Baymax Was Inspired by a Real Robot 你從哪里來，我的大白

朵朵

看過《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊》的人，誰不想擁有一個又軟又萌，既貼心又會照料人的大白呢？令人激動的是，也許在不久的將來，這個愿望就可以實現(xiàn)了！因為我們的大白并不是迪士尼的憑空想象，而是源于現(xiàn)實中的一項機器人研究。喜歡大白的親們，還不快關(guān)注起來？

Big Hero 6 features Baymax—a lovable， soft， inflatable1） robot that looks like it came from Disney's fantasy machine more than anything in real life. The reality， however， is that it was inspired by hard-core2） robot research in a Pittsburgh lab.

In 2011， Carnegie Mellon University （CMU） scientist Siddharth Sanan， working with Mike Ornstein and Justin B. Moidel， under the guidance of Professor Christopher Atkeson， built a functioning， inflatable robot arm—a breakthrough in what is known as soft robotics. Soft robotics provide a number of real-world benefits， some of which are illustrated in Big Hero 6. In the movie， Baymax is a caregiver robot that attempts to take care of a boy， often by holding and picking him up. That human-robot interaction is not just movie fantasy—it's a very likely future here and around the world.

It's now widely believed that humans and robots will soon be working and living side-by-side in a variety of situations. In a sense， it's already happening. But today's robots are often purpose-built devices， specifically designed for one task and most of them are not built to come in contact with people. In fact， they're usually built to avoid human contact.

A few examples： iRobot's3） Roomba vacuum is flat and round so it can fit between chair legs and under furniture. It has sensors and bumpers4） to avoid obstacles and people. Industrial robots are usually built for manufacturing， and it would be catastrophic5） if they hit a co-worker. They usually work alongside other robots with little human interaction. Even the friendlier-looking Rethink Robotics6） Baxter， a manufacturing robot designed to be trained through human manipulation， is neither soft nor huggable.

Still， there is a real and growing need for robots that can touch and help people—and the solution to that is robots that look like Baymax.

According to the Population Reference Bureau， the human population is aging more rapidly than ever before. In 1950， there were 131 million people over 65. By 2010， there were 523 million over 65. In Japan， where the caregiver robot industry is flourishing7）， around 25% of the population is over 65. An aging population will put increased pressure on caregiver services. Robots could fill the gap—but only if they can lift， hold， bathe and feed the elderly without harming them.

"For robots to be useful in performing assistive tasks， it is essential to control contact forces，" Siddharth Sanan said in 2011. Sanan developed an inflatable robot arm then capable of bending at the elbow， opening and closing its puffy hand and even lifting objects， so long as they weighed no more than 1.1 lbs.

And that idea might have remained relatively obscure， had Big Hero 6 director Don Hall not made a visit to the lab in 2011. In an interview with Moviefone last summer， Hall explained how， on an early research trip for the movie， his team arrived at CMU's robot lab where they found Sanan and his inflatable robot arm. Hall said， "It was an inflatable vinyl8） arm and the practical application would be in the health care industry as a nurse or doctor's assistant. The minute he showed me that inflatable arm I knew we had our huggable robot."

One look at the CMU inflatable arm， and its influence on the vinyl Baymax is obvious. Like the fictional robot， it's all white， has visible stitching9） and is full of nothing but air. The CMU arm moves by courtesy of10） external actuators11） and pulleys12）. Baymax moves in more mysterious ways.

"The one missing ingredient in [Baymax] is that you don't see how the system is actuated13），" Sanan said. "It just moves magically."

While Sanan has moved on from CMU—he's now at Harvard University's Wyss Institute—he is continuing his work in soft robotics. These days his focus is more on the wearable14） variety of robot skins. Think of wearable exoskeletons15）， but potentially with soft， sensor-filled skin and inflatable muscles.

Carnegie Mellon's Professor Atkeson， who called Big Hero 6 "a tremendous win for soft robotics"， has apparently also caught the Baymax bug16）. Not only did his department partner with Disney for a Big Hero 6 costume contest， but he enthusiastically reported that CMU scientists are now working on building a real Baymax—if they can get the funding.

影片《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊》的主角大白是一位又軟又萌的可充氣式機器人，他看起來就像是來自迪士尼幻想世界的機器人，而非現(xiàn)實生活中的事物。但事實上，大白的設(shè)計靈感來源于匹茲堡一間實驗室的核心機器人研究。

2011年，在克里斯托弗·阿特基森教授的指導下，卡耐基梅隆大學（CMU）的科學家西達爾特·薩南協(xié)同邁克·奧恩斯坦以及賈斯廷·B·莫伊德爾研制出一款運轉(zhuǎn)良好的可充氣機器臂——這成為現(xiàn)今為人所知的軟機器人技術(shù)領(lǐng)域的一大突破。軟機器人技術(shù)給現(xiàn)實世界帶來許多便利，其中有些已在《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊》中得到展現(xiàn)。影片中，大白是一個護理機器人，努力照料著一個小男孩（譯注：即主角小宏），常常會抱緊他或接住他。像這樣的人機交互并不是僅存在于電影之中的虛幻情景，而是一種很有可能出現(xiàn)在這里以及世界各地的未來圖景。

現(xiàn)在人們普遍認為，人類和機器人不久之后就會在各種各樣的情境中并肩工作、共同生活。從某種意義上來說，這種情景已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了。不過，如今的機器人通常是針對某種特定目的而研制的設(shè)備，經(jīng)過特別設(shè)計以完成某項任務(wù)，它們大多數(shù)都不是建造來與人接觸的。事實上，制造它們時往往會著眼于避免與人類接觸。

