiàng)空中出租車服務(wù)的基礎(chǔ)。該公司是去年末開始在新西蘭進(jìn)行測試的。
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, unveiled the venture on Tuesday alongside Fred Reid, chief executive of Zephyr Airworks, Kitty Hawk’s operator in the country.
新西蘭總理杰辛達(dá)•阿德恩(Jacinda Ardern)周二與Kitty Hawk在新西蘭的運(yùn)營商Zephyr Airworks的首席執(zhí)行官弗雷德•里德(Fred Reid)一同公布了這個項(xiàng)目。
“Cora rises like a helicopter and flies like a plane, eliminating the need for a runway and creating the possibility of taking off from places like rooftops,” the company said on its website. “Cora will use self-flying software combined with human oversight to make flying possible for people without training.”
“Cora像直升機(jī)一樣升空，像飛機(jī)一樣飛行，所以不需要跑道，并具備從屋頂?shù)鹊胤狡痫w的可能性。”該公司在其網(wǎng)站上描述稱，“Cora將使用自動飛行軟件，配合人的照管，沒有受過訓(xùn)練的人也能夠飛行。”
A confluence of technologies including electric motors and batteries, autonomous navigation systems and even consumer drones has drawn companies including Uber and Airbus to invest in vehicles that can fly themselves, removing the need for a trained pilot to be on board. The capability for “vertical take-off and landing” (VTOL) promises to open transportation options, from commuter services to drone deliveries.
電動車和電池、自主導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)甚至消費(fèi)級無人機(jī)等技術(shù)的交匯，吸引了優(yōu)步(Uber)和空客(Airbus)等公司投資能夠自動飛行、無需受過訓(xùn)練的飛行員駕駛的飛行器。這種飛行器能夠“垂直起降”(VTOL)，這有望拓寬運(yùn)輸用途，可以應(yīng)用于從通勤到無人機(jī)送貨等領(lǐng)域。
Kitty Hawk, which is named after the location of the Wright brothers’ early flight trials, has been funded by Mr Page personally, outside the Alphabet group.
以萊特兄弟(Wright brothers)早期飛行試驗(yàn)地點(diǎn)命名的Kitty Hawk獲得了佩奇以個人名義進(jìn)行的投資，與Alphabet集團(tuán)無關(guān)。
Led by Sebastian Thrun, who is also a founder of Google’s self-driving car programme and online education service Udacity, Kitty Hawk operated largely in secret until April 2017, when it unveiled a prototype of its Flyer — a single-person ultralight aircraft powered by eight electric rotors.
Kitty Hawk的掌門人塞巴斯蒂安•特龍(Sebastian Thrun)也是谷歌自動駕駛汽車項(xiàng)目以及在線教育服務(wù)優(yōu)達(dá)學(xué)城(Udacity)的創(chuàng)始人，在他的帶領(lǐng)下，Kitty Hawk基本上處于秘密運(yùn)營狀態(tài)，直到2017年4月公布Flyer原型機(jī)——一款由8臺電動機(jī)驅(qū)動的單人超輕飛行器。
The Flyer is designed to be used only over water and sold to private individuals. Cora is a more ambitious vehicle, with 12 independent rotors capable of carrying two people at heights of between 150 metres and 900 metres. With a range of 100 kilometres and a top speed of 177kph, Cora has three independent flight-computers to ensure back up in the event of a failure.
Flyer僅能在水面上使用，面向私人用戶銷售。而承載更大抱負(fù)的Cora配備12臺獨(dú)立發(fā)動機(jī)，載客數(shù)為二人，飛行高度為150米到900米之間。Cora的最大飛行距離為100公里，最高速度每小時177公里。Cora配備三臺獨(dú)立的飛行計(jì)算機(jī)，以確保在發(fā)生故障時有備用計(jì)算機(jī)。
“Kitty Hawk's mission is to completely change the way we get around. We succeed if everyone chooses to fly every day,” said Mr Thrun. “With our prototype air taxi Cora, we are applying eight years of research and development into an entirely new way to commute.”
