“星戰(zhàn)”機(jī)器人就在你身邊

可以毫不夸張地說(shuō)，《星球大戰(zhàn)》系列中的機(jī)器人在文化上產(chǎn)生了巨大的影響。即使并非星戰(zhàn)死忠粉的人可能也會(huì)記得C-3PO、R2-D2和美國(guó)導(dǎo)演喬治·盧卡斯（George Lucas）創(chuàng)造的多姿多彩的宇宙空間里的許多其他機(jī)器人。這一系列科幻電影讓我們得以一窺機(jī)器人在未來(lái)世界的可能用途，但是，我們離制造出真正的R2-D2到底有多近呢？實(shí)際上，一些與星戰(zhàn)系列中相似的科技業(yè)已問(wèn)世，《星球大戰(zhàn)》中最令人難忘的幾種機(jī)器人在現(xiàn)實(shí)世界中業(yè)已有了與它們相對(duì)應(yīng)的版本。

What's the difference between a droid and a robot？ Besides "droid" being a term trademarked by George Lucas， droids， as portrayed on film， have far more independence and intelligence than most robots that exist today. While some robots have a limited artificial intelligence （AI） that allows them to make lower-function decisions， most require direct commands from a human in order to work.

While many researchers are trying to develop AI that can handle more-complex problem solving and can adapt to different environments， the world is still a long way from having a robot with the same level of intelligence as R2-D2. Still， the field of robotics has made significant gains.

同樣是機(jī)器人，droid和robot有什么區(qū)別？除了“droid”這個(gè)詞是喬治·盧卡斯的標(biāo)志之外，按照電影中的描述，droids遠(yuǎn)比現(xiàn)存的大多數(shù)robots都更加獨(dú)立，并擁有更高的智能。雖然有些robots具有的有限的人工智能讓它們可以自行做出較為低功能的決定，但它們大多需要人類的直接指令才能工作。

盡管有許多研究人員在努力研制能夠解決更加復(fù)雜的問(wèn)題并適應(yīng)不同環(huán)境的人工智能機(jī)器人，但是距離制造出與R2-D2擁有同等智力水平的機(jī)器人還有很長(zhǎng)一段路要走。不過(guò)，人們?cè)跈C(jī)器人研發(fā)領(lǐng)域還是取得了長(zhǎng)足的進(jìn)展。

Driving Droids

If you were one of the millions who rode the "Star Tours" ride at Disneyland before 2011， you may remember RX-24， the pilot droid tasked with flying riders to the forest moon of Endor. However， things go awry2） during the ride after RX-24 gets caught in a fight between the Rebels and the Empire.

While RX-24 was a terrible pilot， developers are currently working on creating a robot that can actually handle the perils3） of driving and flying. For example， Google is testing a self-driving car that can operate safely and autonomously in regular traffic. The vehicle uses laser technology and a system of sensors to generate a 3D map of its environment， which enables the car to drive itself.

The AI is a work in progress， and Google's driverless car still requires a "backup" human driver to ride along and make sure nothing goes wrong. But if tests go well， self-driving cars could rule the streets in the near future.

Medical Droids

In Star Wars Episode V： The Empire Strikes Back， a 2-1B medical droid nurses Luke Skywalker back to health by keeping him in a tank full of a substance that can rapidly heal wounds. While this material， called "bacta" in the film， and the 2-1B droid are not real， advancements in medical technology are introducing robots into doctor's offices and hospitals.

For example， engineers at ?colePolytechnique de Montréal have been working on creating "microbots" that can roam4） the human body and perform delicate tasks， such as clearing arteries， sealing wounds and exploring the artery system.

In the movie， the 2-1B has an independent AI， meaning it can function much like a human doctor. While existing robots do not have sophisticated AI that enables them to stand in for5） real physicians， many devices have been built to allow doctors to attend to6） patients remotely. The Robotic Nursing Assistant， for instance， helps physicians use extremely accurate tools to treat their patients， while the other telemedicine assistants let doctors virtually care for their patients， even across great distances.

Astromech Droids

Who doesn't love R2-D2？ In the "Star Wars" universe， this small robot has more functions than a Swiss Army knife， and more personality than a robot that speaks only in "beeps" and "boops" should have. R2-D2 is known as an astromech droid， which is a type of multifunctional robot that can respond to a diverse range of problems.

