Robots， becoming increasingly prevalent in factories and industrial plants throughout the developed world， are programmed and engineered to perform industrial tasks without human intervention. Most of todays robots are employed in the automotive industry， where they are programmed to take over such jobs as welding and spray painting automobile and truck bodies. They also load and unload hot， heavy metal forms used in machines casting automobile and truck frames.

機(jī)器人在所有發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家的工廠日益普及，人們對(duì)它們進(jìn)行編程和設(shè)計(jì)，使其在無(wú)人情況下執(zhí)行工業(yè)任務(wù)?，F(xiàn)今，大多數(shù)機(jī)器人用于汽車(chē)工業(yè)，人們對(duì)其編程，從事如汽車(chē)和卡車(chē)車(chē)身焊接、噴漆之類(lèi)的工作。它們也用于裝卸鑄造汽車(chē)和卡車(chē)框架的機(jī)器中熾熱、笨重的金屬鑄模。

Robots， already taking over human tasks in the automotive field， are beginning to be seen， although to a lesser degree， in other industries as well. There they build electric motors， small appliances， pocket calculators， and even watches. The robots used in nuclear power plants handle the radioactive materials， preventing human personnel from being exposed to radiation. These are the robots responsible for the reduction in job-related injuries in this new industry.

機(jī)器人已經(jīng)在汽車(chē)行業(yè)接任了人類(lèi)工作，在其他行業(yè)也開(kāi)始看到它們的身影，雖然使用程度低一些。在那里它們制造電動(dòng)馬達(dá)、小型設(shè)備、袖珍計(jì)算器，甚至手表。用于核電站的機(jī)器人處理輻射材料，避免工作人員暴露于輻射中。這些機(jī)器人可以減少這一新型工業(yè)帶來(lái)的傷害。

What makes a robot a robot and not just another kind of automatic machine？ Robots differ from automatic machines in that after completion of one specific task， they can be reprogrammed by a computer to do another one. As an example， a robot doing spot welding one month can be reprogrammed and switched to spray painting the next. Automatic machine， on the other hand， are not capable of many different uses； they are built to perform only one task.

什么使機(jī)器變成機(jī)器人而不是其他的自動(dòng)化機(jī)器呢？機(jī)器人與自動(dòng)化機(jī)器的區(qū)別在于：機(jī)器人完成一項(xiàng)特定工作后，它們可以被電腦重新編程去執(zhí)行另一項(xiàng)任務(wù)。比如，一個(gè)機(jī)器人做了一個(gè)月的點(diǎn)焊，可以被重新編程，下個(gè)月轉(zhuǎn)向噴漆。相反，自動(dòng)化機(jī)器卻沒(méi)有許多不同用途，它們只是為了完成一項(xiàng)任務(wù)而被建造。

The next generation of robots will be able to see objects， will have a sense of touch， and will make critical decisions. Engineers skilled in microelectronics and computer technology are developing artificial vision for robots. With the ability to “see”， robots can identify and inspect one specific class of objects out of a stack of different kinds of materials. One robot vision system used electronic digital cameras containing many rows of light-sensitive materials. When light from an object such as a machine part strikes the camera， the sensitive materials measure the intensity of light and convert the light rays into a range of numbers. The numbers are part of a grayscale system in which brightness is measured in a range of values. One scale ranges from 0 to 15， and another from 0 to 255. The 0 is represented by black. The highest number is white. The numbers between is represented by different shades of gray. The computer then makes the calculations and converts the numbers into a picture that shows an image of the object in question. It is not yet known whether robots will one day have vision as good as human vision. Technicians believe they will， but only after years of development.

下一代機(jī)器人將能看見(jiàn)物體，具有觸覺(jué)，能做出關(guān)鍵性的決定。精通微電子和電腦技術(shù)的工程師正在為機(jī)器人開(kāi)發(fā)人造視力，有了“看”的能力，機(jī)器人就能從一堆不同的材料中鑒別檢查出具體的一類(lèi)物體。機(jī)器人視覺(jué)系統(tǒng)采用包含多行感官材料的電子數(shù)碼相機(jī)。當(dāng)一個(gè)物體上的光，如機(jī)器零件，照射到相機(jī)上時(shí)，敏感材料就可測(cè)量出光的強(qiáng)度，把光線轉(zhuǎn)換為一組數(shù)字。這些數(shù)字是灰度系統(tǒng)的一部分，其亮度由一系列數(shù)值測(cè)量。一個(gè)刻度范圍是0到15，另一個(gè)是0到225。0用黑色表示，最高值用白色，其間的數(shù)值用不同的灰色陰影來(lái)表示。然后計(jì)算機(jī)進(jìn)行計(jì)算，并將數(shù)字轉(zhuǎn)換為表明該物體形象的圖像?，F(xiàn)在還不知道有一天機(jī)器人是否具有人類(lèi)一樣的好視力。技術(shù)人員相信它們會(huì)的，只是需要多年的開(kāi)發(fā)。

Engineers are designing and experimenting with new types of metal hands and fingers， giving robots a sense of touch. Some engineers are writing new programs allowing robots to make decisions such as whether to discard defective parts in finished products. To do this， the robot will also have to be capable of identifying those defective parts.

工程技術(shù)人員正在設(shè)計(jì)和試驗(yàn)新型金屬手臂和手指，使機(jī)器人具有觸覺(jué)。一些工程人員正在編寫(xiě)新的程序，使機(jī)器人能決定是否拋棄成品中有缺陷的零件。要做到這點(diǎn)，機(jī)器人還必須具有鑒別有缺陷零件的能力。

These future robots， assembled with a sense of touch and the ability to see and make decisions， will have plenty of work to do. They can be used to explore for minerals on the ocean floor or in deep areas of mines too dangerous for humans to enter. They will work as gas station attendants， firemen， housekeepers， and security personnel. Anyone wanting to understand the industry of the future will have to know about robotics.

集觸覺(jué)、視覺(jué)和作決定能力于一體的這些未來(lái)機(jī)器人將會(huì)做大量工作。它們可以用于海底探礦，或探測(cè)對(duì)人類(lèi)太危險(xiǎn)的深層區(qū)域的礦物。它們可以做加油站服務(wù)人員、消防人員、房屋管理員和安全人員的工作。任何想了解未來(lái)工業(yè)的人必須懂得機(jī)器人。