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Science and Technology Monitor Caught in a BEAR hug
科技 觀察家 落入BEAR懷抱
Robotics: A newly designed robot can recover casualties from battlefields, and might also be able to make itself useful to soldiers in other ways
機器人技術(shù)：一種新型機器人能夠從戰(zhàn)場上救回傷員，或許還能以其他方式為士兵服務(wù)
KILLING a soldier removes one enemy from the fray. Wounding him removes three: the victim and the two who have to carry him from the battlefield. T
殺一名士兵會使沖突中減少一個敵人，而傷一名士兵卻會減少三個敵人：傷兵及運送傷兵撤離戰(zhàn)場的兩名士兵。
hat cynical calculation lies behind the design of many weapons that are intended to incapacitate rather than annihilate.
許多武器在設(shè)計時就運用了這種乖張的算計思維，它們的目的不是消滅敵人而是使敵人喪失作戰(zhàn)能力。
But robotics may change the equation.
不過，機器人技術(shù)或許能改變這種格局。
The Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot, or BEAR for short, is, in the words of Gary Gilbert of the United States Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Centre (TATRC),
在美國陸軍遠程醫(yī)療與先進技術(shù)研究中心（TATRC）工作的加里?吉爾伯特（Gary Gilbert）說：戰(zhàn)場協(xié)助撤離機器人（Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot，簡稱BEAR）是
"a highly agile and powerful mobile robot capable of lifting and carrying a combat casualty from a hazardous area across uneven terrain".
"一種極其敏捷且功能強大的移動式機器人，它能夠抱起并運送戰(zhàn)場上的傷員，穿越崎嶇不平的地帶將其帶離險境。"
When it is not saving lives, it can perform difficult and repetitive tasks, such as loading and unloading ammunition.
不在戰(zhàn)場上拯救生命時，它還可以執(zhí)行棘手及重復單調(diào)的任務(wù)，如裝缷彈藥。
The current prototype BEAR is a small, tracked vehicle with two hydraulic arms and a set of video cameras that provide a view of its surroundings to its operator via a wireless link.
現(xiàn)在這款BEAR的原型是一種小型的履帶車，具有兩個液壓臂和一組攝像機，可以將其周圍環(huán)境的圖像以無線鏈接方式傳送給它的操作者，
It has been developed by TATRC in collaboration with Vecna Technologies, a company based in Maryland that invented the robot.
它由TATR與Vecna Technologies公司合作開發(fā)，該公司位于馬里蘭州，首款BEAR就是該公司發(fā)明的。
Daniel Theobald, BEAR's inventor and Vecna's boss, says versatility is at the heart of the robot's design.
BEAR的發(fā)明者兼Vecna老板丹尼爾?西奧博爾德（Daniel Theobald）說多功能性是該機器人的設(shè)計核心。
"It would be completely impractical if you had robots with a sole duty to rescue soldiers, because they would spend most of their time unused," he says.
"如果只讓機器人執(zhí)行拯救士兵這一種任務(wù)，那太不實用了，因為它們大部分時間都將處于無用狀態(tài)，"他說，
"The whole idea from the start was to design a general-purpose robot."
"從一開始，整個設(shè)計理念就是設(shè)計出一種多用途機器人。"
The BEAR's operator can control the robot in two ways.
BEAR的操作者可以通過兩種方式控制機器人。
One, a joystick, can be embedded into the grip of a rifle and manoeuvred by the soldier's fingertip when he is holding his weapon to his shoulder.
一種是操縱桿，它可以嵌入步槍的槍把中，當士兵將步槍扛在肩上時，可以用指尖操縱此操縱桿。
The advantage of this is that he does not need to put his gun down to rescue his comrades.
這樣設(shè)計的好處是士兵無需丟下槍就可以救他的戰(zhàn)友。
The other means of control, a special glove designed by AnthroTronix, another Maryland firm, can sense the wearer's hand movements and direct the BEAR accordingly.
另一種控制方式是使用馬里蘭州另外一家公司AnthroTronix設(shè)計的專用手套。該手套可以感知佩帶者的手部運動，以此指揮BEAR做相應的運動。
If, for example, the gloved hand moves to the left, the robot will follow.
舉例來說，如果戴著手套的手向左移動，機器人也會跟著向左移動。
If the hand moves backwards, the robot will slow down or stop.
如果戴著手套的手向后移動，機器人就會降低移動速度或者停止移動。
If the glove's wearer closes his fist, the robot takes that as an instruction to grip an object with its arms.
如果帶手套的人握緊拳頭，機器人就會認為該指令是讓它用手臂抓住某個物體。
Over the past year BEAR has been tested at the army's Infantry Centre Manoeuvre Battle Laboratory in Fort Benning, Georgia. It has shown that it can travel at around 12mph (19kph) across a flat surface.
過去一年里，BEAR在位于佐治亞州本寧堡的陸軍步兵中心機動作戰(zhàn)實驗室里接受測試，結(jié)果顯示它能以每小時12英里（即每小時19公里）左右的速度通過平坦路面。
It can also move over soil, sand and gravel, through trees and inside buildings, albeit at lower speeds.
此外，它還能在泥地、沙地和礫石路面上移動，能穿越樹林及建筑物內(nèi)部，盡管速度要低一些。
Several more years of tests are planned (this is the army, after all), but Dr Gilbert is optimistic that BEAR will come through them.
按計劃，BEAR還要再接受幾年的測試（畢竟這是在部隊），不過吉爾伯特博士非常樂觀，他相信BEAR能通過所有測試。
If it does, soldiers will be able to get on with their primary job of killing the enemy, without having to worry so much about what the enemy has done to their friends.
如果事實果真如此，士兵們就能夠?qū)Ｐ膱?zhí)行殺敵這個首要任務(wù)，而無需太擔心敵人對他們的戰(zhàn)友下了什么毒手。
