DJI is easily the leading brand when it comes to camera drones, but few companies have even attempted a ground-based mobile camera platform. The company may be moving in that direction, though, if this patent for a small off-road vehicle with a stabilized camera is any indication.
谈到航拍无人机,DJI无疑是领军品牌。但极少有公司尝试过移动陆上相机平台。假如说这项装有稳定摄像头的小型越野车能算作某种迹象的话,这家公司可能在朝这个方向进步。
The Chinese patent, first noted by DroneDJ, shows a rather serious-looking vehicle platform with chunky tires and a stabilized camera gimbal. As you can see in the image above, the camera mount is protected against shock by springs and pneumatics, which would no doubt react actively to sudden movements.
DroneDJ网第一注意到了这项中国专利,专利展示了一个看着非常严肃的汽车平台,装有厚实的汽车轮胎和稳定的相机支架。你从上面的图片里可以看到,弹簧和气垫保护着相机架,使其防震动,这类装置在面对忽然移动时毫无疑问会有积极推动作用。
The image is no simple sketch like those you sometimes see of notional products and “just in case” patents — this looks like a fleshed-out mechanical drawing of a real device. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s coming to market at all, let alone any time soon. But it does suggest that DJI’s engineers have dedicated real time and effort to making this thing a reality.
图片不是你有时看见的定义商品的那种简单素描,不是“以防万一”的专利,看着像非常具体的真的设施的机械制图。当然,这并不意味着商品马上上市,更不需要说近期会上市了。但图片确实表明,DJI的工程师真的浪费时间费力,让该商品成为现实。
Why have a “drone” on the ground when there are perfectly good ones for the air? Battery life, for one. Drones can only be airborne for a short time, even less when they’re carrying decent cameras and lenses. A ground-based drone could operate for far longer — though naturally from a rather lower vantage.
已经有非常棒的空中无人机了,为何还要陆上的“无人机”呢?一个缘由是电池寿命。无人机只能在空中飞非常短一段时间,装载像样的相机和镜头时,飞行时间就更少了。而陆上无人机的工作时间要长得多--不过自然,地方要更低。
Perhaps more importantly, however, a wheeled drone makes sense in places where an aerial one doesn’t. Do you really want to fly a drone through narrow hallways in security sweeps, or in your own home? And what about areas where you might encounter people? It would be better not to have to land and take off constantly for safety’s sake.
然而,或许更要紧的是,有的地方合适用装轮子的无人机,而空中无人机则不可以。你真的想让无人机飞过安检的狭窄过道,或者在家飞吗?在那些可能遇到人的地方又如何呢?安全起见,不让无人机频繁起飞降落会更好。
翻译:李然