科学家发明海底机器人圆梦儿时寻宝探险梦想（在线收听）

科学家发明海底机器人圆梦儿时寻宝探险梦想

The underwater robot called Trident grew out of a 1970s magazine article about a treasure hunt.

这个名为Trident的水下机器人的设计理念源于20世纪70年代当时杂志刊登的一篇关于寻宝的文章。

“There was this story that there was a robbery and gold was thrown to the bottom of this underwater cave, and all these treasure hunters and scuba divers, no one was able to get to the bottom… So Erichad this big idea that he was going to build this underwater robot to go explore.”

“这个故事是讲发生了抢劫事件，然后黄金被扔到水下洞穴的底部,最后所有寻宝者及潜水员,无人能够寻获黄金… 因此埃里克德就有了建造这个水下机器人进行海底探索这一大胆的想法。”

David Lang and Eric Stackpole took a smartphone, and made it waterproof. Thrusters propel Trident through the water. The little robot, tethered to a buoy, can dive to a depth of 100 meters.

大卫·朗和埃里克·斯塔普尔加入到其中使它防水。水下机器人的动力是推进器。这个小机器人拴在一个浮标上,可以潜到深度100米的水中。

It sends a video signal-including temperature, depth and directional information-to an operator, who controls Trident remotely via an Internet connection, and sees what it sees through a virtual reality headset.

它能够将包括温度、深度及方位信息通过视频信号的方式发送给操作人员，而操作人员可以通过远程网络连接进行控制,而且会以一个虚拟现实耳机接收。

The Trident hasn't helped the explorers find gold, but Lang says the real treasure is the chance to help people understand the importance and fragility of our underwater ecosystem.

Trident并没有帮助探险者们寻回黄金,但朗表示真正的财富是这个机器人会帮助人们了解水下生态系统的重要性及脆弱性。

“The most important thing and first thing is that we have to get people to care…and I think the way to do that is to allow them to engage." It’s to give them the tools to actually explore themselves and to feel some sense of ownership in the process.”

“最重要且首当其冲的一件事是,我们必须引起人们的关注…我认为方法是让人们参与进来。”提供工具，让他们进行探索,在这个过程中他们会感到某种意义上的所有权。”

The developers hope the low-cost, easy to operate Trident robot will become a powerful research tool. The public campaign to raise operating funds has collected three-quarters of a million dollars and has the potential to make even non-swimmers ocean explorers.

开发人员希望这个低成本,操作方便的水下机器人Trident会对研究工作有所帮助。公众周转资金已筹集到近75万美元,而且甚至有可能让不会游泳的人成为海洋探险家。