Robotics

機(jī)器人科學(xué)

A cryin’, talkin’, sleepin’, walkin’, livin’ doll

一個(gè)哭泣，說(shuō)話，睡覺(jué)，走路，活生生的玩偶

Robots that resemble human beings are getting rapidly better

人型機(jī)器人正在迅速進(jìn)步

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1 ASKED A QUESTION, Ameca fixes you with sapphire-blue eyes. Does that face contain a hint of a smile? “Yes, I am a robot,” is the reply. Another Ameca, standing nearby in a group of four, stares across inquisitively and tries to join in. “Currently, it’s the worst-ever party guest,” says Will Jackson, Ameca’s creator. “It butts in on every conversation and never shuts up.”

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當(dāng)被問(wèn)及一個(gè)問(wèn)題時(shí)，Ameca用寶藍(lán)色的眼睛盯著你。這張臉是否含有一絲微笑？"是的，我是一個(gè)機(jī)器人，" Ameca回答道。另一個(gè)Ameca，站在附近的四人小組中，好奇地盯著對(duì)面，試圖加入對(duì)話。"目前，它是有史以來(lái)最糟糕的聚會(huì)客人，"Ameca的創(chuàng)造者威爾-杰克遜說(shuō)。"它會(huì)插嘴每一次談話，而且從不閉嘴"。

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2 Mr Jackson, boss of Engineered Arts, a small robotics company in Falmouth, south-west England, is trying to fix that problem. Those eyes contain cameras and the Amecas are being trained to recognise faces and decide who is paying attention or making eye contact during conversations. Teaching manners to robots in this way is another step in the long, complicated process of making humanlike machines that can live and work alongside people—and, importantly, do so safely. As Ameca and other robots show, great strides are being made towards this end.

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杰克遜先生是英格蘭西南部法爾茅斯的一家小型機(jī)器人公司Engineered Arts的老板，他正試圖解決這個(gè)插嘴的問(wèn)題。Ameca的眼睛含有攝像頭，它們正在接受訓(xùn)練來(lái)識(shí)別人臉，并決定誰(shuí)在關(guān)注談話或者正在進(jìn)行談話，以此來(lái)與人們進(jìn)行眼神交流。工程師們以這種方式向機(jī)器人傳授禮儀，使人型機(jī)器人能夠與人類一起生活和工作，這是在漫長(zhǎng)、復(fù)雜過(guò)程中的一項(xiàng)進(jìn)步。而且重要的是，這樣能讓人與機(jī)器人的相處更加安全。正如Ameca和其他機(jī)器人所顯示的那樣，人們正朝著這一目標(biāo)大步邁進(jìn)。

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3 Some big boys are also moving into the business. On September 30th Elon Musk, boss of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter, unveiled Optimus, a clunky, faceless prototype that walked hesitantly on stage and waved to the crowd. It was built from readily available parts. A more refined version, using components designed by Tesla, was then wheeled on. Although it was not yet able to walk, Mr Musk said progress was being made and that in volume production its price could fall to around $20,000.

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be wheeled on 被推上.....

一些商業(yè)大亨也正在進(jìn)入這個(gè)行業(yè)。9月30日，特斯拉、SpaceX和Twitter的老板埃隆·馬斯克(Elon Musk)發(fā)布了Optimus，這是一個(gè)笨重的、沒(méi)有面孔的原型機(jī)，在舞臺(tái)上猶豫不決地走著，向人群揮手。它是用現(xiàn)有的零件制造的。隨后，一個(gè)由特斯拉公司設(shè)計(jì)，更精致的版本被推上了舞臺(tái)。雖然它還不能行走，但馬斯克先生說(shuō)，項(xiàng)目正在取得進(jìn)展，在批量生產(chǎn)后，其價(jià)格可能會(huì)降至2萬(wàn)美元左右。

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Every home should have one

每個(gè)家庭都應(yīng)該擁有一個(gè)機(jī)器人

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4 That is a tenth of the cost of a basic Ameca. Mr Jackson, who attended Optimus’s unveiling, agrees prices will come down with mass production. (He has sold 11 Amecas so far, and plans to open a factory in America to boost output.) But he wonders what, exactly, Mr Musk is proposing. The unveiling featured a video of Optimus moving parts in a Tesla factory. Yet car factories are already filled with the world’s most successful robots—transporting components around, welding and painting parts, and assembling vehicles. These robots do not look like people because they don’t need to.

