拉线自动行走机器人_经济学人 | 自动行走的机器人

A new generation of ambulatory machines is striding to market

新一代的移动机器人正大步走向市场

They might appear cutesy, but a pair of robots that turned up recently at the Ford Motor Company's Van Dyke Transmission Plant, in Detroit, are practical working machines. They may, indeed, point to the future of automation. Putting robots into factories is hardly a new idea——some 2.4m of them are already at work in plants around the world. But most of these are little more than giant arms, bolted firmly to the ground, that weld and paint things. Those few that have the mobility to manage tasks like delivering components do so by scooting along on wheels. The new devices at Van Dyke are rather different sorts of beasts. They can walk.

它们看起来很可爱，但是最近在底特律的福特汽车公司的范戴克变速器厂出现的一对机器人却是实用的工作机器。事实上，他们可能会指出自动化的未来。将机器人投入工厂并不是一个新的想法——全世界约有240万机器人已经在世界各地的工厂工作。但其中的大多数都是巨型机械臂，它们被螺栓牢固地固定在地上，来焊接和油漆东西。其中有机动性来管理诸如交付组件之类任务的少数机器人是通过用轮子滑行来实现的。在范戴克的新设备是完全不同种类的“牲畜”。它们可以行走。

This pair of bright-yellow quadrupeds look a bit like dogs, prompting one to be nicknamed Fluffy and the other Spot(which latter moniker is also the official name given to this model of robot by the firm that manufactures them, Boston Dynamics, a subsidiary of SoftBank). The pair are not there to amuse the factory's human workers, though, but rather to perform an important task that Ford hopes will save it a ton of money. With laser scanners mounted on their backs, Fluffy and Spot can scamper around the 200,000 square-metre plant collecting data. Those data will be employed to build a detailed computer model of the entire manufacturing operation. This sort of model is called a digital twin, and Ford's engineers will use it to work out how to rearrange the production line to produce a new gearbox.

这对亮黄色的四足动物看起来有点像狗，这使得一个被昵称为Fluffy，另一个被昵称为Spot(后一个绰号也是制造它们的软银子公司，波士顿动力，给这个机器人模型的官方名字)。不过，这一对并不是为了取悦工厂的工人，而是为了完成一个重要任务，福特希望为它节省一大笔钱。在他们的背上安装了激光扫描仪后，Fluffy和Spot可以在20万平方米的工厂周围奔走收集数据。那些数据将用于建立整个制造操作流程的详细的计算机模型。这种模型被称为数字映射，福特的工程师将用它来解决如何重新排列生产线来生产新的变速箱。

Over the years, factory plans get out of date as things are moved around and new equipment is brought in. Surveying the transmission plant by hand would take weeks and cost some $300,000. Ford reckons that Fluffy and Spot, which can both climb stairs and crawl into hard-to-reach areas, will cut the time required by half and complete the job for “a fraction of the cost”. Although Ford is leasing the robots, Boston Dynamics has now put them on sale for $75,000 a pop. At that price they would soon pay for themselves doing tasks like the one being undertaken in Van Dyke.

多年来，工厂的计划已经过时，因为东西被移动和新设备被引进。手工测量传送装置需要数周时间，费用约$300,000。福特估计Fluffyuffy和Spot既可以爬楼梯，也可以爬进难以到达的地区，可将所需的时间减少一半，并以“一小部分成本”完成这项工作。虽然福特正在租赁这些机器人，但波士顿动力现在已经将它们以每台7.5万美元的价格出售。按照这个价格，它们很快就能通过从事像在范戴克那样的任务来为自己买单。

The Spot range is the first of Boston Dynamics's walking robots to be commercialised. More such machines are starting to appear from other firms and research groups. Some are also quadrupeds. Others are bipedal. The two-legged sort can be more agile and, if equipped with arms as well, are better suited to tasks like picking things up or operating controls. Whatall of these machines have in common is that they represent—forgive the pun—a huge step forward in robot locomotion.

Spot系列是波士顿动力首次将行走机器人商业化。更多这样的机器开始出现在其他公司和研究小组。有些也是四足行走。其他是双足的。双足机器人可以更灵活，如果配备了手臂，也更适合如拾取东西或操作控制之类的任务。所有这些机器的共同点是，它们代表着移动机器人向前迈出了巨大的一步，如果你原谅这是双关语的话。

本文翻译：ForwardW

校核：ForwardW

编辑：ForwardW

重难点词汇：

stride n. 大步；vt. 跨过；vi. 跨过

cutesy adj. 忸怩作态的；故意讨人喜欢的

mobility n. 机动性

get out of 逃避，戒除，由...出来

get out 离开；泄漏；逃出；出版

reckon vt. 猜想，估计， 认为

fraction n. 小部分；[数]分数

undertake vt. 担任；保证；从事；开始进行

quadruped adj. 四足的 n. 四足动物

commercialise vt. 使商业化

bipedal adj. 两足的 n. 两足动物

agile adj. 灵活的

forgive the pun 如果原谅这是双关语的话

locomotion n. 移动，运动