|
阅读理解
Robots have been a part of the manufacturing work force for decades－one in 10 auto-workers, for instance, is now made of metal and electronics．Robots for the house have been slower to come．Household chores(家务杂事)are less predictable and repetitive than those of the assembly line(装配线), making them difficult to explain in the simple language of a machine．Then how can we solve this problem? One answer is to design robots that are flexible for specific tasks, such as cacuuming(用真空吸尘器清扫)．Another is to figure out a way to make robots simple－and cheap－enough that ordinary people can build their own from parts and program them to do whatever they please．
With funding from Google, Intel and Microsoft, scientists at Carnegie Mellon University(CMU)in pittsburgh have created a series of build-it-yourself robots which they say are simple and cheap enough for almost anyone to create．
It starts with a black box called Qwerk－the robot“brain” that CMU built and sells for $349 on its Website．Using off-the-shelf parts(wheels, screwdrivers, electrical tape)and some simple instructions, anybody can build a 10-centimeter-high robot and program the Qwerk brain．You might make a wheeled robot with a video camera that can keep an eye on your house and sound the alarm in case someone enters．
Scientists hope that by bringing simple robot technology to the marketplace, they can open up the industry to the greater public－maybe even make robotics fun．They’ve tested prototypes(原型)in classrooms and workshops, and even tried them out with young kids．While most of the robots serve practical uses, their goal, scientists say, is to get the public to start contributing its own designs, and even make robots a form of self-expression．One student, for example, made a robot that sits on the side of the road and when it sees a car going too fast, puts up a sign that says slow down!
|
