Factory robots are usually caged off from humans on the assembly line lest the machines’ powerful steel arms deliver an accidental blow.
工廠裡的機器人通常用匣子封起來，跟組裝工人隔開，以免它強有力的鐵手臂意外傷人。

But now, gentler industrial robots are coming out from behind their protective fences to work shoulder-to-shoulder with people. It’s an advance made possible by sophisticated algorithms and improvements in sensing technologies like computer vision.
但現在，更溫柔的工業機器人從保護柵裡走出來了，跟人們並肩工作。這種發展歸功於演算法的精進，以及電腦視覺之類感應技術的改善。

The key to these new robots is the ability to respond more flexibly. That is in contrast to earlier generations of robots that often required extensive programming to change the smallest details of their routine, said Henrik Christensen, director of the robotics program at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
機器人進步關鍵在於更靈活的回應能力。美國喬治亞理工學院機器人學程主任克里斯汀生說，這一點跟前幾代機器人不同，過去的機器人多須大費周章設計程式，才能更改例行工作中最微小的細節。

“Researchers in labs worldwide are building robots that can predict what you’ll do next and be ready to give you the best possible assistance,” he said.
他說：「全球許多實驗室的研究人員如今都在打造這種機器人，它可預測你接下來要做什麼，還能做好準備以提供最佳協助。」

One of those researchers is Julie A. Shah, an assistant professor in the department of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
裘莉．夏哈正是這些研究人員之一，她是美國麻省理工學院航空太空學系助理教授。

Dr. Shah once taught robots to do tasks the old way: by hitting a button that essentially told them “good,” “bad” or “neutral” as they did each part of a job. Now she has added a technique called cross-training, in which robots and humans exchange roles, learning a thing or two from each other.
夏哈博士曾教機器人用舊方法做事：在它們逐一完成某件事的每一部分時，按下按鈕，那其實是告訴它們「好」、「壞」或「不好不壞」。如今她在機器人上增加「交叉訓練」技術，機器人和人可藉此互換角色，向對方學一兩招。

In a recent study, Dr. Shah and a student had teams perform a chore borrowed from the assembly line: the humans placed screws and the robots drilled. The teammates exchanged jobs and the robots observed the humans as they drilled.
在最近的一項研究中，夏哈博士和學生讓幾個團隊執行一項借自生產線的例行工作：人放置螺釘，由機器人來上緊螺釘。團隊成員彼此互換工作，人在上緊螺釘時，讓機器人來觀察。

“The robot isn’t learning one optimal way to drill,” Dr. Shah said. “Instead it is learning a teammate’s preferences, and how to cooperate.”
夏哈博士說：「機器人在學的並非上緊螺釘的最理想辦法，而是團隊成員的偏好以及合作之道。」

When the cross-trained teams resumed their original roles, both robots and people did their jobs more efficiently.
當這批交叉訓練的團隊恢復其原本角色時，機器人和人工作都更有效率。

“By learning the human’s role, the robot can better anticipate actions and be a better partner, even if in the end it will only do one role,” said Andrea Thomaz, an assistant professor of interactive computing at Georgia Tech.
喬治亞理工學院互動運算助理教授安德芮亞．托馬茲說：「機器人學了人的角色之後，就更能預期各種動作，成為更佳夥伴，即使它到頭來只扮演一個角色。」

Gentle, helpful robots are also arriving in the marketplace. Since January, Rethink Robotics of Boston has been sending customers its two-armed robot called Baxter, which costs $22,000 and can work uncaged, moving among people.
這種溫柔好幫手機器人已經上市。波士頓「再思機器人公司」已從一月起把生產的雙臂機器人「巴克斯特」送交顧客，售價約2萬2000美元，它不必封閉在匣中，可在工人之間移動工作。

Baxter can lift objects from a conveyor belt. “You don’t have to tell it the exact velocity,” said Rodney Brook, Rethink’s founder, chairman and chief technology officer. “It sees objects and grabs them, matching its speed to the speed of the object.”
巴克斯特可從傳輸帶上把物件提起來。再思公司創辦人、董事長兼技術長布魯克斯說：「你不必告訴機器人要用多快速度把物件提起，它會看到物件，再配合物件移動的速度把它抓起來。」

A Danish company, Universal Robots, sells a one-armed robot for $33,000 that can also be used without a cage.
丹麥公司「萬能機器人」現在也出售不必封在匣中的單臂機器人，每台3萬3000美元。

The new robots will soon have even more advanced skills, said Stefan Schaal, a professor of computer science, neuroscience and biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California. Robots will be able to go on the Internet and exchange information, leading to vast gains in what they can accomplish.
美國南加大電腦科學、神經科學及生物醫學工程教授蕭爾說，這種新機器人很快就會有更高階的技能，它們將能夠上網、交換資訊、它們能做的工作會大有進展。

“It will take time before we get there,” he said, “but it will happen.”
他說：「我們還得花些時間才能製出那種新機器人，可是那一天一定會來到。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/business/robots-and-humans-learning-to-work-together.html

2013-04-16聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 馮克芸譯 原文參見紐時週報八版左