機器人相關(guān)外文翻譯

1、<p><b>　　機器人技術(shù)發(fā)展趨勢</b></p><p>　　作者：Jim Pinto，加利福利亞州圣迭亞哥·美國</p><p>　　談到機器人，現(xiàn)實仍落后于科幻小說。但是，僅僅因為機器人在過去的幾十年沒有實現(xiàn)它們的承諾，并不意味著機器人的時代不會到來，或早或晚。事實上，多種先進技術(shù)的影響已經(jīng)使得機器人的時代變得更近——更小、更便宜、更實用

2、和更具成本效益。</p><p><b>　　肌肉、骨骼和大腦</b></p><p>　　任何一個機器人都有三方面：</p><p>　　·肌肉——有效聯(lián)系有關(guān)物理荷載以便于機器人運動。</p><p>　　·骨骼——一個機器人的物理結(jié)構(gòu)取決于它所做的工作；它的尺寸大小和重量則取決于它的物理荷載。&

3、lt;/p><p>　　·大腦——機器人智能；它能獨立思考和做什么；需要多少人工互動。</p><p>　　由于機器人在科幻世界中所被描繪過的方式，很多人希望機器人在外型上與人類相似。但事實上，機器人的外形更多地取決于它所做的工作或具備的功能。很多一點兒也不像人的機器也被清楚地歸為機器人。同樣，很多看起來像人的機器卻還是僅僅屬于機械結(jié)構(gòu)和玩具。</p><p>

4、;　　很多早期的機器人是除了有很大力氣而毫無其他功能的大型機器。老式的液壓動力機器人已經(jīng)被用來執(zhí)行3-D任務(wù)即平淡、骯臟和危險的任務(wù)。由于第一產(chǎn)業(yè)技術(shù)的進步，完全徹底地改進了機器人的性能、業(yè)績和戰(zhàn)略利益。比如，20世紀(jì)80年代，機器人開始從液壓動力轉(zhuǎn)換成為電動單位。精度和性能也提高了。</p><p>　　工業(yè)機器人已經(jīng)在工作</p><p>　　時至今日，全世界機器人的數(shù)量已經(jīng)接近100

5、萬，其中超過半數(shù)的機器人在日本，而僅僅只有15%在美國。幾十年前，90%的機器人是服務(wù)于汽車生產(chǎn)行業(yè)，通常用于做大量重復(fù)的工作。現(xiàn)在，只有50%的機器人用于汽車制造業(yè)，而另一半分布于工廠、實驗室、倉庫、發(fā)電站、醫(yī)院和其他的行業(yè)。</p><p>　　機器人用于產(chǎn)品裝配、危險物品處理、油漆噴霧、拋光、產(chǎn)品的檢驗。用于清洗下水道，探測炸彈和執(zhí)行復(fù)雜手術(shù)的各種任務(wù)的機器人數(shù)量正在穩(wěn)步增加，在未來幾年內(nèi)將繼續(xù)增長。<

6、;/p><p><b>　　機器人智能</b></p><p>　　即使是原始的智力，機器人已經(jīng)被證明了在生產(chǎn)力、效率和質(zhì)量方面都能夠創(chuàng)造良好的效益。除此之外，一些“最聰明的”機器人沒有用于制造業(yè)；它們被用于太空探險、外科手術(shù)遙控，甚至于寵物，比如索尼的AIBO電子狗。從某種意義上來說，一些其他應(yīng)用表明機器人可能的用途，如果生產(chǎn)廠家認識到這點，工業(yè)機器人并不是要局限于某一

7、個方面，或者受限于昨日的機械概念。</p><p>　　伴隨著電力微處理器和人工智能技術(shù)的迅速增長，大大提高機器人其潛在的彈性的自動化工具。新增加的智能機器人的應(yīng)用要求先進的智能。機器人技術(shù)正在融合各種互補技術(shù) - 機器視覺，力傳感（觸摸），語音識別和高級技工。這一令人振奮的成果代表了新水平的工作應(yīng)用，比以往任何時候都認為是實際的機器人。具有綜合的視覺和觸覺的機器人的引進，極大地改變了新的生產(chǎn)和輸送系統(tǒng)的速度和效

8、率。機器人變得如此準(zhǔn)確，以至于機器人可以應(yīng)用于所有手工場所已不再是一個不可能的觀點。半導(dǎo)體制造業(yè)就是一個例子，高度一致的吞吐量和質(zhì)量，不能靠手工或簡單機械就能實現(xiàn)。此外，那些快速產(chǎn)品與傳統(tǒng)硬質(zhì)工具不相匹配的部分的轉(zhuǎn)換和革新已經(jīng)取得了顯著的成果。</p><p><b>　　增強競爭力</b></p><p>　　如上所述，機器人的應(yīng)用起源于汽車制造業(yè)。美國通用汽車已經(jīng)

