Your next Saturday night takeaway could be brought to you by a robot after a major food delivery company announced plans to use automated vehicles to transport meals.

一家食品速递公司宣布计划使用自动驾驶机器人送餐，你下周六晚上点的外卖，说不定就由机器人送达。

Europe's biggest online takeaway food company Just Eat has partnered with Starship Technologies, makers of slow moving pavement droids, to deliver food with robots on the streets of London later this month.

欧洲最大的在线外卖食品公司Just Eat与Starship Technologies公司携手合作，欲于本月晚些时候使用机器人在伦敦街头送餐，并于此前就已研发出可在人行道上缓慢前行的机器人。

"Nobody has ever done deliveries with land-based robots," said Allan Martinson, the chief operating officer of Starship, a two-year-old Estonian company created by former Skype co-founder Janus Friis and developer Ahti Heinla.  

爱沙尼亚创业公司Starship于两年前由杰纳斯·弗里斯(Janus Friis)与研发人员阿迪·赫恩拉(Ahti Heinla)共同创建。Starship首席运营官艾伦·马丁森(Allan Martinson)说：“利用陆基机器人递送物品，是前所未有的创举。”

The robot courier is a six-wheel automated trolley that can travel up to 4 mph for roughly 10 miles. It uses a GPS signal and nine cameras to navigate and avoid obstacles. 

此快递机器人是一辆六轮自动无轨电车，每小时可行驶4英里（约6.4千米），大约可一次性续航行驶10英里（约16千米）。它通过GPS信号和9台摄像机来导航并避开障碍物。

Half a dozen Starship robots will deliver food for Just Eat and meal on-demand startup Pronto in a UK trial due to start in London later this month. The exact areas they will run is still to be decided. 

本月晚些时候，英国将在伦敦测试机器人送餐服务，届时，共有六位机器人为Just Eat及点餐创业公司Pronto送餐。具体送餐测试区域还有待决定。

Instead of a person arriving at their door, customers could find themselves receiving a notification on their phone that says a robot is on its way and a code to unlock the automated courier. "Put the code in, the robot opens up, and there's your food," said David Buttress, chief executive of Just Eat. 

顾客会发现，将外卖送至门口的不再是外卖员，而会收到手机短信，告知机器人正在送餐路上以及开启机器人盒体的取餐密码。Just Eat的首席执行官大卫·巴特斯(David Buttress)表示：“顾客输入密码，继而打开机器人的盒体，就能取餐。”

The Starship robot can carry up to 10 kilograms or three shopping bags at a time and is designed to transport packages, groceries and takeaway meals. 

Starship的机器人一次可携带10公斤重的物品，相当于满满三个购物袋，并且可用于运送包裹、食品杂货及外卖。

"In busy times there's a shortage of supply drivers," said Buttress.  "These will enable restaurants to meet the demand." 

巴特斯说道：“如果餐厅生意忙，司机人手不够，这些机器人可以满足这方面的需求。”

The robot, which has so far been tested in Greenwich, Milton Keynes and Glastonbury, is cheaper than the average human delivery, costing £1 to transport within a 3 mile radius, compared with the £3 to £6 it costs for a human courier. 

快递机器人目前已在格林威治、米尔顿凯恩斯及格拉斯顿堡投入测试。与人类司机运输相比而言，平均说来，机器人成本更低。机器人在半径为3英里（约4.8千米）的范围内送货，成本只需1英镑（约8.6人民币），而人类司机送货则需3至6英镑（约25人民币至51人民币）。

To date 30 robots have driven nearly 5,000 miles without getting into an accident or finding themselves picked on by passersby. They have driven in more than 40 cities around the world, including London and Tallinn, Estonia. 

迄今为止，30台机器人已累计运行近5千英里（约8046千米），期间既没出现任何意外事故，也未遭行人盗窃。它们已到过全球40多个国家，其中包括伦敦及爱沙尼亚首都塔林。

"We haven't lost a single robot in eight months, or been involved in any accidents that resulted in loss or injury," said Martinson. 

马丁森说：“八个月来，我们一个机器人都没弄丢，并且也没卷入任何意外事故，造成损失或损伤。

An initial worry was how the public would react to the robots. But Martinson said the public has been unfazed when passing the delivery machine on the streets. "The most surprising reaction has been the lack of reaction," said Martinson. "But kids love it. We've seen them try to chase it, hug it. One person tried to feed it a banana."

起初，公司担心人们对快递机器人反应不佳。但马丁森表示，人们在街上经过快递机器人身旁时，都很淡定。“最惊人的反应反倒是没什么反应。”马丁森说道。“但是孩子们很喜欢快递机器人。我们看到孩子们试着追它、抱它；甚至还有人试着给它喂香蕉吃。”

Another significant fear was that people would interfere with the robots, or try to steal them and their contents. To prevent this, the robot is fitted them with nine cameras, two way audio, and movement sensors that send an alert if it is lifted off the ground. And it only opens with a passcode provided to the customer via a notification. "It's much easier to shoplift than it is to steal a robot," said Martinson. 

另一重大担忧就是担心人们弄坏机器人，或是想把机器人及其所运物品偷走。为防止此类情况发生，快递机器人配有9个摄像机、双向监听器以及移动感应器，一旦机器人离开地面，就会发送警报。此外，只有顾客接到通知，知晓密码，才能打开快递机器人的盒体取件。马丁森说道：“与盗取快递机器人相比，偷窃商店物品可要简单得多。”

In the long term the robots could collect groceries for people on a daily basis. "We're talking about giving people the one hour back that they spend shopping for groceries. That's probably the biggest gift," said Martinson. 

从长远看来，这些快递机器人每天还能帮人们采购食品杂货。马丁森说道：“我们正讨论把人们用于日常食品杂货采购的一个小时省下来，那可能是给人们最大的一份礼物。”

If the trial goes well Just Eat is ready to adopt the delivery droids quickly. Buttress said that they could increase their fleet of robotic couriers across the country as early as 2017.

如果该项测试进展顺利，Just Eat公司准备尽早将快递机器人投入使用。巴特斯说道，公司会尽早在2017年在全国范围内扩大快递机器人队伍。

But before then, Starship needs to improve the machines' autonomy and navigation, according to Martinson. "At the moment we're doing all of the testing under human control. We need to further the seamless self-driving capability."  

不过，马丁森表示，在那之前，Starship需要完善快递机器人的自主性和导航功能。“目前所有的测试都是在人类控制下进行，我们需要进一步完善快递机器人自动驾驶性能，力求天衣无缝。”

编译：王露，福建师范大学外国语学院翻硕

编辑：齐磊

英文来源：每日电讯