日本发明牙医机器人

 日本昭和大学最近发布了用于牙医试验的昭和花子2号机器人，相比1号，2号的头部的作动由液压改成了马达，同时也将 PVC 外皮换成了更拟真的硅胶外皮。除了会张嘴秀一口白牙之外，花子2号还能识别语音、并且做出许多超拟真的动作，包括眨眼、打喷嚏、咳嗽、甚至是噎到，并发出“唉哟，太疼了！”的声音。大家应该都会问，这种机器人有什么用？根据Tmsuk英文版新闻稿称：“使用女性机器人，可以使医生在治疗时更加谨慎，不触碰其胸部。”

Showa University has announced Showa Hanako 2, a robot dental patient fabricated by robot maker¹ Tmsuk. Compared with its predecessorShowa Hanako 1, this robot is designed to be more realistic, functional², and easier to use. Showa Hanako 2 will actually be sold by the dental supply company The Yoshida Dental Manufacturing.

The main features of the new robot are a silicone skin and mouth lining³ by Orient Industry, a maker of love dolls. The tongue and arms each have two degrees of freedom, and the robot overall has ten, enabling it to make natural movements, like shaking its head and choking.

“We’ve been in contact with Orient Industry for over a decade, since before we produced Hanako 1. Even then, we thought we’d need professionals to help with the molding. If you don’t try to make a robot’s face look realistic, it doesn’t have the same effect on users psychologically. How doctors and students actually feel in the presence of a patient is a really big factor. It makes quite a difference if students can train while experiencing the same kind of tension they’d feel about a human patient – thinking, for example, “I’m really going to make this treatment work,” or “Even the smallest mistake would be unforgivable.” We think it’s OK for people to be tense while training, and to make mistakes, because, well, this is a robot.”

Showa Hanako 2 has several major improvements. The skin has been changed from PVC to silicone, and the tongueand cheeklinings have been formed in one piece. And the head, which previously⁴ moved only pneumatically, now has a motor.

“We considered the motions of the tongue and mouth lining separately. To prevent water getting into the machinery⁵ and causing problems, we wanted to form those parts in one piece if possible. But the molding technology for doing that wasn’t available to us. Orient Industry had that technology, and it helped us a lot.”

Among the robot’s autonomous⁶ actions, it can blink, roll its eyes, sneeze, shake its head, cough, move its tongue, and get tired of keeping its mouth open. In addition, the robot now has a conversation capability⁷, using speech recognition technology from Raytron.

“People choke if you put your fingers down their throat, which is called the gagreflex. We’ve reproduced that reflex. Students are taught about this from textbooks, but it’s hard to teach them what actually happens. So we’ve built a choking capability into this robot.”

“Even when we first produced Showa Hanako, we were asked to sell it in four or five countries. But the problem was how we could keep offering maintenance, which is Tmsuk’s job, if the robot came into widespreaduse. However, we thought that Showa Hanako should be sold through coordination⁸ among the government and organizations involved, as a technology from Japan, rather than from an individual university or company. Regarding actual feature development, speech recognition has gone very well, even better than we expected. We’ve found that the robot can recognize a variety of words, and accumulate a vocabulary. This will be really helpful when we do data mining from medical histories and patient databases. So we have the feeling that a new industry will be born in the medical field.”

背景知识：

Tmsuk：日本的机器人制造公司，专门研发护理型机器人，曾经开发过能陪女孩逛街的TMSUK Ⅳ机器人，以及能确保家庭安全的Banryu小恐龙家居巡逻员等。

Showa Hanako：昭和花子1号，是Tmsuk2010年3月发布的牙医模拟训练机器人，外观像一名5英尺高的日本女性，是全球首款供牙科试验的女性机器人。

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

3 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

6 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

7 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

8 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。