9、擁有四至五萬的機器人，仍然堅持繼續(xù)發(fā)展并運用新方法。為了使機器人更加智能化，現(xiàn)在已運用了大量新的戰(zhàn)略選擇。在過去的兩三年里，汽車價格已經(jīng)下降，為了不斷創(chuàng)造利潤，制造商唯一的途徑就是降低結(jié)構(gòu)和生產(chǎn)成本。</p><p>　　汽車廠想要改建新模式，通常需要投入數(shù)以億計美元來購買設(shè)備。機器人制造的技術(shù)重點是通過減少資本投入的方式以增加適用性。新的遙控技術(shù)已被發(fā)現(xiàn)用在以專用設(shè)備自動作業(yè)的操作上了。它的靈活性能作業(yè)自動化發(fā)

10、揮得更協(xié)調(diào)，并且有很大的成本優(yōu)勢。</p><p><b>　　機器人協(xié)助</b></p><p>　　其主要的增長領(lǐng)域是智能機器人協(xié)助裝置（IAD）——操作人員熟練地操作著機器人，就好像是自己的手和腳變長了，并且更有力了。這就是遙控技術(shù)，沒有人和機器人可以代替，它是有助于改造人類環(huán)境產(chǎn)品的一個新版本，多方面的幫助人類伙伴，包括動力供應(yīng)、運動導(dǎo)向、線路跟蹤以及程序自動

11、化。</p><p>　　智能機器人協(xié)助裝置運用遙控技術(shù)幫助人們以較少的壓力，更多、更大、更好、更快地才做零部件和有效荷載。利用人類機器界面，操作員和智能機器人協(xié)助裝置攜手合作以優(yōu)化開放性、指導(dǎo)性和定位移動。傳感器、計算機動力和操控運算法則將操作員的手令轉(zhuǎn)譯成人類提升能力裝置。</p><p><b>　　遙控新格局</b></p><p>　

12、　隨著科技和有摩爾定律帶來的經(jīng)濟影響將繼續(xù)改變計算機的能力和價格，我們應(yīng)該期望更多創(chuàng)新，更多更具成本效益的遙控結(jié)構(gòu)，以及更多在傳統(tǒng)服務(wù)重點之外的運用。</p><p>　　工業(yè)遙控設(shè)備最大的變化是，它們將形成更廣泛的多種結(jié)構(gòu)和機制。在許多情況下，牽涉到自動裝置系統(tǒng)的配置，不會立即被認為是機器人。例如，自動操作半導(dǎo)體生產(chǎn)的遙控裝置已遠遠不同于那些用在汽車制造業(yè)的遙控裝置。</p><p>　

13、　我們會有等到那么一天，更多這類可編程加工的遙控設(shè)備會比現(xiàn)今有的傳統(tǒng)遙控設(shè)備多得多。一個突發(fā)性轉(zhuǎn)變即將來臨，它的潛力是巨大的，因為不久后遙控設(shè)備不僅能夠提高成本效益，也能產(chǎn)生前所未有的優(yōu)勢和操作應(yīng)用。</p><p><b>　　遠景展望</b></p><p>　　盡管機器人研究人員希望仿效人類的智慧和外表，但是從未成功過。大多數(shù)機器人仍是無形的，也并非萬能，也不能

14、快速識別目標(biāo)物體。兩足直立行走的機器人微乎其微，比如本田P3，主要是用于研究和樣品展示。</p><p>　　機器視覺系統(tǒng)集成的工業(yè)機器人的數(shù)量相對較少 - 這就是為什么它被稱為機器視覺，而不是機器人視覺。早期采用機器視覺價格很高，因為這樣的技術(shù)需要調(diào)整系統(tǒng)。例如，在80年代中期，從辛辛那提米拉克龍公司的柔性制造系統(tǒng)，包括90萬美元的視覺導(dǎo)引系統(tǒng)。到1998年的平均價格已經(jīng)下降至40,000元，且價格持續(xù)下降。&

15、lt;/p><p>　　今天，從Cognex，Omron花2000美元就能購買到簡單匹配的視覺傳感器系統(tǒng)。降價反映了當(dāng)今電腦成本的降低，和為特殊工作如偵察業(yè)等視覺系統(tǒng)的重點開發(fā)。</p><p>　　機器人在世界各地的使用</p><p>　　工業(yè)機器人的銷售已經(jīng)上升到創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的水平，他們擁有巨大的尚未開發(fā)的潛力，家務(wù)，如修剪草坪，并用真空吸塵器清理地毯。去年有3000個

