科技英语 safty issue.docx

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