VOA慢速英语2014 微型机器人学会与人类一起工作

 

AS IT IS 2014-08-24 Tiny Robots Learn to Work Together 微型机器人学会与人类一起工作

cientists at Harvard University have created an army of small robots that can move as a group to form shapes. The robots are called Kilobots. Scientists at the university have created 1,024 of the tiny robots. The Kilobots group together in a swarm¹ to make different shapes. Currently², the Kilobots can only make simple shapes like a sea star or the letter K that are first drawn³ on a computer. The command to form the shape is then sent to each robot by infrared⁴ light, which cannot be seen by the human eye.

When the robots receive the command, they begin to organize themselves into the shape.  Each Kilobot follows the edge of the group until it reaches the place where it is supposed to be. The robots can correct themselves if they are not in the right position.

Harvard University researcher Mike Rubenstein says it takes the robots hours to create a shape because they move one at a time at a slow speed.  The robots in the swarm are just a few centimeters across. Each has three legs that quickly move from side to side.  Mr. Rubenstein says each Kilobot was built by hand and costs about $14.

The Kilobot design is simple.  But it represents a big development in robot technology. Researchers at Harvard say the Kilobot is, in their words, “a significant milestone⁵ in the development of collective artificial intelligence.”

A Harvard news statement says the robots can sense problems when organizing into shapes and work together to fix them. Robot swarms⁶ usually have had no more than 100 individual robots. But the Harvard researchers say they are able to use over 1,000 robots because the Kilobots do not require any assistance other than their programming.

Robot swarms are already in use. The online store Amazon uses robots to move items in its huge storage buildings. And groups of robots search the oceans collecting different kinds of information.

Radhika Nagpal is a computer science professor at Harvard. The robots were built in her laboratory. She says that we will continue to see large numbers of robots working together. Ms. Nagpal notes that this cooperation could take the form of hundreds of robots working to clean the environment or aiding disaster recovery. She says robot cooperation could play a part in putting millions of self-driving cars on our highways. In her words, “understanding how to design good systems at that scale will be critical.”

Mike Rubenstein said the next step is to create robots that can attach to one another to create a solid structure.

1 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

2 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

5 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

6 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。