时间:2019-01-12 作者:英语课 分类:2015年VOA慢速英语(二)月


英语课

 


French Farmers Use Drones to Examine Their Crops 法国农民使用无人驾驶飞机检查作物


It used to be mostly the military that used small, unpiloted aircraft, called “drones.” The little planes were very costly 1. But as they have dropped in price more people have begun to use them. Rescue workers and farmers are among the new users.


A company in France is using drones to help farmers examine their crops and limit the amount of fertilizer they use.


The fast rate of development of computer technology, image sensing devices, satellite navigation and smartphones has led to lower-priced drones. Researchers and developers have learned how to build smaller and less-costly drones sought by individuals, companies and governments.


Moviemakers are using drones to film from the sky. Historians use them when they explore ancient buildings. Rescue workers use them to look for people. And now farmers are using them to monitor their crops.


Romain Faroux is a French businessman who starts companies. His father was a farmer. He believed drones could help farmers. He helped create a company that developed a small drone that could be controlled by people on the ground. They called it “Agridrone.” It uses a special “optical sensor 2” to examine crops.


He says the technology used is similar to that used by smartphones -- except it has wings. He says the industrialization of electronic parts for smartphones and tablets lets them get the technology -- including GPS -- at a very low price.


A computer program directs the drone to fly over the crops. The sensor on the drone records four different-colored “bands” of sunlight that are reflected off the crops.


Jean-Baptiste Bruggeman is a farmer. He says the drone flies over his crops at different times of the season. He says this provides a lot of information about his crops.


He says the drone pictures show him the exact amount of fertilizer the crops need. He says it also shows exactly where the fertilizer is needed. Some areas of a field may need more than others.


As a result, Mr. Bruggeman says there is reduced nitrogen from the fertilizer after the harvest. This helps nature.


Romain Faroux says farmers use information gathered by the Agridrone to place fertilizer only in areas where it was needed. This saves money and reduces pollution. Before they used the drones, farmers would put the same amount of fertilizer everywhere.


Drones also save time because farmers can examine up to three hectares in about a minute.


Words in This Story


navigation – n. the act, activity or process of finding the way to get to a place when you are traveling in a ship, airplane or car, or walking or hiking


smartphone – n. a mobile phone that lets users connect to the internet


monitor – v. to watch, observe, listen to or check (something) for a special purpose over a period of time


optical sensor – n. a device that detects or senses heat, light, sound or motion and then reacts to it in a particular way


GPS – n. Global Positioning System; a radio system that uses signals from satellites to tell you where you are and to give you directions to other places


band – n. a strip of something that is different from what is around it



adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
n.传感器,探测设备,感觉器(官)
  • The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
  • He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。
标签: VOA慢速英语
学英语单词
3'5'-AMP
adnominal clause
after damp
agreeablenesses
aicd
air navigational radio facility
alternating current control magnet
ammonis
atomic layer epitaxy (ale)
austenite stabilizer
autopsia in vivo
azimuth deviation
blast break out
btoe
Burkitt's tumor
characteristic function of the binomial law
coarse-grained
compensation equalizers
composituously
contour of water table
corona tester
corrosion damage
cotton spinning
country kitchen
crurifragium
cubic hyperbola
CVID
day signal
deauthorized
defatted tyberculin
diameter series
digital spectrometer
equal angles
eragrostis pilosiuscula
Escherichieae
eustatic change of sea
fabric shock test
fire danger rating
FK5
fore-and-aft trim
foreign flag ship
gold shares
haul down
high level computer
hydrourterosis
hypercorrectness
infrequences
input chamber
insanity plea
irrevocable control regime
Itaugua
jordans
Joy Division
king tides
levand
lfh
linestrengths
long turn elbow
lorry
maximum wave
mebropin
mechanical optics
microneurosurgery
nitrate poisoning
nonalkaloidal
NSC-77213
oxidopamine
page balancing
pectinolytic
periscope feather
phone system
polyamorist
prehatch
public-comment
register file
remote computing system execution error
reregistered
resolution of unity
running stock
serd
smoothes
sporo-pollen statistics
Stanovoi
starolite
stuffings
stumphole
subdermal
succincture
sulfamethomidine
taborette
task programming
thermophyllous
title absolute
trachyloma indicum
trichobranchiate gill
two-beat
unaproned
valve complement
viliam
wing tip sail
wood-mizer
zymogens