LYRICS
American companies are developing unmanned aircraft systems that are larger than drones.
美国公司正在开发比无人机更大的无人驾驶飞机系统。
The goal is for the aircraft to help agricultural producers and reduce risks to human safety.
这种飞机的目标是帮助农业生产者，减少对人类安全的风险。
When Hector Xu was learning to pilot a helicopter in college, he remembered having a few bad experiences while flying at night.
当赫克托·许在大学学习驾驶直升机时，他记得有几次夜间飞行的糟糕经历。
The experiences led him to research unmanned aircraft systems while getting his doctorate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
这些经历促使他在麻省理工学院攻读博士学位时开始研究无人驾驶飞机系统。
Then, Xu formed Rotor Technologies in 2021 to develop unmanned helicopters.
然后，许在2021年成立了旋翼技术公司，开发无人直升机。
Rotor has built two autonomous helicopters that the company calls Sprayhawks.
旋翼公司制造了两架名为“喷雾鹰”的自主直升机。
Rotor aims to have as many as 20 Sprayhawks ready for market next year.
旋翼的目标是在明年准备多达20架喷雾鹰投入市场。
The company also is developing helicopters that would fly shipments into disaster areas and to oil rigs in oceans.
该公司还开发直升机，可以将货物运送到灾区和海洋中的石油钻井平台。
The helicopters could also be used to fight wildfires.
这些直升机还可以用来扑灭野火。
For now, Rotor is paying attention to agriculture.
目前，旋翼主要关注的是农业领域。
The industry has accepted automation with drones but sees unmanned helicopters as a better way to spray larger areas with pesticides and fertilizers.
该行业已经接受了无人机的自动化，但认为无人直升机是在更大范围内喷洒农药和化肥的更好方式。
A major appeal of automation in agriculture flights is safety.
农业飞行自动化的一个主要吸引力是它的安全性。
Because special airplanes called crop dusters fly at around 240 kph and only about 3 meters off the ground, there are tens of accidents each year.
被称为“作物喷洒机”的特殊飞机以240公里/小时的速度飞行，距离地面只有3米左右，每年都会发生数十起事故。
The small planes hit power lines, cell towers and other planes.
这些小型飞机会撞击电线、手机信号塔和其他飞机。
Older planes in disrepair and pilot tiredness play a part in accidents.
年久失修的老旧飞机和飞行员的疲劳驾驶是造成事故的原因之一。
A 2014 report from the National Transportation Safety Board found there were more than 800 agriculture flight accidents between 2001 and 2010, including 81 that were deadly.
美国国家运输安全委员会2014年的一份报告发现，2001年至2010年期间发生了800多起农业飞行事故，其中81起是致命的。
A separate report from the National Agriculture Aviation Association found nearly 640 accidents from 2014 until this month with 109 deaths.
美国农业航空协会的另一份报告发现，从2014年到本月，发生了近640起事故，其中109人死亡。
"It is a very, very dangerous, profession," said Dan Martin, a research engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service.
“这是一个非常非常危险的职业，”美国农业部农业研究服务局的研究工程师丹·马丁说。
Martin said about the pilots, "They make all their money in those short few months so sometimes it may mean that they fly 10 to 12 hours a day or more."
马丁谈到飞行员时说：“他们所有的钱都是在那短短几个月里赚到的，所以有时这可能意味着他们每天要飞10到12个小时，甚至更久。”
Job risks also include possible contact with farming chemicals.
他们的工作风险还包括可能接触到农用化学品。
In recent years, safety and cost concerns have led to a number of drones flying above farmers' fields, Martin said.
马丁说，近年来，出于安全和成本方面的考虑，很多农民选择无人机给田地喷洒药物。
He added that some 10,000 drones will likely be sold this year alone.
他补充说，仅今年就可能售出约1万架无人机。
"It's growing exponentially as a market, super fast," Martin said.
马丁说：“这是一个呈指数级增长的市场，速度非常快。”
But the size of the drones means they only can cover a small amount of the area that a plane or helicopter can.
但无人机的大小意味着它们能覆盖的区域只有飞机或直升机能覆盖的一小部分。
The limitation is providing an opening for companies building bigger unmanned aircraft like Rotor and another company, Pyka.
这一限制为制造更大型无人机的公司提供了机会，比如旋翼和另一家公司Pyka。
California-based Pyka announced in August that it had sold its first autonomous electric aircraft for crop protection to a buyer in the United States.
总部位于加州的Pyka公司今年8月宣布，它已将第一架用于作物保护的自主电动飞机出售给了美国的一个买家。
Pyka's Pelican Spray, a fixed-wing aircraft, received official approval last year to fly for crop protection.
Pyka公司的“Pelican Spray”是一种固定翼飞机，去年获得了官方批准，可以用来保护农作物。
The company also sold its Pelican Spray to Dole for use in Honduras and to the Brazilian company, SLC Agrícola.
该公司还将其“Pelican Spray”出售给多尔公司，提供给洪都拉斯和巴西公司SLC Agrícola使用。
Lukas Koch is chief technology officer at Heinen Brothers Agra Services, the company which bought the Pelican Spray in August.
卢卡斯·科赫是Heinen Brothers Agra Services公司的首席技术官，该公司于8月份收购了“Pelican Spray”。
Koch has called unmanned aircraft part of a coming "revolution," that will save farmers money and increase safety.
科赫称无人驾驶飞机是即将到来的“革命”的一部分，它将为农民节省资金并提高安全性。
The Kansas-based company operates out of airports from Texas to Illinois.
这家总部位于堪萨斯州的公司在从德克萨斯州到伊利诺伊州的机场开展业务。
Koch does not see the unmanned aircraft replacing all the company's pilots but rather taking over the riskiest jobs.
科赫并不认为无人驾驶飞机会取代公司所有的飞行员，它只会接管最危险的工作。
"The biggest draw is taking the pilot out of the aircraft inside of those most dangerous situations," Koch said.
科赫说：“它最大的吸引力是无需让飞行员再去接触那些危险的环境。”
But Koch also says that autonomous aviation systems could bring new dangers to an already busy airspace.
但科赫也表示，自主航空系统可能会给本就繁忙的空域带来新的危险。
Still, the risk is less of a concern in rural areas with plenty of open space and fewer people.
不过，在拥有大量空地和较少人口的农村地区，这种风险就不那么令人担忧了。
Companies like Rotor have developed their systems to work if bad events come up.
像旋翼这样的公司已经开发了自己的系统，随时准备应对糟糕事件。
Rotor's helicopter, for example, has a half-dozen communications systems and, for now, a remote pilot in control.
例如，旋翼公司的直升机有6个通信系统，目前只有一名远程飞行员在控制。
If the ground team loses contact with the helicopter, Rotor has a system to deal with the problem.
如果地面小组与直升机失去联系，旋翼有一个系统来处理这种问题。
The system makes sure the engine can be turned off and the helicopter can perform a controlled landing.
该系统确保发动机可以关闭，直升机可以执行控制着陆。
The safety measures will go a long way to helping the company receive what it expects will be official government approval to fly its helicopters for business purposes.
这些安全措施将在很大程度上帮助该公司获得政府的正式批准，将其直升机用于商业用途。
Once the company has approval, the difficulty, as Xu sees it, will be building more devices to meet the demand in the United States and Brazil.
许认为，一旦公司获得批准，难点在于生产更多设备以满足美国和巴西市场的需求。
I'm John Russell.
我是约翰·罗素。
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