科技英语 safty issue.docx
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科技英语saftyissue
Robotswithskinenterourtouchy-feelyworld
▪19April2010byPaulMarks
▪Magazineissue2756.Subscribeandget4freeissues.
▪Forsimilarstories,visittheRobotsTopicGuide
BEAUTYmaybeonlyskindeep,butforhumanoidrobotsafleshycoveringisaboutmorethanmereaesthetics,itcouldbeessentialtomakingthemsociallyacceptable.Atouch-sensitivecoatingcouldpreventsuchmachinesfromaccidentallyinjuringanybodywithintheirreach.
InMay,ateamattheItalianInstituteofTechnology(IIT)inGenoawilldispatchtolabsacrossEuropethefirstpiecesoftouch-sensingskindesignedfortheirnascenthumanoidrobot,theiCub.TheskinIITanditspartnershavedevelopedcontainsflexiblepressuresensorsthataimtoputrobotsintouchwiththeworld.
"Skinhasbeenoneofthebigmissingtechnologiesforhumanoidrobots,"saysroboticistGiorgioMettaatIIT.Onegoalofmakingrobotsinahumanoidformistolettheminteractcloselywithpeople.Butthatwillonlybepossibleifarobotisfullyawareofwhatitspowerfulmotorisedlimbsareincontactwith.
Roboticistsaretryingagreatvarietyofwaystomakeasensingskin.Earlyexamples,suchastheCB2robot,builtatOsakaUniversityinJapan,placedafewhundredsensorsinsiliconeskin.Butnow"many,manysensingmethodsareemerging",saysRichardWalkerofShadowRobot,London.Untilalotofrobotsareusingthem,itisgoingtobehardtosaywhicharebestsuitedforparticularapplications.
What'smore,therearemanycriteriatheskinhastomeet,saysMetta:
itmustberesilient,abletocoveralargesurfaceareaandbeabletodetectevenlighttouchesanywhereonthatsurface."Manyofthesefactorsconflictwitheachother,"hesays.
TheiCubisahumanoidrobotthesizeofachildofthree-and-a-halfyearsold.FundedbytheEuropeanCommission,itwasdesignedtoinvestigatecognitionandhowawarenessofourlimbs,muscles,tendons腱andtactile触觉environmentfuelsthedevelopmentofintelligence.TheiCub'stechnicalspecificationsareopen-sourceandsome15labsacrossEuropehavealready"cloned"theirown,soIIT'sskindesigncouldfindplentyofrobotstoenwrap.
Theskinismadeupoftriangular,flexibleprintedcircuitboards三角状柔性印刷电路板whichactassensors,anditcoversmuchofiCub
'sbody.Eachbendytriangleis3centimetrestoasideandcontains12capacitivecoppercontacts电容铜触点(pictured).Alayerofsiliconerubberactsasaspacer间隔betweenthoseboardsandanouterlayerofLycrathatcarriesametalcontactaboveeachcoppercontact.TheLycralayerandflexiblecircuitsconstitutethetwosidesoftheskin'spressure-sensingcapacitors电容器.Thisarrangementallows12"tactilepixels"-ortaxels-tobesensedpertriangle.Thistaxelresolutionisenoughtorecognisepatternssuchasahandgraspingtherobot'sarm.Theskincandetectatouchaslightas1gramacrosseachtaxel,saysMetta.Itisalsopepperedwithsemiconductor-basedtemperaturesensors.ThisversionoftheskinwillbereleasedinMay.
Later,IITplanstoaddalayerofapiezoelectricpolymercalledPVDFtotheskin.Whilethecapacitancesensorsmeasureabsolutepressure,thevoltageproducedbyPVDFasaresultofitsdeformationwhentouchedcanbeusedtomeasuretherateofchangeofpressure.Soiftherobotrunsitsfingertipalongasurface,thevibrationsgeneratedbyfrictiongiveitcluesaboutwhatthatsurfaceismadeof.Suchsensitivitymighthelpitestablishthelevelofgripneededtopickup,say,aslipperyporcelainplate.
PhilipTaysom,CEOofBritishcompanyPeratechofRichmond,NorthYorkshire,isnotafanofsensingskinsbasedoncapacitors,whichhesayscanlosesensitivitywithrepeateduse.Peratech'sanswerisastretchy,elasticmaterialitcallsquantumtunnelingcomposite(QTC).量子隧道合成物Thiscomprisesapolymer聚合体suchassiliconerubber硅橡胶thatisheavilyloadedwithspikynickelnanoparticles尖的镍纳米颗粒.Avoltageisappliedacrosstheskin,andwhenitispressed,thedistancebetweenthenanoparticleswithinthepolymerdiminishes,whichresultsinelectronsflowing,or"tunnelling",fromonenanoparticlespike长钉tothenextintheareabeingtouched.Crucially,thematerial'selectricalresistancedropsdramaticallyandinproportiontotheforceapplied,sothetouchcanbeinterpreted.
AttheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology'sMediaLab,AdamWhitonisdevelopingaQTC-basedsensingskinforacommercialrobot-makerwhichhedeclinestoname.Insteadofatight,conformingskin,Whitonusesaloosercovering,moreakintoclothing."Wecoverourselveswithtextileswhenweinteractwithpeople,soclothingmaybeabettermetaphorasahumanoid'spressure-sensitivesurfacecovering,"hesays.
