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They might appear cutesy, but a pair of robots that turned up recently
最近，在福特汽車公司位于底特律的范戴克變速器廠
at the Ford Motor Company's Van Dyke Transmission Plant, in Detroit, are practical working machines.
出現了一對機器人，它們看起來可能很可愛，但卻是實用的工作機器。
They may, indeed, point to the future of automation. Putting robots into factories is hardly a new idea—
的確，它們可能預示著自動化的未來。將機器人投入工廠并不是什么新想法——
some 2.4m of them are already at work in plants around the world.
其中約240萬臺機器人已經在世界各地的工廠中投入使用。
But most of these are little more than giant arms, bolted firmly to the ground, that weld and paint things.
但其中大部分都不過是牢牢固定在地面上的巨大手臂，用于焊接和涂漆工作。
Those few that have the mobility to manage tasks like delivering components do so by scooting along on wheels.
那些能夠移動管理遞送組建等任務的少數機器人是通過在輪子上快速移動來完成任務的。
The new devices at Van Dyke are rather different sorts of beasts. They can walk.
范戴克變速器廠出現的新設備是相當不同的類型，它們可以行走。
This pair of bright-yellow quadrupeds look a bit like dogs, prompting one to be nicknamed Fluffy and the other Spot
這兩個亮黃色的四腳機器看起來有點像狗，一只被戲稱為Fluffy，另一只叫Spot
(which latter moniker is also the official name given to this model of robot by the firm that manufactures them, Boston Dynamics, a subsidiary of SoftBank).
（后一個名字也是制造它們的公司Boston Dynamics（軟銀分公司）給這個機器人模型取得官方名字）。
The pair are not there to amuse the factory's human workers, though,
它們在工廠里可不是為了娛樂工廠的人類員工，
but rather to perform an important task that Ford hopes will save it a ton of money.
而是為了完成一項重要的任務，福特公司希望因此能節省一大筆錢。
With laser scanners mounted on their backs, Fluffy and Spot can scamper around the 200,000 square-metre plant collecting data.
它們的背部裝有激光掃描儀，Fluffy和Spot可以在20萬平方米的工廠快速奔跑著收集數據。
Those data will be employed to build a detailed computer model of the entire manufacturing operation.
那些數據將用于建造整個制造操作的詳細計算機模型。
This sort of model is called a digital twin, and Ford's engineers will use it to work out how to rearrange the production line to produce a new gearbox.
這種模型被稱為數字映射，并且福特的工程師將用它來研究如何重新安排生產線以生產一種新的變速箱。
Over the years, factory plans get out of date as things are moved around and new equipment is brought in.
多年來，隨著物品的轉移和新設備的引進，工廠計劃已經過時。
Surveying the transmission plant by hand would take weeks and cost some $300,000.
人工勘測傳輸工廠將耗時數周，耗資約30萬美元。
Ford reckons that Fluffy and Spot, which can both climb stairs and crawl into hard-to-reach areas,
Fluffy和Spotdo都可以爬樓梯，也能爬進難以到達的地方，
will cut the time required by half and complete the job for "a fraction of the cost".
福特認為它們能夠將所需時間減半，并以“小部分成本”完成這項工作。
Although Ford is leasing the robots, Boston Dynamics has now put them on sale for $75,000 a pop.
雖然福特正在租用這些機器人，但Boston Dynamics現在以每臺7.5萬美元的價格出售它們。
At that price they would soon pay for themselves doing tasks like the one being undertaken in Van Dyke.
以這樣的價格，他們很快就能為自己做的任務買單，比如在范戴克變速器廠中進行那項任務。
The Spot range is the first of Boston Dynamics's walking robots to be commercialised.
Spot系列是Boston Dynamics第一款商業化的行走機器人。
More such machines are starting to appear from other firms and research groups. Some are also quadrupeds. Others are bipedal.
越來越多的此類機器開始出現在其他公司和研究團體中。一些也是四腳的，一些是雙腳的。
The two-legged sort can be more agile and, if equipped with arms as well, are better suited to tasks like picking things up or operating controls.
兩腿類型可以更加敏捷，并且如果配上臂膀，就更適用于撿東西或操控等任務了。
What all of these machines have in common is that they represent—forgive the pun—a huge step forward in robot locomotion.
這些機器的共同點時它們代表著——恕我直言——機器人移動上的巨大進步。
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