一艘新的“五月花”号即将在英國揭幕，但是與曆史書中那艘著名的船不同，這艘高科技研究船上沒有移民。
A new Mayflower is set to be unveiled in the U.K. soon -- but unlike the famed ship from the history books, there will be no pilgrims on the high-tech research vessel.
視訊加載中...
實際上，船上一個人都沒有。
In fact, there will be no one on the vessel at all.
五月花号造型優美，具有空氣動力學特性，由風能和太陽能提供動力，并準備在與1620年那艘“五月花”号相同的英國港口起航，該船以将首批歐洲移民從大西洋運送到北美而聞名。
This Mayflower is sleek, aerodynamic, powered by wind and solar energy, and being readied for launch in the same English port as the original 1620 ship, which is known for carrying pilgrims across the Atlantic to North America.
1620年的“五月花”号
這艘新船将成為有史以來最大的穿越大西洋的無人船，這意味着它完全是機器人化，沒有人在船上。
The new ship will be the largest-ever autonomous vessel to cross the Atlantic, meaning it’s fully robotic — no humans on board.
五月花自動船項目的負責人布雷特·帕内夫（Brett Phaneuf）表示：“我認為我們的船與400年前那艘船最相似的地方是，我們都不确定我們會成功。但是我們的風險遠小于當時他們的風險。”
“I think the most similar thing between this project and the original 400 years ago was that neither of us are sure we were gonna make it,” Brett Phaneuf, director of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) project, said. “But our risk is much smaller than their risk.”
該船由海洋研究組織ProMare上司，并得到IBM支援，将攜帶三個研究艙，以遠端收集有關海洋健康的資料，甚至收聽鲸魚和海豚的聲音。
The ship, led by marine research organization ProMare and supported by IBM, will carry three research pods to remotely gather data on the health of the sea and even listen for whales and dolphins.
這艘無人船有很多任務，比如證明無人船的可行性、收集并分析海水中的“微塑膠”供科研人員進行研究等。
It has numerous goals, from proving that autonomous vehicles can make this type of voyage, to allowing researchers to analyze microplastics in water samples collected by the ship.
該船與傳統的船完全不同，沒有帆和各種繩索，取而代之的是三叉式船體、光滑的金屬設計和單個風帆。它長約15米，航速可達20節。
MAS bears little resemblance to an old-fashioned ship, trading in sails and rigging for a three-pronged, sleek metal design, with a single windsail. It is around 15 metres long, and can travel as fast as 20 knots.
新“五月花”号電腦合成圖
驅動它的人工智能最初是為銀行業開發的，使它能夠“思考”并避免潛在的危害。
The artificial intelligence that drives it was originally developed for the banking industry, enabling it to “think” and avoid potential hazards.
該項目的首席技術官唐·斯科特（Don Scott）說：“是以，從某種意義上說，這艘船實際上與現代銀行的關系要比老“五月花”号更深。”
“So, in a way, this ship actually has more to do with a modern bank than it does with the old Mayflower, to be honest,” Don Scott, Chief Technology Officer of the project, said.
新“五月花”号在波蘭的一家造船廠組裝。為了紀念五月花号起航400周年，原定于今年9月進行跨大西洋穿越，但由于COVID-19，它已被推遲。
MAS was assembled at a shipyard in Poland. Its trans-Atlantic crossing was supposed to happen this September as a tribute to the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower launch, but it has been delayed because of COVID-19.
IBM軟體開發者Rose Lickorish表示：“擁有無需依靠人員的自動駕駛船，這意味着我們（無須人在現場也）可以繼續進行重要的研究并收集真正重要的資料。”
"Having autonomous ships where we don't need to rely on people to be on board, that means that we can continue to do that vital research and collect that really important data,” said Rose Lickorish, an IBM Software developer.
該船将在接下來的六個月裡進行海試，然後計劃于明年春季從英國的普利茅斯航行到美國的馬薩諸塞州的普利茅斯。
The ship will spend the next six months in sea trials before a planned crossing next spring, from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts.
這些試驗将使研究人員能夠監視基于雲的“ AI船長”如何處理海上情況以及面臨的挑戰。
The trials will allow researchers to monitor how the cloud-based “AI Captain” handles conditions at sea and the challenges thrown at it.
來源：CTV News，原标題：This high-tech ship named after the Mayflower is the largest autonomous vessel to try to cross the Atlantic，作者：Paul Workman以及Alexandra Mae Jones