VOA常速英语2019--无人机或便捷人类日常生活

Instead of scaffolding around big buildings, imagine a swarm¹ of drones methodically doing all kinds of chores, from cleaning windows to looking for problems and performing simple maintenance. Researchers from England and Switzerland have programmed these drones to do just that by adding a simple anchor and tether. So it places this anchor, and then pulls back to tighten² the string, and then uses an admittance controller to lower itself down to perch³ in a completely vertical⁴ position. By doing then, this mobility⁵ allocating⁶ the string, you can move up and down and like this assess, repair, and sense or sample the surface. But these researchers are looking way past buildings, and they see a world where drones are crawling across all kinds of giant structures from tunnels to subways to mines. The drones would routinely monitor the structures, and once identify any abnormality or any potential damage, they would go closer perch to the structure to the inspection⁷ tasks and if needed, they would even send repair agents that will go there and do the repair tasks.

一改在大型建筑物附近提供支架支撑的形象，想象一下一群无人机有条不紊地做着各种家务，从擦窗户到发现问题并解决问题，不一而足。来自英格兰和瑞士的一些科学家给这些无人机进行了编程，让它们可以完成这些工作，方法很简单：添加一个锚和系绳。无人机先是确定锚的位置，然后拉回来收紧绳子，通过导纳控制器来降低自身的高度，停落在完全垂直的位置。这样的做法能让绳子移动，上下移动也没有问题，就像这个无人机一样，能够评估、修复、感知或对表面采样。但这些科学家的目标不只是建筑物而已，他们的目标是无人机能够在各种大型结构上飞行，从隧道到地铁再到矿山，不一而足。无人机的日常工作是检测各种结构。一旦发现异常或者潜在的损坏情况，无人机就会靠近一些，停落在该结构上，以执行检查任务。如果有必要的话，无人机还会派出修复修复专员去往相应的结构物上，完成修复任务。

Not only are these drones able to continuously monitor big structures, but having them around means conducting routine assessment⁸ and maintenance won’t have to be a costly⁹ production. For example, today there is the tendency to build scaffolding or to use helicopters to do various assessment tasks, and really the question is how can we provide robotic systems that we do a lot of those tasks much faster, in a much more adaptive, much more reactive way.

这些无人机不仅能够持续监测大型结构，而且只要有了这些无人机，日常的评估和维修工作的成本也不会像以前一样高昂。比如，今天还有一种趋势，就是构建支撑结构或者使用直升飞机来执行各种平谷人物。而真正的问题在于：怎样能够提供机器人系统，从而让我们能够以更快的速度完成任务，完成的方式更能因地制宜也更有互动性。

As always, the fear is that robots will take away human jobs, but these researchers say drones are just another tool, not a replacement¹⁰ for people. Drones still have negative connotations in some discussions, but I think it is important that we show how they can support normal workflows, how they can support humans in their day-to-day jobs to make their life easier, less dangerous while at the same time reducing cost of operation. The research team took their inspiration from the natural world, watching house spiders move up and down their webs.

像往常一样，我们担心的是：机器人会取代人类完成许多工作，但这些科学家表示，无人机只是一种工具，不会取代人类。很多人在讨论无人机时依然有负面的看法。但我认为很重要的一点是：我们展现出无人机对正常工作流程到的支持作用、无人机可以怎样的方式来支持人类完成日常工作，从而便捷人类的生活，降低危险性，同时降低操作成本。该科研团队的灵感来自于自然世界——观察家蛛在自己编织的网上上下移动。

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 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

3 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

4 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

5 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

6 allocating   

分配，分派( allocate的现在分词 )； 把…拨给

参考例句：

• Administrative practice generally follows the judicial model in allocating burdens of proof. 在分配举证责任方面，行政实践通常遵循司法模式。
• A cyclical multiplexing technique, allocating resources in fixed-time slices. 以固定的时间片分配资源的循环复用技术。

7 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

8 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。