快递专用的“包裹机”

如果有一天，你看到一架无人飞机挂着一个包裹出现在你家门口，不要惊讶——因为它可能是快递专用的“包裹机”。

Parcelcopter is an unmanned aircraft used to deliver goods.

“包裹机”指专门用来投递物品的无人机。

For the first decade of this century, drones were associated primarily with military activity, but there has recently been an explosion of consumer applications. In addition to a surge of dronies (selfies taken by means of a drone-mounted camera), 2014 has seen several attempts to utilize drones as a means of delivering packages, with Amazon and Google each announcing experimental programmes, and DHL launching a delivery service utilizing a quadcopter drone it calls the “parcelcopter”.

本世纪的最初十年，无人机主要都是用作军事活动的，但近年来，它在消费方面的应用呈爆炸式增长。除了无人机自拍（用安装在无人机上的摄像头拍下的自拍照）大增，2014年也有公司尝试利用无人机送快递包裹，亚马逊和谷歌都宣布了试验项目，DHL也推出了利用四旋翼无人机送快递的服务，该公司将这种无人机称为“包裹机”。

（中国日报英语点津 祝兴媛）