“Kitty Hawk的使命是徹底改變我們的出行方式。如果每個人每天都選擇飛行，我們就成功了。”特龍說，“通過我們的空中出租車原型機(jī)Cora，我們正將8年來的研究和開發(fā)成果應(yīng)用于打造一種全新的通勤方式。”
Kitty Hawk envisages eventually operating a service “similar to an airline or a rideshare”. The company has received an “experimental airworthiness certificate” for Cora in New Zealand and the US. The company would not comment further on its plans or tests in the US market.
Kitty Hawk設(shè)想最終能夠運(yùn)營一種“類似航空公司或者拼車”的服務(wù)。該公司已經(jīng)在新西蘭和美國取得Cora的“實(shí)驗(yàn)類適航證”。Kitty Hawk不愿多談其在美國市場的計(jì)劃或者試驗(yàn)情況。
New Zealand is positioning itself as a global hub for research and development, particularly in the aerospace sector. Martin Jetpack, which describes itself as the developer of the world’s first commercial jetpack, is based in Christchurch. Rocket Lab, a company founded Peter Beck, a New Zealand inventor, recently blasted three satellites into orbit from a private launch pad based on an 3,200 hectare sheep and cattle farm.
新西蘭的自我定位是全球研發(fā)中心，尤其是在航空航天領(lǐng)域。自稱世界首款商用噴氣背包開發(fā)商的Martin Jetpack位于基督城(Christchurch)。新西蘭發(fā)明家彼得•貝克(Peter Beck)創(chuàng)立的公司Rocket Lab最近通過一個建立在面積為3200公頃的牛羊養(yǎng)殖場上的私人發(fā)射臺將三顆衛(wèi)星送入了軌道。
“I’m really thrilled to see New Zealand endorsed as a place where exciting companies want to do business,” said Ms Ardern. “Innovation is in our DNA — Kiwis love a challenge and pushing the envelope and I think it’s that spirit that resonates with innovators around the world.”
“我非常激動的看到，新西蘭獲得了認(rèn)可，成為了那些令人興奮的公司想要在此發(fā)展業(yè)務(wù)的地方。”阿德恩說，“創(chuàng)新就在我們的DNA中——新西蘭人熱愛挑戰(zhàn)和打破極限，我認(rèn)為這種精神將引起世界各地的創(chuàng)新人士的共鳴。”
Long dreamt of in science fiction, flying cars are now seeing a wave of investment to become a reality. Uber has formed a dedicated division called Elevate that plans to demonstrate flying vehicles by 2020 in Dubai and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, in partnership with aerospace companies such as Embraer and Pipistrel.
在科幻小說中，人們對飛行汽車渴望已久。現(xiàn)在，一波投資將使飛行汽車變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實(shí)。優(yōu)步已經(jīng)組建了一個名為Elevate的專門部門，計(jì)劃通過與巴西航空工業(yè)公司(Embraer)和Pipistrel等航空公司合作，到2020年在迪拜和達(dá)拉斯-沃斯堡(Dallas-Fort Worth)地區(qū)展示其飛行器。
Last month, Airbus’s Silicon Valley-based division A3 said its Vahana prototype had completed its first test flight. Smaller start-ups targeting pilotless passenger aircraft include Lilium, Joby and Terrafugia. Last September, Munich-based Lilium raised $90m from Tencent and venture firms including Niklas Zennstrom’s Atomico and Evan Williams’ Obvious Ventures.
上個月，空客旗下設(shè)在硅谷的公司A3表示，其原型機(jī)Vahana已經(jīng)完成首次試飛。無人駕駛載客飛行器領(lǐng)域規(guī)模較小的初創(chuàng)公司包括Lilium、Joby和Terrafugia。去年9月，總部位于慕尼黑的Lilium從科技公司騰訊(Tencent)，以及尼古拉斯•占斯特姆(Niklas Zennstrom)的Atomico和埃文•威廉姆斯(Evan Williams)的Obvious Ventures等風(fēng)投公司募集到9000萬美元。
