上次在一個(gè)帖子中有社友建議我定期向論壇搬運(yùn)一些英語(yǔ)原文資訊，我覺(jué)得這個(gè)想法非常好，今天試水一篇。
0 t0 z' C, U) _9 k這篇文章是從三菱重工的英文官網(wǎng)獲取的，主要講了日本人形機(jī)器人的發(fā)展歷程和取得的成果，里面舉了2個(gè)很有代表性的例子：PEPPER和WAKAMARU
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ASTRO BOY 鐵臂阿童木；HUMANOID 仿人的，類(lèi)人型的；mechatronic 機(jī)電一體化的；facility 能力 設(shè)備4 r# j& |; _' u
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The helpful humanoids
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When Japan welcomes millions of foreign travelers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, one thing the visitors will see apart from the world’s best athletes is the world’s best robots. It may sound like the realization of countless science-fiction fantasies, but humanoid robots are now quite commonplace in big cities like Tokyo. This is a dream that was long in the making. 2020年?yáng)|京奧運(yùn)會(huì)與殘奧會(huì)，日本將迎來(lái)數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)的外國(guó)游客，人們來(lái)到這里不僅僅能欣賞世界上最棒的運(yùn)動(dòng)員，還能見(jiàn)識(shí)到世界上最棒的機(jī)器人。這聽(tīng)起來(lái)像是無(wú)數(shù)科幻小說(shuō)的場(chǎng)景，但是人形機(jī)器人在東京這樣的大城市已經(jīng)變得稀松平常，這是一個(gè)長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)一直在實(shí)現(xiàn)的夢(mèng)想。 Japan was earned itself the moniker of the ‘Robot Kingdom’ after it invested heavily in factory automation technology in the postwar period. Industrial robot arms began turning out everything from toilet bowls to car parts, creating titans of the industry, such as FANUC, in the process as Japan became one of the most heavily automated societies in the world. 在戰(zhàn)后投入大量人力物力發(fā)展自動(dòng)化技術(shù)之后，今天的日本已經(jīng)被譽(yù)為“機(jī)器人王國(guó)”。工業(yè)機(jī)器人手臂可以生產(chǎn)從抽水馬桶到汽車(chē)零件的任何產(chǎn)品，并誕生了像發(fā)那科這樣的工業(yè)巨頭，在此期間，日本也逐漸成為世界上舉足輕重的工業(yè)自動(dòng)化強(qiáng)國(guó)。 Over the past few decades, however, the engineers who helped build this manufacturing powerhouse turned their thoughts to the sci-fi stories of their youth, and dreamed of creating robots that looked and acted like humans. A template for this was Astro Boy, a super-powerful robot boy portrayed by manga legend Osamu Tezuka as a champion of humanity. Honda’s sophisticated humanoid robot Asimo, first shown off in 2000, is part of this tradition. 然而，在過(guò)去幾十年里，兢兢業(yè)業(yè)建立這個(gè)制造業(yè)大國(guó)的工程師們，同樣將注意力投入到年少時(shí)讀過(guò)的科幻故事中，并通過(guò)發(fā)明制造人形機(jī)器人來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)兒時(shí)的夢(mèng)想。其中的典型就是鐵臂阿童木——日本漫畫(huà)大師手冢治蟲(chóng)筆下的超能機(jī)器人男孩。本田2000年發(fā)布的人形機(jī)器人Asimo就脫胎于此。
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The air was thick with the legacy of Astro Boy when Masayoshi Son, CEO of telecommunications giant SoftBank, stepped onto a darkened stage outside Tokyo in June 2014, and held up what looked like a glowing heart. This he presented to a 120-centimeter-tall humanoid robot standing next to him, and it immediately came to life, lighting up and introducing itself in a high-pitched voice as ‘Pepper’. 當(dāng)通信行業(yè)巨頭軟銀公司的CEO孫正義，在2014年6月步入東京一個(gè)黑暗的會(huì)場(chǎng)，舉起一個(gè)像跳動(dòng)的心臟一樣的機(jī)器人時(shí)，空氣中充滿(mǎn)了阿童木的氣息。這個(gè)120cm高的仿人機(jī)器人就站在孫正義身邊，它一瞬間活動(dòng)了起來(lái)，渾身發(fā)亮并且用一個(gè)高分貝的聲音自我介紹為‘PEPPER’。 The robot is designed to be a communication robot that can help out in the home or workplace; it is also expected to help monitor Japan’s growing population of elderly based on information provided by the market. Developed by SoftBank Robotics Corp., Pepper has two arms, a 10.1-inch touchscreen display on its chest, audio, visual and tactile sensors and a wheeled base called omni-wheel for locomotion. It can retrieve weather forecasts from the Internet, play word games and do dance routines, and able to add new functions from the web by downloading ‘Robo Apps.’ It’s also billed as the first robot of its kind that can read human emotions and develop its own feelings to make it a better companion. 這個(gè)機(jī)器人被設(shè)計(jì)成一個(gè)可以在家或工作場(chǎng)所提供幫助的交流型機(jī)器人，它也被寄予厚望在市場(chǎng)條件允許的基礎(chǔ)上去幫助監(jiān)管日本日益增長(zhǎng)的老齡化人群。經(jīng)過(guò)軟銀機(jī)器人公司的研發(fā)，PEPPER有了兩個(gè)手臂，一個(gè)10.1英寸的觸摸屏在胸部，以及聽(tīng)覺(jué)、視覺(jué)、觸覺(jué)傳感器和一個(gè)被稱(chēng)為全向輪的輪式底座來(lái)進(jìn)行移動(dòng)。它可以通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)檢索天氣預(yù)報(bào)，玩文字游戲和跳常規(guī)的舞蹈，也能通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)下載機(jī)器人APP來(lái)增加新的功能。它被號(hào)稱(chēng)為第一個(gè)能感知人類(lèi)心情的機(jī)器人，并可以發(fā)展自己情感以提供更好的陪伴體驗(yàn)。 We want to have a robot that will maximize people’s joy and minimize their sadness,” Son said while presenting Pepper to journalists. Since its commercial debut in 2015, priced at about $9,500 for a three-year period, thousands of Pepper robots have been sold, both to households and businesses. Companies have adopted the ‘Pepper for Biz’ model, which is priced at about $540 a month. They have been using the robot to help promote everything from smartphones and coffee makers to financial products and tourist destinations. “我們希望能有一個(gè)機(jī)器人可以最大化人類(lèi)的快樂(lè)，最小化人類(lèi)的悲傷”，孫正義對(duì)記者說(shuō)道。自PEPPER在2015年商業(yè)亮相以來(lái)，這個(gè)標(biāo)價(jià)為9500美元的機(jī)器人，在三年時(shí)間內(nèi)，售出了上千臺(tái)，包括家用的和商用的。很多公司采用‘PEPPER’做商業(yè)模特，一個(gè)月租金為540美元。也有很多人利用PEPPER進(jìn)行營(yíng)銷(xiāo)，從智能手機(jī)和咖啡機(jī)，再到金融產(chǎn)品和旅游景點(diǎn)。$ b7 [, |4 [4 E+ x) d, Q
Pepper can now be seen at electronics retailers, hotel lobbies, trade shows, and more. Meanwhile, dozens of apps for Pepper have been developed, with themes ranging from storytelling to cooking tips. The robot recently began support for Google’s Android operating system, opening up even more possibilities, especially through the help of developers. 在旅館大廳，貿(mào)易展廳和其他更多地方，‘PEPPER’現(xiàn)在也被當(dāng)做一個(gè)電子產(chǎn)品零售商。同時(shí)許多針對(duì)‘PEPPER’的APP被開(kāi)發(fā)出來(lái)，功能包括從講故事到烹飪技巧等等，應(yīng)有盡有。PEPPER最近開(kāi)始支持谷歌的安卓操作系統(tǒng)，展現(xiàn)了更多的可能性，尤其是在開(kāi)發(fā)者們的幫助下。" Eager to please % E$ l Z6 f9 `0 r+ M
A decade before the birth of Pepper, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries unveiled Wakamaru, a humanoid robot for home use. With a bright yellow exterior by industrial designer Toshiyuki Kita, Wakamaru had ultrasound and infrared sensors to help it avoid obstacles as well as an LED indicator on its chest that showed its “feelings.” Wakamaru could recognize 10,000 words in Japanese and family members’ faces. It could also retrieve weather forecasts, emails and other information from the Internet and autonomously recharge itself when its battery was low. 在PEPPER誕生的十年前，三菱重工推出家用人形機(jī)器人WAKAMARU。由工業(yè)設(shè)計(jì)師喜多俊之設(shè)計(jì)的亮黃色外表，Wakamaru憑借超聲波和紅外傳感器來(lái)躲避障礙，同時(shí)其胸部的LED指示燈則顯示它的“喜怒哀樂(lè)”。WAKAMARU可以識(shí)別10000個(gè)日語(yǔ)單詞及家庭成員的面部。它還可以檢索天氣預(yù)報(bào)，電子郵件和其他從互聯(lián)網(wǎng)獲取的信息，并且能在電量低的時(shí)候進(jìn)行自動(dòng)充電。 Although Wakamaru, now retired, was ahead of its time in that it came before the boom in smartphones and apps, it helped pave the way for later humanoids like Pepper. Another robot that exemplifies the union of mechatronics and smartphones in literal fashion is RoBoHon. Commercialized by Sharp, the anime-inspired, pint-sized droid is both robot and 3G/LTE smartphone. It can walk around, move its arms and head and serve as a personal assistant, for instance reading out messages and reminding users of calendar events like someone’s birthday. Small enough to fit in a pocket and weighing only 390 grams, the cloud-connected RoboHon can project images and video on nearby surfaces and can bid its user good night before bed and good morning when he or she wakes up (thanks to its alarm function). With its cute looks, squeaky voice and desire to please, it’s hard not to see RoBoHon like a little person. 