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Optimus相當(dāng)于一個(gè)普通Ameca十分之一的成本。參加Optimus揭幕儀式的杰克遜先生同意這一說(shuō)法，隨著大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)，價(jià)格將會(huì)下降。(到目前為止，他已經(jīng)賣出了11臺(tái)Ameca，并計(jì)劃在美國(guó)開(kāi)設(shè)一家工廠以提高產(chǎn)量）。但他想知道，馬斯克先生的計(jì)劃到底是什么。揭幕式上播放了一段Optimus在特斯拉工廠中移動(dòng)零部件的視頻。然而，汽車工廠已經(jīng)充滿了世界上最成功的機(jī)器人--運(yùn)輸零部件、焊接、噴涂零件以及組裝車輛。這些機(jī)器人看起來(lái)不像人類，因?yàn)樗鼈儾恍枰绱恕?/p>

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5 The reason for building humanoid machines, Mr Jackson maintains, is for tasks involving human interaction. With a bit of development Ameca might, for example, make a companion for an elderly person—keeping an eye on them, telling them their favourite television programme is about to start and never getting bored with having to make repeated reminders to the forgetful. To that end, Engineered Arts aims to teach its robots to play board games, like chess. But only well enough so that they remain fallible, and can be beaten.

杰克遜先生認(rèn)為，制造人型機(jī)器人的原因是為了完成涉及人類互動(dòng)的任務(wù)。例如，通過(guò)開(kāi)發(fā)，Amela可以成為老年人的陪護(hù)—照料他們，告訴他們自己最喜歡的電視節(jié)目即將開(kāi)始，并且永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)對(duì)健忘的人感到厭煩。為此，Engineered Arts旨在教機(jī)器人玩棋類游戲，如國(guó)際象棋。但不會(huì)把它們教的太好，以保證它們?nèi)匀皇菚?huì)犯錯(cuò)誤的，可以被人類打敗。

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6 To interact successfully with people, Mr Jackson asserts, a robot needs a face. “The human face is the highest bandwidth communications tool we have,” he observes. “You can say more with an expression than you can with your voice.” Hence Ameca’s face, formed from an electronically animated latex skin, is very expressive.

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杰克遜先生斷言，為了成功地與人互動(dòng)，機(jī)器人還需要一張臉。"人臉是我們最高帶寬的通信工具，"他說(shuō)，"你用表情說(shuō)的話比你用聲音說(shuō)的還要多。" 因此，Ameca的臉由電子驅(qū)動(dòng)的乳膠皮膚形成，非常具有表現(xiàn)力。

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7 Although the company, which has its origins in making animated figures for the entertainment industry, can construct highly realistic faces, Ameca’s phizog is designed deliberately to look how people might expect a robot from the world of science fiction to appear. It has a grey complexion, visible joints and no hair. It therefore avoids falling into the “uncanny valley”, an illusion that happens when an artificially created being shifts from looking clearly not human into something more real, but not quite real enough. At this point people feel disturbed by its appearance. Comfort levels rise again as similarity to a human becomes almost perfect.

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盡管這家公司起源于為娛樂(lè)業(yè)制作動(dòng)畫人物，能夠構(gòu)建高度逼真的臉，但Ameca的練被刻意設(shè)計(jì)成人們期望的科幻世界中機(jī)器人的樣子。它有一個(gè)灰色的皮膚，外露的關(guān)節(jié)、沒(méi)有頭發(fā)。因此，它避免落入 "恐怖谷"，這是一種錯(cuò)覺(jué)。當(dāng)人造生物的外表努力模仿人類特征，但又不夠逼真的時(shí)候，就會(huì)出現(xiàn)這種錯(cuò)覺(jué)。人們會(huì)對(duì)其外觀感到不安。當(dāng)與人類的相似性變得幾乎完美時(shí)，人類對(duì)其的舒適度會(huì)再次上升。

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8 Some roboticists do, however, seek such perfection. Besides assisting people, robots can also act as their avatar representatives. Ishiguro Hiroshi, director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University, in Japan, has built one in his own image. He recently unveiled another, which resembles Kono Taro, Japan’s digital minister. The idea is that people either speak through their avatar with their own voice, or through someone else’s voice modified to sound like them. Mr Kono’s avatar will, apparently, be used to stand in for the minister at public-relations functions.

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然而，一些機(jī)器人專家確實(shí)在追求這種完美。除了協(xié)助人們，機(jī)器人還可以作為他們的化身。日本大阪大學(xué)智能機(jī)器人實(shí)驗(yàn)室主任石黑浩，已經(jīng)按照自己的形象建造了一個(gè)機(jī)器人。他最近公布了另一個(gè)機(jī)器人，它類似于日本數(shù)字部長(zhǎng)河野太郎。這個(gè)想法是，人們可以用自己的聲音通過(guò)機(jī)器人化身來(lái)說(shuō)話，也可以通過(guò)別人的聲音修改成自己的聲音。顯然，河野先生的化身將用來(lái)在公共關(guān)系活動(dòng)中代替自己的位置。

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9 Though less humanlike, Ameca could work as an avatar, too. Its conversation is more compelling—a loquaciousness derived from an external AI program called a large language model, with which it interacts via Wi-Fi and the internet.