試舉幾例：iRobot公司的Roomba智能掃地吸塵機器人被設(shè)計成扁平的圓形，以便能在椅子腿之間和家具下面自如穿行。它自帶傳感器和緩沖器，從而能避開障礙物和人。工業(yè)機器人通常被用來進行加工制造，若與人類同事發(fā)生碰撞，將會帶來災難性的后果，因此，它們往往和其他機器人一起共事，幾乎不會與人類產(chǎn)生互動。Rethink Robotics公司生產(chǎn)的Baxter看起來更為友好，是一款需要通過人類操控來進行訓練的工業(yè)機器人，但即使這樣，它也既不柔軟，更不會令人想要擁抱。

然而對可觸摸并可以幫助人類的機器人確實存在著需求，并且這種需求在與日俱增，而解決對策就是研制出像大白這樣的機器人。

根據(jù)美國人口資料局的數(shù)據(jù)，目前世界人口老齡化的速度比以往任何時候都要快。1950年，全球65歲以上人口為1.31億；到2010年，全球65歲以上人口已達到5.23億。在護理機器人行業(yè)蓬勃發(fā)展的日本，65歲以上人口約占總?cè)丝诘?5%。人口老齡化將給護理行業(yè)帶來不斷增長的壓力。機器人則可以彌補這方面的不足，但前提是它們可以在不對老人造成傷害的情況下將他們抱起、扶住，給他們洗澡、喂飯。

“為了使機器人可用于執(zhí)行輔助性任務(wù)，我們十分有必要控制它們的接觸力。”西達爾特·薩南于2011年如是說。薩南開發(fā)出了一款可充氣式機器臂，它的肘部可彎曲，胖乎乎的手可以張開和握緊，甚至還能拎起重量不超過1.1磅的物體。

要不是《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊》的導演唐·霍爾在2011年拜訪了那個實驗室，護理機器人的理念可能還是會相對寂寂無聞。霍爾在去年夏天（譯注：英文原文發(fā)表于2014年）接受Moviefone網(wǎng)站的采訪時談及，在為《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊》進行的早期探尋之旅中，他的團隊來到了卡耐基梅隆大學的機器人實驗室，在那里見到了薩南和他的可充氣式機器臂。霍爾說：“那是一款可充氣的聚乙烯基薄膜手臂，它的實際應用將會是在醫(yī)護領(lǐng)域，充當護士或醫(yī)生的助手。在他（編注：指薩南）向我展示那個機器臂的那一刻，我馬上就意識到我們已經(jīng)找到所需的可擁抱機器人了。”

只需看一眼卡耐基梅隆大學所研制的可充氣機器臂，便會明白它對用聚乙烯基薄膜制成的大白的影響有多么明顯。和電影中那個虛構(gòu)的機器人一樣，這一機器臂也是全白的，有著清晰可見的針腳，且充斥其內(nèi)部的只有空氣。該機器臂是通過外部傳動裝置和滑輪來驅(qū)動的，而大白則是以更為神秘的方式運行。

“[大白]身上沒有體現(xiàn)的元素便是你看不出這個系統(tǒng)是如何驅(qū)動的，”薩南說，“它就是那么神奇地運行著。”

薩南現(xiàn)已離開卡耐基梅隆大學，去了哈佛大學維斯研究所，在那里繼續(xù)進行著自己的軟機器人研究。最近，他的研究重點更多地放在了機器人的各種可穿戴皮膚上。試想，機器人有著可穿戴的外骨骼，但同時又很可能擁有柔軟且布滿傳感器的皮膚，以及可充氣的肌肉，那該是怎樣的情景。

卡耐基梅隆大學的阿特基森教授稱《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊》是“軟機器人領(lǐng)域的一項巨大勝利”，顯然他也已經(jīng)成了大白的粉絲。不僅他的研究室和迪士尼公司聯(lián)合舉辦了《超能陸戰(zhàn)隊》主題的服飾比賽，他本人還滿腔熱情地表示卡耐基梅隆大學的科學家目前正在研制真正的大白——如果他們能夠獲得經(jīng)費支持的話。

1. inflatable [?n?fle?t?bl] adj. 可充氣的

2. hard-core： 中堅力量的；骨干的

3. iRobot： 美國一家機器人公司，成立于1990年，以其家用清潔機器人而著名。

4. bumper [?b?mp?（r）] n. 緩沖器；減震物

5. catastrophic [?k?t??str?f?k] adj. 災禍性的；傷亡慘重的

6. Rethink Robotics： 美國一家新興高科技公司，主要打造全新理念的工業(yè)機器人。

7. flourish [?fl?r??] vi. 繁榮；興隆；茂盛

8. vinyl [?va?nl] n. 乙烯基；聚乙烯基薄膜

9. stitching [?st?t???] n. 縫線；針腳

10. by courtesy of： 由于……的作用

11. actuator [?kt?u?e?t?（r）] n. 傳動裝置

12. pulley [?p?li] n. 滑輪

13. actuate [??kt?ue?t] vt. 驅(qū)使；開動

14. wearable [?we?r?bl] adj. 可穿戴的

15. exoskeleton [?eks??skel?tn] n. 【動】外骨骼

16. catch the ... bug： 對……著迷