大疆又申請新專利，這回是地上跑的無人機
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.
談到航拍無人機，DJI無疑是領軍品牌。但是很少有公司嘗試過移動陸上相機平臺。如果說這項裝有穩定攝像頭的小型越野車能算作某種跡象的話，這家公司可能在朝這個方向發展。
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網首先注意到了這項中國專利，專利展示了一個看起來很嚴肅的車輛平臺，裝有厚實的輪胎和穩定的相機支架。你從上面的圖片裏可以看到，彈簧和氣墊保護着相機架，使其防震動，這些裝置在面對突然移動時毫無疑問會有積極作用。
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.
圖片不是你有時看見的概念產品的那種簡單素描，不是“以防萬一”的專利，看起來像很具體的真正設備的機械製圖。當然，這並不意味着產品即將上市，更不用說最近會上市了。但是圖片確實表明，DJI的工程師真的費時費力，讓該產品成爲現實。
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.
已經有超棒的空中無人機了，爲什麼還要陸上的“無人機”呢？一個原因是電池壽命。無人機只能在空中飛很短一段時間，裝載像樣的相機和鏡頭時，飛行時間就更少了。而陸上無人機的工作時間要長得多--不過自然，位置要更低。
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，也許更重要的是，有些地方適合用裝輪子的無人機，而空中無人機則不行。你真的想讓無人機飛過安檢的狹窄過道，或者在家裏飛嗎？在那些可能遇見人的地方又怎樣呢？安全起見，不讓無人機頻繁起飛降落會更好。