Naturalgestures,liketappingahumanoidonthebacktogetitsattention,orleadingitbythearm,canbeeasilyinterpretedbecauseQTCboastshighsensitivity,hesays.Butnovelskincapabilitiescouldbeontheway,too.Forexample,QTCcanalsoactasanelectronicnose.Carefulchoiceofthematerial'sbasepolymer,saysTaysom,meanstelltaleresistancechangescanbeinducedbyreactionsbetweenvolatilechemicalsintheair-soitcanbecomeane-noseaswellasatouchsensor,abletodetect,forexample,agasleakinyourhome."Thisshowswecanprobablybuildintorobotsalotofthingsthatourskincan'tdo.It'sanotherreasonnottostickrigidlytothehumanskinmetaphor,"saysWhiton.
That'snottosayourskinisn'tagreatinfluence.ShadowRobotwillsoonstarttestinganovelhuman-liketouch-sensingfingertipfromSyntouch,astart-upbasedinCalifornia.Itsfingertipcomprisesarubberyfluid-filledsacthatsquishesjustlikearealfingertip,andisequippedwithinternalsensorsthatmeasurevibration,temperatureandpressure.
Whicheveroftheemergingtechnologiesprevail,sensingrobotskinsshouldhelpusgetalongwithourfuturehumanoidassistants,saysWhiton."Rightnow,robotsareaboutasfriendlyasphotocopiers.Theinteractionsskinsencouragewillmakethemmuchfriendlier."
Parlez-vousrobot?
Ifyou'veevertriedtodirectalosttouristtotheirintendeddestination,you'llknowhowdifficultdirectingsomeonethatdoesn'tspeakyourlanguagecanbe.Directingrobotspresentsarelatedchallenge.
Typically,robotsrespondwelltopreciseinstructionsetsbuttheyareflummoxediftheirinstructionsaregiveninthefuzzy,everydaylanguagesobelovedbyhumans.NowateamattheUniversityofWashingtoninSeattlehavedevelopedtranslationsoftwarewhichcouldenablerobotstounderstandasetofnatural-languagedirections.Thetechnologycouldmakeiteasiertocontrolrobotsinsituationslikesearchandrescue,whereitcanbepreferabletosendarobotratherthanahuman.
CynthiaMatuszekandhercolleaguesusedtheprinciplesofmachinetranslation-commonlyusedonlinetotranslatetextofonelanguageintoanother-todevelopanavigationprogramforrobots.Machinetranslationtoolsaredesignedtolearnfrompreviousefforts,improvingtheiraccuracythroughexperience.
Theteamfirstsentasmallmobilerobottoexploreandmapportionsoftwobuildingsoncampus.Theresearchersthengeneratedrandompathsthroughthemapsandaskedhumanvolunteerstoannotatetherouteswithnaturalcommands,suchas"turnright",or"takethesecondleft"thatwouldhaveledtosuccessfulcompletionofeachpath.
Matuszekusedthesemapstotrainthenavigationprogram,whichlearnedtoassociatethevarioushumancommandswithspecifictypesofroute-findingbehaviour.
Thenavigationprogramwasthenrunonavirtualrobot,whichwasgivennatural-languagedirectionsforavarietyofpreviouslyunknownroutesthroughthemaps.Thevirtualrobotwasabletosuccessfullycomplete10ofthe14directionsetsonitsfirstattempt.TheresultswerepresentedattheInternationalConferenceonHuman-RobotInteractioninOsaka,Japan,inMarch.
"I'mgladtoseeworkthatisgettingbacktotheoriginaldreamsofthefield,likehavingarobotthatyoucantalkwithnaturally,"saysRayMooney,amachine-translationresearcherattheUniversityofTexasinAustin.
Hesaysthatpreviousattemptstogiverobotsinstructionshavefavouredexplicitrulesforsentencestructures,semanticsandsyntax.Hesaysthis"traditional"approachislabourintensiveandrequiresstrictlydefinedcommands,makingitcumbersomeinemergencysituationswheremanyrobotsaredeployed.
Sixwaystobuildrobotsthatdohumansnoharm
▪14:
2418November2008byTomSimonite
▪Forsimilarstories,visittheBooksandArtandRobotsTopicGuides
Withtherelentlessmarchoftechnologicalprogress,robotsandotherautomatedsystemsaregettingeversmarter.Atthesametimetheyarealsobeinggivengreaterresponsibilities,drivingcars,helpingwithchildcare
carryingweapons,andmaybesoonevenpullingthetrigger.
Butshouldtheybetrustedtotakeonsuchtasks,andhowcanwebesurethattheynevertakeadecisionthatcouldcauseunintendedharm?
ThelatestcontributiontothegrowingdebateoverthechallengesposedbyincreasinglypowerfulandindependentrobotsisthebookMoralMachines:
TeachingRobotsRightfromWrong.
AuthorsWendellWallach,anethicistatYaleUniversity,andhistorianandphilosopherofcognitivescienceColinAllen,atIndianaUniversity,arguethatweneedtoworkouthowtomakerobotsintoresponsibleandmoralmachines.Itisjustamatteroftimeuntilacomputerorrobottakesadecisionthatwillcauseahumandisaster,theysay.
Soaretherethingswecandotominimisetherisks?
WallachandAllentakealookatsixstrategiesthatcouldreducethedangerfromourownhigh-techcreations.
Keeptheminlow-risksituations
Makesurethatallcomputers