6月17日VOA聽力：能做飯的機械人行將進入廚房
Search-and-rescue operations in dangerousenvironments are often seen as the first areasthat will employ advanced robots. But there isanother segment of everyday life that may soonsee many robots taking over jobs usuallyreserved for humans: the restaurant industry.
At the DARPA Robotic Challenge competition held in California, robots were required tocomplete tasks quite simple for humans — drive a vehicle, climb up steps, cross some roughterrain, shut a valve. Some spectacular failures illustrated how hard it is to design efficientwalking machines.
Only a few days later, at an annual food machinery and technology exhibition in Tokyo, astationary robotic chef prepared food with remarkable versatility, while other machinescooked, baked pastries and even wrapped perfect sushi.
Akihiro Suzuki, assistant manager at Yaskawa Electric, said his company's robot, MOTOMAN-SDA5, could be an excellent kitchen assistant because it never gets tired.
“Obviously, it's difficult for him to taste or adjust heat or seasonings properly to get the bestflavor," Suzuki said. "But if it's simple cooking with a specific proportion of seasoning, hecan repeat the same movement to reproduce the same dish.”
Visitors were impressed. Masayo Mori, watching the robot at work, said, "I wouldn't mindgetting a husband like this for myself.”
Suzumo Machinery displayed its sushi maker, which takes over the strenuous and repetitivetask of wrapping the increasingly popular Japanese delicacy.
Hiroshi Monden, one of the company managers, said sushi "has been spread to the world, butsushi chefs are not as much. With this machine, anybody can make sushi so easily andrepeatedly.”
Another new technology that impressed onlookers was a machine designed by the FurukawaKikou company for scooping and moving soft ingredients without leaving any residue.Development division manager Takuya Furukawa said the machine, SWITL, was perfect for thefast-food industry.
“This machine is devised to scoop up soft material like hamburger patties or dough to put theminto ovens or freezers without spoiling their shapes,” he said.
The company would not say what kind of technological breakthrough their innovation wasbased upon. Experts suspect the surfaces may be covered with some kind of hydrophobicmaterial that repels water molecules.
Other robots, such as those that frost cakes or peel and slice apples, may also find their wayinto today’s kitchens.
【參考譯文】
在加州舉辦的DARPA機械人挑釁賽上，機械人杯請求完成對人類來講很簡略的義務，好比開車、爬梯子、穿過不屈的地面、封閉閥門。有些華美麗的失敗解釋了很難計劃出高效的行走機械人。
就在幾天後，在東京舉辦的年度食物機器和技巧展覽上，一個靜止的機械人廚師以使人贊嘆的多功效性預備著食品，同時有其他機械人在烹調、烘焙面點，乃至包著完善的壽司。
安川機電公司副司理鈴木明弘稱本公司的機械人MOTOMAN-SDA5永久不會疲憊，可以做一位精彩的廚房助理。
“明顯，讓他來品味、調劑熱量或佐料來到達絕佳口胃是很難的，但若是簡略的烹調，只需佐料的詳細比例，他就可以反復一樣的行動來做出一樣的飯菜。”
觀光者對此印象深入，Masayo Mori旁觀了正在事情的機械人，她說，“我不介懷有如許的丈夫。”
Suzumo機器公司展出了壽司機械人，它能舉行辛苦的反復性義務，制造這類更加風行的日本美食。
該公司司理Hiroshi Monden說，“壽司已普及全球，但壽司廚師尚未，有了這類機械，任何人都能隨意馬虎地舉行反復的壽司制造。”
另外一項給觀光者留下深入印象的新技巧是由Furukawa Kikou公司開辟的一款機械人，它能舀取和挪動柔嫩的質料而不留陳跡。開辟部司理Takuya Furukawa說這台名叫SWITL的機械人異常合適快餐業。
“咱們開辟這款機械人來舀取漢堡包肉餅或面團等柔嫩資料，讓它們放在烤箱或冰箱裏，同時又不損壞其形狀。”
這家公司沒有泄漏其創造的機械人是基於哪一種技巧沖破，專家忖度其外面大概籠罩有排擠水份子的疏水資料。
其他的機械人，好比那些能冷凍蛋糕、給蘋果削皮並切片的機械人大概也會進入本日的廚房中。
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