经济学人下载:和机器人同行(1)

They might appear cutesy, but a pair of robots that turned up recently
最近，在福特汽车公司位于底特律的范戴克变速器厂

at the Ford Motor Company's Van Dyke Transmission Plant, in Detroit, are practical working machines.
出现了一对机器人，它们看起来可能很可爱，但却是实用的工作机器。

They may, indeed, point to the future of automation. Putting robots into factories is hardly a new idea—
的确，它们可能预示着自动化的未来。将机器人投入工厂并不是什么新想法——

some 2.4m of them are already at work in plants around the world.
其中约240万台机器人已经在世界各地的工厂中投入使用。

But most of these are little more than giant arms, bolted firmly to the ground, that weld and paint things.
但其中大部分都不过是牢牢固定在地面上的巨大手臂，用于焊接和涂漆工作。

Those few that have the mobility to manage tasks like delivering components do so by scooting along on wheels.
那些能够移动管理递送组建等任务的少数机器人是通过在轮子上快速移动来完成任务的。

The new devices at Van Dyke are rather different sorts of beasts. They can walk.
范戴克变速器厂出现的新设备是相当不同的类型，它们可以行走。

This pair of bright-yellow quadrupeds look a bit like dogs, prompting one to be nicknamed Fluffy and the other Spot
这两个亮黄色的四脚机器看起来有点像狗，一只被戏称为Fluffy，另一只叫Spot

(which latter moniker is also the official name given to this model of robot by the firm that manufactures them, Boston Dynamics, a subsidiary of SoftBank).
（后一个名字也是制造它们的公司Boston Dynamics（软银分公司）给这个机器人模型取得官方名字）。

The pair are not there to amuse the factory's human workers, though,
它们在工厂里可不是为了娱乐工厂的人类员工，

but rather to perform an important task that Ford hopes will save it a ton of money.
而是为了完成一项重要的任务，福特公司希望因此能节省一大笔钱。

With laser scanners mounted on their backs, Fluffy and Spot can scamper around the 200,000 square-metre plant collecting data.
它们的背部装有激光扫描仪，Fluffy和Spot可以在20万平方米的工厂快速奔跑着收集数据。

Those data will be employed to build a detailed computer model of the entire manufacturing operation.
那些数据将用于建造整个制造操作的详细计算机模型。

This sort of model is called a digital twin, and Ford's engineers will use it to work out how to rearrange the production line to produce a new gearbox.
这种模型被称为数字映射，并且福特的工程师将用它来研究如何重新安排生产线以生产一种新的变速箱。

Over the years, factory plans get out of date as things are moved around and new equipment is brought in.
多年来，随着物品的转移和新设备的引进，工厂计划已经过时。

Surveying the transmission plant by hand would take weeks and cost some $300,000.
人工勘测传输工厂将耗时数周，耗资约30万美元。

Ford reckons that Fluffy and Spot, which can both climb stairs and crawl into hard-to-reach areas,
Fluffy和Spotdo都可以爬楼梯，也能爬进难以到达的地方，

will cut the time required by half and complete the job for "a fraction of the cost".
福特认为它们能够将所需时间减半，并以“小部分成本”完成这项工作。

Although Ford is leasing the robots, Boston Dynamics has now put them on sale for $75,000 a pop.
虽然福特正在租用这些机器人，但Boston Dynamics现在以每台7.5万美元的价格出售它们。

At that price they would soon pay for themselves doing tasks like the one being undertaken in Van Dyke.
以这样的价格，他们很快就能为自己做的任务买单，比如在范戴克变速器厂中进行那项任务。

The Spot range is the first of Boston Dynamics's walking robots to be commercialised.
Spot系列是Boston Dynamics第一款商业化的行走机器人。

More such machines are starting to appear from other firms and research groups. Some are also quadrupeds. Others are bipedal.
越来越多的此类机器开始出现在其他公司和研究团体中。一些也是四脚的，一些是双脚的。

The two-legged sort can be more agile and, if equipped with arms as well, are better suited to tasks like picking things up or operating controls.
两腿类型可以更加敏捷，并且如果配上臂膀，就更适用于捡东西或操控等任务了。

What all of these machines have in common is that they represent—forgive the pun—a huge step forward in robot locomotion.
这些机器的共同点时它们代表着——恕我直言——机器人移动上的巨大进步。