密歇根新闻广播 自主船舶改变未来贸易

 

There's been a lot of talk in recent years about the future of self-driving cars. But what about autonomous² ships?

When the Great Lakes governors and the premiers³ of Ontario and Quebec begin their 2019 summit on Friday, one of the events on the schedule will be a demonstration⁴ of smart ship technology.

Guy Meadows directs the Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Technological⁵ University where he specializes in marine⁶ engineering.

He says that the demonstration will feature what his team believes to be the world leader in autonomous surface vessels⁸. It's a bright yellow, 18-foot, fully-autonomous research vessel⁷ that can operate for up to seven days completely unattended.

Per an agreement with the Coast Guard, this particular vessel will be operating under supervised autonomy to ensure safety in Lake Superior, where Meadows and his team are testing its usefulness as a research vessel.

There will be a supervisory vessel that can take control at any moment, Meadows said.

These kinds of unoccupied vessels, Meadows says, are best used to complete tasks that fall into the three Ds: dirty, dangerous, and dull.

Dull would be resurveying the Great Lakes, which is really necessary. In some places, the surveys are 100 years old. Dangerous are things that you would not want to risk human exposure that would be clean-ups of contaminants, spills, collisions between ships, oil spills, things of that nature, Meadows explained.

Research into autonomous land vehicles is far beyond that of autonomous ships, but Meadows says there's a lot of interest in bringing the technology being developed at auto¹ companies into the marine sector⁹. Twenty years from now, Meadows says he hopes that smart ship technology will help improve water quality, give us a better understanding of invasive species, and create more accurate maps of the depths and substrates of the Great Lakes.

Meadows acknowledges that the widespread implementation¹⁰ of autonomous vessels would cause a shift in the duties of ship pilots and crew members. Still, he argues that the development of this technology presents tremendous opportunity to create jobs and boost the region's economy as well.

Part of the governors' and premiers' interest is to use our capacity here throughout the Great Lakes Basin to become an exporter worldwide of these technologies, Meadows said. "We think we could lead the market in that rather than playing catchup.

This post was written by Stateside production assistant Isabella Isaacs-Thomas.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 premiers   

n.总理，首相( premier的名词复数 )；首席官员，

参考例句：

• The Vice- Premiers and State Councillors assist the Premier in his work. 副总理、国务委员协助总理工作。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
• The Premier, Vice-Premiers and State Councillors shall serve no more than two consecutive terms. 总理、副总理、国务委员连续任职不得超过两届。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

4 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

5 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

6 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

7 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

8 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。