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雖然不那么像人，但Ameca也可以作為一個(gè)化身。它的對(duì)話更加引人入勝--一種來(lái)自外部人工智能程序，稱為大型語(yǔ)言模型，它通過(guò)Wi-Fi和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)與人互動(dòng)。

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10 Engineered Arts is also working on hardware and software to allow the latest developments in computer vision to be incorporated quickly into its robots. And, as Mr Jackson readily admits, Ameca needs work in other areas, too. Asked if it can walk, the robot replies: “Unfortunately not, but I hope to soon. Until then I am bolted to the floor.” A set of experimental legs stands ready in a nearby corner.

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Engineered Arts還在研究硬件和軟件，以使計(jì)算機(jī)上的最新發(fā)展能夠迅速融入機(jī)器人。而且，正如杰克遜先生欣然承認(rèn)的那樣，Ameca在其他方面也需要努力。當(dāng)被問(wèn)及它是否可以行走時(shí)，機(jī)器人回答說(shuō)，"不幸的是，我不能行走，但我希望自己很快就能做到。在那之前，我被固定在地板上。" 一套實(shí)驗(yàn)腿已經(jīng)在附近的角落準(zhǔn)備好了。

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Different strokes

不同的招數(shù)

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11 Different companies are coming from different directions in their approaches to making humanoid robots. Mr Jackson, who was born into a family of artists involved in making automatons, gravitated naturally towards producing modern versions of them for the likes of theme parks, museums and the film industry. These have steadily evolved in sophistication. Some work as interactive guides. Others are used as research platforms by universities. During the covid lockdown, when business dried up, the firm threw all of its resources at developing Ameca, its most advanced model yet.

stroke

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不同公司在制造人型機(jī)器人方面有不同的方向。杰克遜先生出生在一個(gè)從事機(jī)器人制造的藝術(shù)家家庭，他很自然地傾向于為主題公園、博物館和電影產(chǎn)業(yè)等生產(chǎn)現(xiàn)代版本的機(jī)器人。這些機(jī)器人在復(fù)雜性方面有了穩(wěn)步發(fā)展。有些是作為互動(dòng)導(dǎo)游，還有一些被大學(xué)用作研究平臺(tái)。在疫情封鎖期間，當(dāng)業(yè)務(wù)枯竭時(shí)，該公司將其所有資源用于開(kāi)發(fā)Ameca，這是其迄今為止最先進(jìn)的機(jī)器人。

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12 Other developers, like Tesla, are able to organise far bigger efforts—but not always successfully, as the case of Honda, a Japanese carmaker, shows. At one point, Honda’s diminutive humanoid robot ASIMO (so named to honour Isaac Asimov, who wrote science-fiction stories about robots) was considered the world’s most advanced. The firm started work on this project in the 1980s, and although ASIMO could walk—albeit clumsily—interpret voice commands and move objects, Honda shut the project down in 2018 to concentrate instead on more practical forms of robotics, such as mobility devices for the elderly.

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其他開(kāi)發(fā)商，如特斯拉，能夠組織更大的研發(fā)活動(dòng)--但并不總是成功的，正如日本汽車制造商本田公司的案例所示。該公司的小型人型機(jī)器人ASIMO（名字為紀(jì)念機(jī)器人科幻小說(shuō)作家艾薩克-阿西莫夫）一度被認(rèn)為是世界上最先進(jìn)的。該公司在20世紀(jì)80年代開(kāi)始了這個(gè)項(xiàng)目的工作，雖然ASIMO可以行走--盡管很笨拙—能夠理解語(yǔ)音命令和移動(dòng)物體，但本田在2018年關(guān)閉了這個(gè)項(xiàng)目，轉(zhuǎn)而專注于更實(shí)用的機(jī)器人技術(shù)形式，如輔助老年人行動(dòng)的設(shè)備。

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13 Some roboticists have turned a hobby into a business. Shadow Robot, in London, which makes one of the most dexterous humanlike robot hands available, traces its roots to hobbyists meeting in the attic of its founder’s home. Most outfits, however, have emerged from universities. One of the best known is Boston Dynamics, which began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Atlas, its Hulk-like humanoid, has become an internet video sensation—running, jumping and performing backflips. But Atlas is principally a research project, too expensive to put into production. The company does sell a walking robot, but it is a four-legged one called Spot, which resembles a dog.