16、水下機器人，2300個拆卸機器人和1600個手術(shù)機器人開始工作。預(yù)計吸塵和除草機器人的數(shù)量將大幅度增加，從2000年得12500到2004年末的500000個。現(xiàn)在iBOT、Roomba的價格也不到2000美元了。</p><p>　　在最近的炭疽恐慌之后，機器人越來越多地用于郵政分揀應(yīng)用。事實上，美國的郵政自動化有其巨大的潛力。去年，有1000個機器人被安裝用來分類包裹。美國郵政總署估計，將來有可能使用8000

17、0個機器人來分類包裹。</p><p>　　換股今天在我們身邊的“機器人”：瓦斯自動泵、銀行自動柜員機、自助式測試線，機器已經(jīng)取代了很多服務(wù)工作。、</p><p>　　在今后的數(shù)十年，不難想象，圖像處理的發(fā)展進步、微處理器加速和人為模擬可能導(dǎo)致自動化成為世界上最無聊、低智力、低工資的工作。</p><p>　　Marshall Brian，HowStuffWork

18、s。com的創(chuàng)辦人，寫了兩篇有趣的關(guān)于機器人的論文，很值得一讀。他覺得在今后四十年內(nèi)機器人將代替許多人類工作，那是很有可能的。根據(jù)他的預(yù)測，在他的論文“機器人種族”中，人性化機器人將在2030年得到普及。他們將取代目前由人類從事的工作，如快餐服務(wù)、清潔房間和零售服務(wù)。除非找到辦法來彌補這些失去的就業(yè)機會，否則他估計到2055年超過50%的美國人將由機器人代替而失業(yè)。</p><p><b>　　大量機器

19、人的新應(yīng)用</b></p><p>　　隨著機器人智能的提高，以及傳感器、傳動和運行機制的日趨完善，它的應(yīng)用也大大增加了。現(xiàn)在有成千上萬的水下機器人、破壞機器人，甚至用于遠程手術(shù)。</p><p>　　數(shù)十個實驗搜救機器人搜尋了世貿(mào)中心雙塔樓的殘骸。機器人專家小組在第一現(xiàn)場操作實驗機器人，用來探測瓦礫以定位遇難者尸體。在阿富汗使用的機器人是美軍的作戰(zhàn)工具。它們被送入洞穴、建筑物

20、或其他地區(qū)，作為部隊的先鋒，以防止人員傷亡。</p><p>　　巨人步行機器人被用來伐木。它用六個關(guān)節(jié)來移動，前進和后退，橫走和斜走，還可以轉(zhuǎn)身和跨越障礙物。</p><p>　　在伯克萊分校，一個叫micromechanical的微型昆蟲飛行機器人，它能非常自然地精確地拍打翅膀。他們的目標(biāo)是做一個又小又靈活的裝置，例如，秘密偵查敵軍，可以探測火星表面和安全檢查危險化學(xué)品泄漏。</

21、p><p>　　機器人技術(shù)——一個振奮人心的新領(lǐng)域</p><p>　　自動化技術(shù)人員通常需要具備文本、PLC、計算機、顯示器、控制、傳感器、閥門、傳動、數(shù)據(jù)傳輸、無線通訊、網(wǎng)絡(luò)等方面的知識和經(jīng)驗。這些也正是機器人及機器人技術(shù)發(fā)展的關(guān)鍵。在經(jīng)濟不景氣的這個時候，機器人技術(shù)一定會成為一定成為一個振奮人心且潛力巨大的新領(lǐng)域。</p><p>　　Robotics techn

22、ology trends</p><p>　　By : Jim Pinto, San Diego, CA. USA</p><p>　　When it comes to robots, reality still lags science fiction. But, just because robots have not lived up to their promise in past

23、 decades does not mean that they will not arrive sooner or later. Indeed, the confluence of several advanced technologies is bringing the age of robotics ever nearer - smaller, cheaper, more practical and cost-effective&

24、lt;/p><p>　　Brawn, Bone & Brain</p><p>　　There are 3 aspects of any robot: </p><p>　　Brawn – strength relating to physical payload that a robot can move. </p><p>　　Bon

25、e – the physical structure of a robot relative to the work it does; this determines the size and weight of the robot in relation to its physical payload. </p><p>　　Brain – robotic intelligence; what it can t