While it's easy to build a working replica7） of R2-D2， there are no R2 units that truly function as they were imagined in the "Star Wars" films. The closest thing is a bot developed by NASA in 2006 to perform maintenance in microgravity. The so-called SPHERE is a bot that helps astronauts with docking operations， along with satellite servicing， assembly and emergency repairs. The bot resembles the training droid that Luke Skywalker fights in Star Wars Episode IV： A New Hope， but has the functionality of an R2 unit.

Protocol8） Droids

R2-D2 never goes anywhere without his neurotic9） friend C-3PO， who can act as servant， translator or companion. Unlike R2， C-3PO is designed for the explicit purpose of understanding humanoids and communicating with them.

The most famous real-life humanoid bot is Honda's Asimo， a bipedal10） robot designed to move similarly to humans and resemble them in other ways. Asimo can physically respond to human actions as well as respond to human voices. The robot performs a variety of functions， including playing soccer， gesturing， reading faces and moving around in its environment. Asimo has limited language abilities， and can only respond to audible commands with short phrases and physical gestures.

If you want something with more "conversational" ability， look to Japan's Otonaroid. This android is one of two bots that have been "hired" to work in Tokyo's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. Otonaroid will be able to converse directly with visitors， while her "sister" android， Kodomoroid， will continuously read aloud world news reports. The robots don't generate their own voices， though； the bots are simply the mouthpieces for human operators. Similar tech is used to control "Crush the Turtle" at the "Turtle Talk with Crush" attraction at Walt Disney World's Epcot theme park.

駕駛機(jī)器人

如果你是2011年之前在迪士尼樂(lè)園玩過(guò)“星際之旅”項(xiàng)目的眾多游客之一，你也許會(huì)記得RX-24，那個(gè)負(fù)責(zé)將乘客送往森林衛(wèi)星恩多的機(jī)器人飛行員。可是在RX-24被卷入反叛軍和帝國(guó)之間的一場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)斗后的飛行途中，一切便不對(duì)勁了。

RX-24確實(shí)是個(gè)蹩腳的飛行員，不過(guò)，開(kāi)發(fā)人員目前正在致力于制造出能夠真正應(yīng)對(duì)駕駛和飛行險(xiǎn)情的機(jī)器人。例如，谷歌正在對(duì)一款能夠在正常路況下安全自主行駛的自動(dòng)駕駛汽車進(jìn)行測(cè)試。這輛汽車運(yùn)用激光技術(shù)，通過(guò)一系列傳感器生成周邊環(huán)境的3D地圖，從而實(shí)現(xiàn)自動(dòng)駕駛。

這類人工智能機(jī)器人仍在改進(jìn)之中，谷歌的無(wú)人駕駛汽車也仍然需要一名人類駕駛員作為“后備”陪駕，以確保不會(huì)出什么岔子。但是，如果測(cè)試進(jìn)展順利，自動(dòng)駕駛汽車在不久的將來(lái)或許將成為馬路上的主力。

醫(yī)療機(jī)器人

在《星球大戰(zhàn)5：帝國(guó)反擊戰(zhàn)》中，一個(gè)2-1B醫(yī)療機(jī)器人把天行者盧克浸泡在一個(gè)液槽中來(lái)照料，讓他恢復(fù)了健康，那個(gè)液槽中裝滿了一種能夠快速修復(fù)傷口的物質(zhì)。雖然這種在影片中被稱作“bacta”的物質(zhì)和2-1B機(jī)器人在現(xiàn)實(shí)中并不存在，但隨著醫(yī)療技術(shù)的進(jìn)步，機(jī)器人已經(jīng)開(kāi)始進(jìn)入醫(yī)生的辦公室和醫(yī)院。

例如，蒙特利爾綜合理工學(xué)校的工程師們一直在研制這樣的“微型機(jī)器人”：它們可以在人體內(nèi)移動(dòng)，承擔(dān)諸如疏通動(dòng)脈血管、封堵傷口和檢查動(dòng)脈系統(tǒng)這樣的棘手工作。

