一艘新的“五月花”号即将在英国揭幕，但是与历史书中那艘著名的船不同，这艘高科技研究船上没有移民。

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.

实际上，船上一个人都没有。

In fact, there will be no one on the vessel at all.

五月花号造型优美，具有空气动力学特性，由风能和太阳能提供动力，并准备在与1620年那艘“五月花”号相同的英国港口起航，该船以将首批欧洲移民从大西洋运送到北美而闻名。

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

这艘新船将成为有史以来最大的穿越大西洋的无人船，这意味着它完全是机器人化，没有人在船上。

The new ship will be the largest-ever autonomous vessel to cross the Atlantic, meaning it’s fully robotic — no humans on board.

五月花自动船项目的负责人布雷特·帕内夫（Brett Phaneuf）表示：“我认为我们的船与400年前那艘船最相似的地方是，我们都不确定我们会成功。但是我们的风险远小于当时他们的风险。”

“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.”

该船由海洋研究组织ProMare领导，并得到IBM支持，将携带三个研究舱，以远程收集有关海洋健康的数据，甚至收听鲸鱼和海豚的声音。

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.

这艘无人船有很多任务，比如证明无人船的可行性、收集并分析海水中的“微塑料”供科研人员进行研究等。

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.

该船与传统的船完全不同，没有帆和各种绳索，取而代之的是三叉式船体、光滑的金属设计和单个风帆。它长约15米，航速可达20节。

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”号电脑合成图

驱动它的人工智能最初是为银行业开发的，使它能够“思考”并避免潜在的危害。

The artificial intelligence that drives it was originally developed for the banking industry, enabling it to “think” and avoid potential hazards.

该项目的首席技术官唐·斯科特（Don Scott）说：“因此，从某种意义上说，这艘船实际上与现代银行的关系要比老“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”号在波兰的一家造船厂组装。为了纪念五月花号起航400周年，原定于今年9月进行跨大西洋穿越，但由于COVID-19，它已被推迟。

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软件开发者Rose Lickorish表示：“拥有无需依靠人员的自动驾驶船，这意味着我们（无须人在现场也）可以继续进行重要的研究并收集真正重要的数据。”

"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.

该船将在接下来的六个月里进行海试，然后计划于明年春季从英国的普利茅斯航行到美国的马萨诸塞州的普利茅斯。

The ship will spend the next six months in sea trials before a planned crossing next spring, from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

这些试验将使研究人员能够监视基于云的“ AI船长”如何处理海上情况以及面临的挑战。

The trials will allow researchers to monitor how the cloud-based “AI Captain” handles conditions at sea and the challenges thrown at it.

来源：CTV News，原标题：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