26、hink and do independently; how much manual interaction is required. </p><p>　　Because of the way robots have been pictured in science fiction, many people expect robots to be human-like in appearance. But in

27、 fact what a robot looks like is more related to the tasks or functions it performs. A lot of machines that look nothing like humans can clearly be classified as robots. And similarly, some human-looking robots are not m

28、uch beyond mechanical mechanisms, or toys. </p><p>　　Many early robots were big machines, with significant brawn and little else. Old hydraulically powered robots were relegated to tasks in the 3-D category

29、– dull, dirty and dangerous. The technological advances since the first industry implementation have completely revised the capability, performance and strategic benefits of robots. For example, by the 1980s robots trans

30、itioned from being hydraulically powered to become electrically driven units. Accuracy and performance improved. </p><p>　　Industrial robots already at work</p><p>　　The number of robots in the

31、world today is approaching 1,000,000, with almost half that number in Japan and just 15% in the US. A couple of decades ago, 90% of robots were used in car manufacturing, typically on assembly lines doing a variety of re

32、petitive tasks. Today only 50% are in automobile plants, with the other half spread out among other factories, laboratories, warehouses, energy plants, hospitals, and many other industries. </p><p>　　Robots

33、are used for assembling products, handling dangerous materials, spray-painting, cutting and polishing, inspection of products. The number of robots used in tasks as diverse as cleaning sewers, detecting bombs and perform

34、ing intricate surgery is increasing steadily, and will continue to grow in coming years. </p><p>　　Robot intelligence</p><p>　　Even with primitive intelligence, robots have demonstrated ability

35、to generate good gains in factory productivity, efficiency and quality. Beyond that, some of the "smartest" robots are not in manufacturing; they are used as space explorers, remotely operated surgeons and even

36、 pets – like Sony's AIBO mechanical dog. In some ways, some of these other applications show what might be possible on production floors if manufacturers realize that industrial robots don't have to be bolted to

37、the floor, </p><p>　　With the rapidly increasing power of the microprocessor and artificial intelligence techniques, robots have dramatically increased their potential as flexible automation tools. The new s

38、urge of robotics is in applications demanding advanced intelligence. Robotic technology is converging with a wide variety of complementary technologies – machine vision, force sensing (touch), speech recognition and adva

39、nced mechanics. This results in exciting new levels of functionality for jobs that were never </p><p>　　The introduction of robots with integrated vision and touch dramatically changes the speed and efficien

40、cy of new production and delivery systems. Robots have become so accurate that they can be applied where manual operations are no longer a viable option. Semiconductor manufacturing is one example, where a consistent hig

41、h level of throughput and quality cannot be achieved with humans and simple mechanization. In addition, significant gains are achieved through enabling rapid product changeover </p><p>　　Boosting Competitive

42、ness </p><p>　　As mentioned, robotic applications originated in the automotive industry. General Motors, with some 40-50,000 robots, continues to utilize and develop new approaches. The ability to bring more

43、 intelligence to robots is now providing significant new strategic options. Automobile prices have actually declined over the last two to three years, so the only way that manufacturers can continue to generate profits i

44、s to cut structural and production costs. </p><p>　　When plants are converted to new automobile models, hundreds of millions of dollars are typically put into the facility. The focus of robotic manufacturing

45、 technology is to minimize the capital investment by increasing flexibility. New robot applications are being found for operations that are already automated with dedicated equipment. Robot flexibility allows those same

46、automated operations to be performed more consistently, with inexpensive equipment and with significant cost advantages. </p><p>　　Robotic Assistance</p><p>　　A key robotics growth arena is Inte

47、lligent Assist Devices (IAD) – operators manipulate a robot as though it were a bionic extension of their own limbs with increased reach and strength. This is robotics technology – not replacements for humans or robots,

48、but rather a new class of ergonomic assist products that helps human partners in a wide variety of ways, including power assist, motion guidance, line tracking and process automation. </p><p>　　IAD’s use rob

49、otics technology to help production people to handle parts and payloads – more, heavier, better, faster, with less strain. Using a human-machine interface, the operator and IAD work in tandem to optimize lifting, guiding

50、 and positioning movements. Sensors, computer power and control algorithms translate the operator's hand movements into super human lifting power. </p><p>　　New robot configurations</p><p>　

51、　As the technology and economic implications of Moore's law continue to shift computing power and price, we should expect more innovations, more cost-effective robot configurations, more applications beyond the tradi

52、tional “dumb-waiter” service emphasis. </p><p>　　The biggest change in industrial robots is that they will evolve into a broader variety of structures and mechanisms. In many cases, configurations that evolv