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attic

outfit

atlas有地圖集的意思

一些機(jī)器人學(xué)家已經(jīng)把愛(ài)好變成了生意。倫敦的" Shadow Robot,"制造的是目前最靈巧的人型機(jī)器人手，其靈感源自業(yè)余愛(ài)好者們?cè)谄鋭?chuàng)始人家中的閣樓聚會(huì)。然而，大多數(shù)公司都是從大學(xué)中產(chǎn)生的。其中最著名的是波士頓動(dòng)力公司，它始于麻省理工學(xué)院。它的巨型人形機(jī)器人Atlas的視頻已經(jīng)在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上引起了轟動(dòng)—視頻中的Atlas能夠奔跑、跳躍和表演后空翻。但Atlas主要是一個(gè)研究項(xiàng)目，投入批量生產(chǎn)的成本太高。該公司確實(shí)還出售一種行走機(jī)器人，但它是一種四條腿的機(jī)器人，名為Spot，類似于一只狗。

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14 One of a bipedal robot’s advantages is that it should be able to go wherever a person can. That includes navigating uneven surfaces and walking up and down steps. Digit, made by Agility Robotics of Corvallis, Oregon, is actually able to do this.

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雙足機(jī)器人的優(yōu)勢(shì)之一是，它理論上能去人能夠到達(dá)的地方。這包括在不平坦的地表上行走和上下臺(tái)階。俄勒岡州科瓦利斯的Agility Robotics公司制造的Digit，能夠在現(xiàn)實(shí)中做到這一點(diǎn)。

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15 Digit is based on Cassie, a walking torso developed at Oregon State University using machine-learning studies of human locomotion. In May, it set a record as the fastest robot to run 100 metres. (It took 24.7 seconds, some way behind Usain Bolt’s 9.6.)

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Digit以Cassie為基礎(chǔ)，Cassie是俄勒岡州立大學(xué)利用對(duì)人類運(yùn)動(dòng)的機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)研究而開(kāi)發(fā)的一個(gè)行走軀干。5月，它創(chuàng)造了最快的機(jī)器人跑100米的記錄。(它花了24.7秒，比尤塞恩-博爾特的9.6秒慢了一些）。

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16 Unlike Cassie, Digit has a chest, arms and hands of a sort— though no fingers. In place of a head it has a lidar, an optical analogue of radar that builds up a three-dimensional model of the world around it using lasers. Digit is not designed to be humanoid, says Jonathan Hurst, Agility’s chief technology officer. It is, rather, a “human-centric” robot intended as a tool for people to use to achieve more things.

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與Cassie不同的是，Digit有胸部、手臂和手，但沒(méi)有手指。它有一個(gè)激光雷達(dá)，這是一種類似于雷達(dá)的光學(xué)設(shè)備，它通過(guò)激光建立起周圍世界的三維模型，代替了頭部。Agility公司的首席技術(shù)官喬納森-赫斯特（Jonathan Hurst）說(shuō)，Digit的設(shè)計(jì)不是為了成為人形。相反，它是一個(gè) "以人為本 "的機(jī)器人，旨在幫助人們實(shí)現(xiàn)更多事情的工具。

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17 One of Digit’s first roles is likely to be in a distribution centre run by an online retailer or freight company. Some already use automated goods-handling, but usually in areas fenced off to keep people out, in order to avoid injuries. Elsewhere, tasks remain labour-intensive. By being designed to work safely alongside people, Digit could start changing this—for instance, by moving and stacking crates (see picture). It might then progress to unloading trucks and subsequently graduate to making home deliveries, carrying items from van to doorstep. Ultimately, the aim is to be able to instruct the robot by talking to it.

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Digit的第一個(gè)工作可能是在線上零售商或貨運(yùn)公司經(jīng)營(yíng)的配送中心。一些公司已經(jīng)實(shí)現(xiàn)了自動(dòng)化貨物處理，但通常是在有圍欄的地方，為了避免受傷，不讓人員進(jìn)入。在其他地方，運(yùn)輸任務(wù)仍然是勞動(dòng)密集型的。通過(guò)設(shè)計(jì)，機(jī)器人可以與人類一起安全工作，Digit可以開(kāi)始改變這種狀況--例如，移動(dòng)和堆放板條箱（見(jiàn)圖）。然后，它可能會(huì)發(fā)展到卸載卡車貨物，隨后發(fā)展到送貨上門，將物品從貨車運(yùn)到家門口。最終，公司的目標(biāo)是能夠通過(guò)與機(jī)器人對(duì)話來(lái)指導(dǎo)它行動(dòng)。

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18 Agility plans to produce Digit in volume by 2024. It is working with several big, though unnamed, delivery outfits, on ways in which Digit could collaborate safely with people. If the robot’s sensors detect someone it pauses and then navigates around them. Nevertheless, says Dr Hurst, it will soon acquire a simplified face to help signal its intentions. An animated set of eyes, for instance, will look in a particular direction to indicate which way it is heading, and a glance at someone will show it has noticed them.

