11月7日晚间,就在一场为庆祝乔·拜登当选美国总统而举行的焰火秀盛大举行之际,天空中突然浮现了一阵流光溢彩,先后拼出他的名字、数字“46”和一幅美国地图。拜登看上去有点惊讶。
这套魔法的背后有何秘密?它其实是一个精心设计的无人机群,很像英特尔公司首创的那种用来点亮天空,为科切拉音乐节和超级碗中场秀等重大活动助兴的无人机群表演。这场献给拜登的演出甚至让《华盛顿邮报》(Washington Post)的科技专栏作家杰弗里·福勒打趣说:“Lady Gaga什么时候空降进来?”
未来几年,预计将有更多的无人机浮现在天际间。新冠疫情加快了各种利用无人机的实验和商业试验。无人机的作用远不止利用LED灯拼出总统的名字,让我们为之惊叹那么简单,它还被用于送货、农作物监测、消防,以及其他上千种工作。行业领军企业DJI大疆、众多创业公司,以及谷歌和亚马逊等科技巨头都在努力完善飞行硬件、传感器和软件。
从5G手机到5G笔记本电脑,大量新鲜出炉的电子产品源源不断地涌入位于波士顿郊区的《财富》杂志分社。它们大多是制造商或无线运营商提供的评测设备。偶尔会有一些产品是我们家自己花钱购买的,其中包括我最近入手的大疆新款Mini 2无人机。(这让我的太太惠特尼非常失望,因为她坚决反对我在临近节日送礼季时自行购买商品。)
但我必须告诉你,这款重量仅249克(约合8.8盎司)的迷你无人机拥有令人惊叹的性能:电池充一次电,可以飞行半个多小时,飞行距离最高可达6英里(约合9公里)。它搭载的摄像头能够拍摄相当不错的照片,以及更加令人印象深刻的4K视频。整架无人机可以折叠起来,小到能够放在我的手掌或者夹克的口袋里。螺旋桨可能很吵(问问惠特尼就知道了),所以我尽量不打扰邻居。但从空中鸟瞰世界,并获得一些绝佳的摄影机会,绝对是一件令人兴奋的事情:
坐拥如此神奇的技术能力,商用无人机也应该会保持强劲发展势头。在交通部部长赵小兰的领导下,即将离任的特朗普政府一直在努力而有序地拓展无人机的应用场景,同时也非常关注无人机涉及的安全问题。并非每一项举措都切中要害——比如,要求无人机必须持续连接互联网的规则,就有些过于苛刻了。但如果即将上任的拜登政府遵循类似的飞行路线,美国的无人机群必将展翅高飞。(财富中文网)
译者:任文科
11月7日晚间,就在一场为庆祝乔·拜登当选美国总统而举行的焰火秀盛大举行之际,天空中突然浮现了一阵流光溢彩,先后拼出他的名字、数字“46”和一幅美国地图。拜登看上去有点惊讶。
这套魔法的背后有何秘密?它其实是一个精心设计的无人机群,很像英特尔公司首创的那种用来点亮天空,为科切拉音乐节和超级碗中场秀等重大活动助兴的无人机群表演。这场献给拜登的演出甚至让《华盛顿邮报》(Washington Post)的科技专栏作家杰弗里·福勒打趣说:“Lady Gaga什么时候空降进来?”
未来几年,预计将有更多的无人机浮现在天际间。新冠疫情加快了各种利用无人机的实验和商业试验。无人机的作用远不止利用LED灯拼出总统的名字,让我们为之惊叹那么简单,它还被用于送货、农作物监测、消防,以及其他上千种工作。行业领军企业DJI大疆、众多创业公司,以及谷歌和亚马逊等科技巨头都在努力完善飞行硬件、传感器和软件。
从5G手机到5G笔记本电脑,大量新鲜出炉的电子产品源源不断地涌入位于波士顿郊区的《财富》杂志分社。它们大多是制造商或无线运营商提供的评测设备。偶尔会有一些产品是我们家自己花钱购买的,其中包括我最近入手的大疆新款Mini 2无人机。(这让我的太太惠特尼非常失望,因为她坚决反对我在临近节日送礼季时自行购买商品。)
但我必须告诉你,这款重量仅249克(约合8.8盎司)的迷你无人机拥有令人惊叹的性能:电池充一次电,可以飞行半个多小时,飞行距离最高可达6英里(约合9公里)。它搭载的摄像头能够拍摄相当不错的照片,以及更加令人印象深刻的4K视频。整架无人机可以折叠起来,小到能够放在我的手掌或者夹克的口袋里。螺旋桨可能很吵(问问惠特尼就知道了),所以我尽量不打扰邻居。但从空中鸟瞰世界,并获得一些绝佳的摄影机会,绝对是一件令人兴奋的事情:
坐拥如此神奇的技术能力,商用无人机也应该会保持强劲发展势头。在交通部部长赵小兰的领导下,即将离任的特朗普政府一直在努力而有序地拓展无人机的应用场景,同时也非常关注无人机涉及的安全问题。并非每一项举措都切中要害——比如,要求无人机必须持续连接互联网的规则,就有些过于苛刻了。但如果即将上任的拜登政府遵循类似的飞行路线,美国的无人机群必将展翅高飞。(财富中文网)
译者:任文科
President-elect Joe Biden looked a little surprised when his November 7 night fireworks show was suddenly interrupted by some additional sky art spelling out his name, the number 46, and then a map of the country.
The secret behind the magic? A choreographed drone swarm, much like the ones pioneered by Intel and used to light up everything from Coachella to the Super Bowl half-time show. The Biden display even prompted Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler to quip: "When does Lady Gaga parachute in?"
Expect to see a lot more drones in the sky in coming years. The pandemic has accelerated a variety of experiments and commercials trial to use drones for deliveries, crop monitoring, firefighting, and a thousand more jobs beyond wowing us by spelling out presidents' names with LED lights. Industry leader DJI, flocks of startups, and tech giants like Google and Amazon are all working on perfecting the flight hardware, sensors, and software.
Plenty of new gadgets flow through Fortune's suburban Boston bureau, from 5G phones to 5G laptops, mostly supplied as review units by the manufacturers or wireless carriers. The occasional item is bought and paid for by our household, including the recent purchase of DJI's new Mini 2 drone (much to my wife Whitney's dismay, as she takes a strict line against such self-purchases so close to the holiday gift-giving season).
But I have to tell you, the capabilities packed into this tiny 249 gram (8.8 ounce) drone are remarkable. It can fly for more than half an hour on one battery charge and travel a distance of up to six miles from where it takes off. The camera takes decent photos and more impressive 4K videos. And the whole thing folds up small enough to fit in the palm of my hand or the pocket of my jacket. The propellers can be pretty buzzy (just ask Whitney), so I'll try not to annoy the neighbors. But it's quite a thrill getting a bird's eye view of the world and some fantastic opportunities for photography:
With such technical marvels, drones for business should keep their momentum too. The outgoing Trump administration worked hard and orderly under Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao to expand the playing field for drones while keeping an eye on safety and security. Not every move was on target—rules requiring constant Internet connections may be too much, for example. But the incoming Biden administration would do well to follow a similar flight path.