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Building robots for the future 製造未來機器人 Robots compete in California disaster simulation 機器人在加州災難模擬比賽中一較高下 The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge features cutting-edge robots doing simple but critical tasks. Robots in the disaster response competition in California must push buttons, turn valves, cut through a wall and drive a light utility vehicle. The winning design team will collect a US$2 million research award along with bragging rights in the rapidly developing robotics industry. "We get most of our ideas about robotics from science fiction. And we want to show a little bit of science fact," said Gill Pratt, who organized the competition for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which focuses on futuristic technologies for national security. 在美國國防先進研究計劃署機器人挑戰賽中，尖端科技機器人必須執行簡單卻極為關鍵的任務。參與加州這場災難因應比賽的機器人，必須懂得按鈕、打開閥門、切穿牆壁，並且駕駛輕型多功能汽車。獲勝的設計團隊除了可得到兩百萬美元的研究獎金，也能在這個快速發展的機器人產業闖出名聲。美國國防先進研究計劃署著重於發展有助國家安全的未來科技，而為這個單位籌畫這項比賽的吉爾普拉特表示：「我們大部份關於機器人的想法都是來自於科幻小說，但我們想呈現出科學事實。」 The contest ran from June 5 to 6 at a Pomona racetrack designed to look like a disaster zone. The robots may be slow, clumsy and delicate but they might just save lives someday by braving dangerous disaster zones. Pratt cited the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan as an emergency where such robots would have come in handy. "Sometimes in a disaster, it is too dangerous for people to go in," he said. 這項比賽從六月五日進行至六日，舉行的地點為被設計成災難場景的波摩納賽道。機器人也許動作緩慢、笨拙且脆弱，但也許有一天，它們將會穿梭在危險的災區中，拯救無數生命。普拉特以 2011 年日本福島核災的緊急情況為例，說明機器人可以在這樣的場合中派上用場。他說：「有時候當災難發生時，災區實在太過危險，人們根本無法進去。」 Teams of engineers, programmers and designers from research institutions across the world have worked for years to build robots that can maneuver the course and complete the assigned tasks. "We have a valve that we need to turn to shut off a gas leak or something similar," said John Seminatore, a Virginia Tech graduate student with Team Valor. "We have to cut a hole in a wall to get access to something behind it. And there will be either rough terrain or rubble that we get past." 世界各地眾多研究機構的工程師、程式設計師和設計師所組成的研究團隊，付出多年努力，打造出可以在賽道上運行、並且完成指派任務的機器人。維吉尼亞理工大學的研究生，同時也是這次競賽「勇氣隊」成員之一的約翰塞米納托爾表示：「我們必須轉動一道閥門，以防止煤氣外露或者類似的情形發生。我們必須在牆上穿孔，以接觸並取得牆後的東西。此外，我們的機器人也必須通過險惡的地形或瓦礫堆。」 The most difficult task — getting out of the small utility vehicle — is so hard that many teams aren't even attempting the dangerous egress, preferring to be docked on their times rather than risk toppling their robot into the dust. "Robots don't have that sense of touch that humans do to know where they are inside the car," Seminatore said. 最困難的任務則是使機器人走出小型多功能汽車，它困難的程度讓許多隊伍甚至直接放棄讓機器人進行這項危險的挑戰，寧願被扣時，也不願冒險讓機器人跌入灰塵之中。塞米納托爾說：「機器人沒有人類的觸覺，無法知道自己身處車內何處。」 The robots come in all shapes and sizes. Most appear humanoid but some can switch to wheels to get around. "RoboSimian" looks like a double-jointed monkey without a head. Another has a torso on a 4-wheeled base, like a centaur. Several teams used DARPA's Atlas robot as a start for their own designs. "This robot weighs almost (180 kilograms) with the battery and hydraulics," Cassie Moreira of Boston Dynamics said as she worked on the knees of a robot from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 這些機器人具有各種形狀和尺寸，大多數以人形呈現，但也有一些可切換成車輪來移動。「RoboSimian」看起來就像無頭的雙關節猴子，而另一組機器人則具有配備四個輪子的基台和一個軀幹，就像半人半馬一樣。許多隊伍採用美國國防先進研究計劃署的地圖機器人當作自己設計的起點。波士頓動力公司的凱西莫雷拉一邊處理著麻省理工學院一台機器人的膝蓋一邊說：「這組附有電池和液壓系統的機器人幾乎重達一百八十公斤。」 DARPA's first robot competition in 2004 was a race for driverless cars. None of the entries finished and most made it only a few kilometers. But 11 years later, Google's driverless cars are cruising. Pratt says that means the competitions are a success. So even if the robots struggle to exit a car this year, their designers will learn. And when DARPA issues a challenge and invites the public to watch the results, it means the Pentagon's "mad science" division is serious about disaster response robots. "What I love about this is it introduces everybody to the new dream. This is something you can do right now," said Jonathan Daniels, who teaches robotics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 美國國防先進研究計劃署在 2004 年首次舉行的機器人比賽是一場無人駕駛汽車的競賽。當時沒有一個隊伍完成比賽，且大多數僅僅行進了幾公里而已。然而，十一年後，谷歌公司的無人駕駛汽車已能在路上馳騁。普拉特表示，這顯現出比賽已經獲得成功。因此，即使機器人今年還無法順利完成從汽車內走出的任務，但它們的設計團隊將持續學習改進。而當美國國防先進研究計劃署發出挑戰，並邀請社會大眾觀看成果時，也意味著五角大廈的「瘋狂科學」部門可是非常認真看待救災機器人。在內華達大學拉斯維加斯分校教授機器人科學的強納森丹尼爾斯表示：「機器人挑戰賽讓每個人都見識到最新穎的夢想，且此時此刻的我們就已經能有所實踐。」