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Agility公司計(jì)劃在2024年之前批量生產(chǎn)Digit。該公司正在與未透露姓名的幾家大型快遞公司合作，研究如何讓Digit與人安全協(xié)作。如果機(jī)器人的傳感器探測(cè)到有人，它就會(huì)暫停，然后在他們周圍規(guī)劃新路線。然而，赫斯特博士說(shuō)，它很快就會(huì)開(kāi)發(fā)一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)化的面部表情，以幫助表達(dá)機(jī)器人的意圖。例如，一組眼睛動(dòng)畫表明機(jī)器人正在看向一個(gè)特定方向，以表明它的行進(jìn)方向，而看一眼某人則表明機(jī)器人注意到了他們。

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Do no harm

不造成傷害

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19 Such safety systems will be needed for robots to interact successfully with people. At present, their use is governed mainly by standard safety and product-liability rules. Some argue, however, that special robot-specific laws will be required to ensure they are operated safely. As every sci-fi buff knows, Asimov laid out a set of these eight decades ago. 20 They are:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

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要想讓機(jī)器人成功地與人互動(dòng)，就需要這樣的安全系統(tǒng)。目前，它們的使用主要受安全標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和產(chǎn)品責(zé)任規(guī)則的制約。然而，一些人認(rèn)為，將需要專門的機(jī)器人法律來(lái)確保它們的安全運(yùn)行。每個(gè)科幻迷都知道，阿西莫夫在八十年前就制定了一套這樣的法律。它們是：

機(jī)器人不得傷害人類個(gè)體，或者目睹人類個(gè)體將遭受危險(xiǎn)而袖手不管。

機(jī)器人必須服從人給予它的命令，當(dāng)該命令與第一定律沖突時(shí)例外。

機(jī)器人在不違反第一、第二定律的情況下要盡可能保護(hù)自己的生存。

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21 But, as every sci-fi buff also knows, Asimov’s storylines often revolve around these laws not quite working as planned.

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但每個(gè)科幻迷也知道，阿西莫夫的故事情節(jié)往往圍繞著這些法則并不完全按照法則運(yùn)作。

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22 About his Digits, Dr Hurst says, “My opinion is that they are very safe. But we need real statistics and a regulatory environment to prove this.”

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關(guān)于他的Digit機(jī)器人，赫斯特博士說(shuō)："我的看法是，它們非常安全。但我們需要真實(shí)的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)和監(jiān)管環(huán)境來(lái)證明這一點(diǎn)。"

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23 For his part, Mr Musk said that Optimus would contain a device that could be used as an off switch if necessary. Although the robot itself would be connected to Wi-Fi, the switch would not, so that it was isolated to prevent remote interference.

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馬斯克先生則表示，Optimus將包含一個(gè)裝置，可以在必要時(shí)作為關(guān)閉開(kāi)關(guān)使用。雖然機(jī)器人本身會(huì)連接到Wi-Fi，但開(kāi)關(guān)不會(huì)，這樣機(jī)器人就可以獨(dú)立運(yùn)行，以防止遠(yuǎn)程信號(hào)干擾。

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24 As far as the Amecas’ safety is concerned, Mr Jackson is taking an engineering approach. He observes that one reason human limbs avoid injuring others is by being both firm and floppy at the same time. Unfortunately, the small, powerful actuators needed to emulate this in robots do not yet exist. He is working on that, though, for it will be of little use teaching an Ameca social graces if it then commits the faux pas of bashing into you.

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就Ameca的安全性而言，杰克遜先生正在采取一種工程方法。他觀察到，人類肢體避免傷害他人的一個(gè)原因是同時(shí)具有堅(jiān)硬和柔軟。不幸的是，在機(jī)器人方面，模擬這種情況所需的小型、強(qiáng)大的驅(qū)動(dòng)器還不存在。不過(guò)，他正在研究這個(gè)問(wèn)題，因?yàn)槿绻鸄meca失態(tài)撞上了其他人，那么教它社交禮儀就沒(méi)什么用了。