在電影中，2-1B擁有獨(dú)立的人工智能，也就是說(shuō)，它基本上可以像人類醫(yī)生那樣工作。雖然現(xiàn)有的機(jī)器人還不具備如此復(fù)雜的人工智能以代替真正的醫(yī)生，但已經(jīng)有許多設(shè)備問(wèn)世，使得醫(yī)生可以遠(yuǎn)程照顧病患。例如，機(jī)器人護(hù)士助手可以協(xié)助醫(yī)生使用極其精密的工具為患者治療，而另一種遠(yuǎn)程醫(yī)療助手讓醫(yī)生即使與病人相隔萬(wàn)里，實(shí)際上也可以照料患者。

宇航技工機(jī)器人

誰(shuí)不喜愛(ài)R2-D2呢？在“星戰(zhàn)”的世界里，這個(gè)小機(jī)器人的功能比瑞士軍刀還要多，而它的個(gè)性之豐富也不像是一個(gè)只能“嗶卟”作響的機(jī)器人會(huì)有的。R2-D2被稱作宇航技工機(jī)器人，這是一類能夠應(yīng)對(duì)多種問(wèn)題的多功能機(jī)器人。

雖然制作一個(gè)可以使用的R2-D2的復(fù)制品并非難事，但真正具備“星戰(zhàn)”系列電影中所設(shè)想的那些功能的R2類機(jī)器人并不存在。和它最接近的是美國(guó)國(guó)家航空航天局在2006年研制的一個(gè)在微重力條件下執(zhí)行維護(hù)任務(wù)的機(jī)器人。這個(gè)叫做SPHERE的機(jī)器人能夠協(xié)助宇航員進(jìn)行太空對(duì)接操作，還能執(zhí)行衛(wèi)星檢修、組裝和緊急維修任務(wù)。它的外觀類似于《星球大戰(zhàn)4：新希望》中與天行者盧克交手的訓(xùn)練機(jī)器人，但它的功能性和R2類機(jī)器人一樣。

禮儀機(jī)器人

R2-D2無(wú)論去哪兒，身邊都少不了那位神經(jīng)質(zhì)的朋友C-3PO。C-3PO可以充當(dāng)仆人、翻譯或者同伴。和R2不同，C-3PO就是專門設(shè)計(jì)來(lái)了解類人機(jī)器人并和它們溝通的。

在現(xiàn)實(shí)中，最著名的類人機(jī)器人是本田公司的阿西莫，這個(gè)兩足機(jī)器人設(shè)計(jì)得像人一樣可以行走，在其他許多方面也和人類相似。阿西莫能夠?qū)θ说膭?dòng)作和聲音做出肢體反應(yīng)。它具備多種功能，包括踢足球、做手勢(shì)、人臉識(shí)別以及在其所處的環(huán)境中四處走動(dòng)。阿西莫具備的語(yǔ)言能力有限，只會(huì)用短語(yǔ)和肢體動(dòng)作對(duì)聲音指令做出回應(yīng)。

如果你需要一個(gè)“對(duì)話”功能更強(qiáng)的機(jī)器人，不妨看看日本的成人機(jī)器人。它是“受雇”在位于東京的日本科學(xué)未來(lái)館工作的兩個(gè)機(jī)器人中的一個(gè)。成人機(jī)器人能夠直接與游客對(duì)話，而它的“妹妹”兒童機(jī)器人則不停地大聲朗讀世界新聞報(bào)道。不過(guò)，這兩個(gè)機(jī)器人并不會(huì)自己發(fā)聲，它們只是操作人員的傳聲筒。在沃爾特·迪士尼世界的明日世界主題公園，相似的技術(shù)還被用來(lái)控制“與克拉什對(duì)話”游戲中的“海龜克拉什”。

1. droid [dr??d] n. （科學(xué)幻想小說(shuō)中的）人形機(jī)器人

2. go awry： （事）出岔子，失敗

3. peril [?per?l] n. 極大的危險(xiǎn)

4. roam [r??m] vt. 在……隨便走；漫步；閑逛

5. stand in for： 代替

6. attend to： 照料；看護(hù)

7. replica [?repl?k?] n. 復(fù)制品

8. protocol [?pr??t?k?l] n. 禮儀

9. neurotic [nj???r?t?k] adj. 神經(jīng)質(zhì)的

10. bipedal [?ba??pi?dl] adj. 有兩足的