雖然Wakamaru現(xiàn)在退休了，但是在智能手機(jī)和應(yīng)用的繁榮之前橫空出世的它是一個(gè)跨時(shí)代的產(chǎn)品，它為像PEPPER一樣的后來(lái)者鋪平了道路。另一個(gè)機(jī)器人RoBoHon，充分體現(xiàn)了機(jī)電一體化和智能手機(jī)的完美結(jié)合。它由夏普進(jìn)行商業(yè)化，啟發(fā)自動(dòng)畫(huà)，機(jī)器人和3G / LTE智能手機(jī)攏共也就一品脫大小。它可以走動(dòng)，移動(dòng)它的手臂和頭部，并作為一個(gè)私人助理，可以讀取消息，并提醒用戶(hù)的日歷事件例如好友生日。它的重量只有390克，小到可以放在口袋里，云連接狀態(tài)下的robohon可以在就近平臺(tái)上展示圖片和視頻，并在晚上睡前和早上起床后問(wèn)候主人（得益于鬧鐘功能）。其可愛(ài)的外表，吱吱的聲音和友好的傾向，讓人很難把RoBoHon不當(dāng)人看。 “I saw people carrying their smartphones around and thought that would be a great idea to combine with a robot,” says designer Tomotaka Takahashi, whose other anime-inspired creations include Kirobo, an astro-droid that traveled to the International Space Station in 2013. Priced at $1,935, RoBoHon was one of several desktop humanoids on display last December at the iREX robotics trade show in Tokyo. Palro and Palmi, developed by telecommunications and software firm Fujisoft, can walk around, hold conversations with users and run cloud applications. While the $2,900 Palmi is aimed at households and kids, the more sophisticated $6,500 Palro is for use in seniors’ homes. “我看到人們到處拿著手機(jī)，想到要是能把智能機(jī)與機(jī)器人結(jié)合起來(lái)就再好不過(guò)了，”設(shè)計(jì)師高橋智隆說(shuō)，他的其他由動(dòng)漫啟發(fā)的作品，包括KIRIBO，一個(gè)航天機(jī)器人，在2013前往了國(guó)際空間站。售價(jià)1935美元，RoBoHon是去年十二月在東京iRex技術(shù)貿(mào)易展上，可以在桌面上展示的機(jī)器人之一。富士軟件研發(fā)的機(jī)器人PALRO和PALMI，則可以到處走動(dòng)，并能保持與用戶(hù)的對(duì)話(huà)和運(yùn)行云應(yīng)用。針對(duì)家庭主婦和孩子的PALMI售價(jià)為2900美元，更復(fù)雜的用于老年人家園的機(jī)器人需要6500美元。 Along with Paro the robot seal, Palro is already being used in dozens of care facilities in Japan, where it tries to engage residents in verbal entertainment and calisthenics routines. Somewhat cheaper is the $1,350 Premaid AI from DMM, a 46-centimeter-tall, smartphone-controlled hobby robot that can do dance routines. Unibo is yet another personal desktop robot launching this year. Inspired by the popular anime and manga robot Doraemon, Unibo has a large head evoking computer monitors of yesteryear. 繼承了Paro海豹機(jī)器人的優(yōu)良傳統(tǒng)，PALRO已經(jīng)被用于日本的幾十個(gè)嘗試轉(zhuǎn)型為娛樂(lè)休閑和居民鍛煉的保健設(shè)施。比較便宜的是1350美元的DMM premaid AI，一個(gè)46厘米高，可以做舞蹈動(dòng)作的，智能手機(jī)控制的機(jī)器人。unibo是另一個(gè)今年發(fā)布的桌面機(jī)器人。取材于最受歡迎的動(dòng)漫機(jī)器人哆啦A夢(mèng)，unibo有個(gè)可以喚起昔日記憶的大大的電腦顯示器腦袋。 This latest generation of personal robots can be seen as smartphones with arms and legs. The more successfully designed ones can convey a sense of charm, even personality. With improvements to artificial intelligence and servomotor design for arms and hands, they may soon be able to perform minor household chores such as tidying up, increasing their appeal. In the tradition of Astro Boy, these mechatronic companions are helping support society while earning our friendship. 這種最新一代的個(gè)人機(jī)器人可以被視為擁有四肢的智能手機(jī)。其中的集大成者可以傳達(dá)一種情感，甚至個(gè)性。隨著人工智能伺服手臂和手臂設(shè)計(jì)的改進(jìn)，機(jī)器人們很快就可以完成諸如整理小家務(wù)之類(lèi)的人物，來(lái)增加自己的吸引力。在鐵臂阿童木漫畫(huà)里，這些機(jī)電同伴幫助社會(huì)建設(shè)并贏得了我們的友誼。
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今天這篇文章雖然看起來(lái)長(zhǎng)，但是難度不高，大概是大學(xué)四級(jí)的水平。 大家可以嘗試翻譯一下，將譯文貼在回復(fù)中（可以是其中一段，其中一句）。作業(yè)做得好的同學(xué)，獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)威望。 PS.不鼓勵(lì)使用機(jī)器翻譯哦~ 1 d4 [& p/ f8 B( B0 |6 i; H
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發(fā)表于 2016-9-18 16:26:45
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