沃尔玛测试户外无人机送货

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2020年07月11日

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沃尔玛测试户外无人机送货

沃尔玛向美国联邦航空管理局(FAA)提交申请，在户外进行无人机测试，最终目标是使用无人机为顾客投递包裹。然而FAA的批准仅限于低空飞行，这样的无人机飞行必须在操作者目力可及范围内，并远离周围人群。沃尔玛究竟是为了提高效率，还是只是个噱头？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

drones 无人机

bricks-and-mortar 实体店

inventory 库存

warehouse 仓库

ecommerce 电子商务

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Walmart drones plan starts to look up （397words）

By Lindsay Whipp in New York

* * *

Walmart has asked US regulators to allow it to test commercial drones outside, just a week after reporting that its profits would be held back in part by heavier investments in ecommerce.

The world’s largest retailer by sales has been slow to replicate its bricks-and-mortar strength in online retailing, allowing rival Amazon to capture a leading market share and set the pace for innovation.

Amazon made its own application to the Federal Aviation Administration to test drones last year, and Walmart is seeking a similar exemption from FAA rules that currently prevent companies from testing the unmanned aerial vehicles outside.

Walmart said its application came after several months of indoor testing, in which it decided that the technology of SZ DJI Technology, a Chinese company, best suited its needs.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer is eyeing the potential to use drones for home delivery and store pick-up, as well as inventory management. For example, a drone could take inventory from trucks queueing at its warehouses, Walmart said.

Walmart believes that its nationwide store coverage in the US — where 70 per cent of the population lives within five miles of one of its stores — gives it the potential to utilise the technology successfully.

“It’s part of our efforts to drive efficiency,” a Walmart spokesperson said. Its application to the FAA argued that the outdoor tests would be in the public interest, and as safe as any manned flight.

However, it could be some time before drone technology is successfully applied in the real world, particularly in the US, where the regulation of drone use remains strict relative to markets such as the UK. Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce group, has trialled drone deliveries in its home market.

Walmart said it was sticking to tests in the US for the time being.

The FAA this year released rules on unmanned commercial drones, whose restrictions raised questions over whether their potential for use in commercial activity such as deliveries would be realised.

Walmart said it did not know when to expect a response from the FAA.

Last week, Walmart laid bare the amount of work it needs to do to become more competitive in ecommerce and drive sales in the US. Its multibillion-dollar investments in ecommerce, raising wages and training to help improve customers’ in-store experience, will hurt profits next year, it said.

Walmart’s drone plans were earlier reported by Reuters.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. Why Walmart try to use drones outside?

a. for entertainment needs

b. for commercial use

c. for social progress

d. to display new products

2. Who made its own application to the FAA to test drones last year ?

a. 7-11

b. Amazon

c. Bentonville

d. Auchan