53、e into new automation systems won't be immediately recognizable as robots. For example, robots that automate semiconductor manufacturing already look quite different from those used in automotive plants. </p>

54、<p>　　We will see the day when there are more of these programmable tooling kinds of robots than all of the traditional robots that exist in the world today. There is an enormous sea change coming; the potential is

55、significant because soon robots will offer not only improved cost-effectiveness, but also advantages and operations that have never been possible before. </p><p>　　Envisioning Vision </p><p>　　D

56、espite the wishes of robot researchers to emulate human appearance and intelligence, that simply hasn't happened. Most robots still can't see – versatile and rapid object recognition is still not quite attainable

57、. And there are very few examples of bipedal, upright walking robots such as Honda’s P3, mostly used for research or sample demonstrations. </p><p>　　A relatively small number of industrial robots are integr

58、ated with machine vision systems – which is why it's called machine vision rather than robot vision. The early machine vision adopters paid very high prices, because of the technical expertise needed to “tweak” such

59、systems. For example, in the mid-1980s, a flexible manufacturing system from Cincinnati Milacron included a $900,000 vision guidance system. By 1998 average prices had fallen to $40,000, and prices continued to decline.

60、</p><p>　　Today, simple pattern matching vision sensors can be purchased for under $2,000 from Cognex, Omron and others. The price reductions reflect today's reduced computing costs, and the focused deve

61、lopment of vision systems for specific jobs such as inspection. </p><p>　　Robots already in use everywhere</p><p>　　Sales of industrial robots have risen to record levels and they have huge, unt

62、apped potential for domestic chores like mowing the lawn and vacuuming the carpet. Last year 3,000 underwater robots, 2,300 demolition robots and 1,600 surgical robots were in operation. A big increase is predicted for d

63、omestic robots for vacuum cleaning and lawn mowing, increasing from 12,500 in 2000 to almost 500,000 by the end of 2004. IBot’s Roomba floor cleaning robot is now available at under $200.00. </p><p>　　In the

64、 wake of recent anthrax scares, robots are increasingly used in postal sorting applications. Indeed, there is huge potential to mechanize the US postal service. Some 1,000 robots were installed last year to sort parcels

65、and the US postal service has estimated that it has the potential to use up to 80,000 robots for sorting. </p><p>　　Look around at the “robots” around us today: automated gas pumps, bank ATMs, self-service c

66、heckout lanes – machines that are already replacing many service jobs. </p><p>　　Fast-forward another few decades. It doesn't require a great leap of faith to envision how advances in image processing, m

67、icroprocessor speed and human-simulation could lead to the automation of most boring, low-intelligence, low-paying jobs. </p><p>　　Marshall Brain (yes, that's his name) founder of HowStuffWorks.com has w

68、ritten a couple of interesting essays about robotics in the future, well worth reading. He feels that it is quite plausible that over the next 40 years robots will displace most human jobs. According to Brain's proje

69、ctions, in his essay "Robotic Nation", humanoid robots will be widely available by 2030. They will replace jobs currently filled by people for work such as fast-food service, housecleaning and retail sales. Unl

70、es</p><p>　　New robot applications abound</p><p>　　As robot intelligence increases, and as sensors, actuators and operating mechanisms become more sophisticated, other applications are now multi

71、plying. There are now thousands of underwater robots, demolition robots and even robots used in long-distance surgery. </p><p>　　Dozens of experimental search-and-rescue robots scoured the wreckage of the Wo

72、rld Trade Center's collapsed twin towers. Teams of robotics experts were at Ground Zero operating experimental robots to probe the rubble and locate bodies. During the war in Afghanistan, robots were being used by th

73、e US military as tools for combat. They were sent into caves, buildings or other dark areas ahead of troops to help prevent casualties. </p><p>　　A giant walking robot is used to harvests forests, moving on

74、six articulated legs, advancing forward and backward, sideways and diagonally. It can also turn in place and step over obstacles. </p><p>　　At UC Berkeley, a tiny robot called Micromechanical Flying Insect h

75、as wings that flap with a rhythm and precision matched only by natural equivalents. The goal is to develop tiny, nimble devices that can, for example, surreptitiously spy on enemy troops, explore the surface of Mars or s

76、afely monitor dangerous chemical spills. </p><p>　　Robotics – an exciting new development arena</p><p>　　The typical Automation techie has knowledge and experience in instruments, PLCs, computer

77、s, displays, controls, sensors, valves, actuators, data-transmission, wireless, networking, etc. These are exactly the key requirements for development of robots and robotic systems. During this time of economic recessio