“星戰”機器人就在你身邊

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

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.

同樣是機器人，droid和robot有什么區別？除了“droid”這個詞是喬治·盧卡斯的標志之外，按照電影中的描述，droids遠比現存的大多數robots都更加獨立，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雜的問題并適應不同環境的人工智能機器人，但是距離制造出與R2-D2擁有同等智力水平的機器人還有很長一段路要走。不過，人們在機器人研發領域還是取得了長足的進展。

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.

駕駛機器人

如果你是2011年之前在迪士尼樂園玩過“星際之旅”項目的眾多游客之一，你也許會記得RX-24，那個負責將乘客送往森林衛星恩多的機器人飛行員。可是在RX-24被卷入反叛軍和帝國之間的一場戰斗后的飛行途中，一切便不對勁了。

RX-24確實是個蹩腳的飛行員，不過，開發人員目前正在致力于制造出能夠真正應對駕駛和飛行險情的機器人。例如，谷歌正在對一款能夠在正常路況下安全自主行駛的自動駕駛汽車進行測試。這輛汽車運用激光技術，通過一系列傳感器生成周邊環境的3D地圖，從而實現自動駕駛。

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

醫療機器人

在《星球大戰5：帝國反擊戰》中，一個2-1B醫療機器人把天行者盧克浸泡在一個液槽中來照料，讓他恢復了健康，那個液槽中裝滿了一種能夠快速修復傷口的物質。雖然這種在影片中被稱作“bacta”的物質和2-1B機器人在現實中并不存在，但隨著醫療技術的進步，機器人已經開始進入醫生的辦公室和醫院。

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

在電影中，2-1B擁有獨立的人工智能，也就是說，它基本上可以像人類醫生那樣工作。雖然現有的機器人還不具備如此復雜的人工智能以代替真正的醫生，但已經有許多設備問世，使得醫生可以遠程照顧病患。例如，機器人護士助手可以協助醫生使用極其精密的工具為患者治療，而另一種遠程醫療助手讓醫生即使與病人相隔萬里，實際上也可以照料患者。

宇航技工機器人

誰不喜愛R2-D2呢？在“星戰”的世界里，這個小機器人的功能比瑞士軍刀還要多，而它的個性之豐富也不像是一個只能“嗶卟”作響的機器人會有的。R2-D2被稱作宇航技工機器人，這是一類能夠應對多種問題的多功能機器人。

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

禮儀機器人

R2-D2無論去哪兒，身邊都少不了那位神經質的朋友C-3PO。C-3PO可以充當仆人、翻譯或者同伴。和R2不同，C-3PO就是專門設計來了解類人機器人并和它們溝通的。

在現實中，最著名的類人機器人是本田公司的阿西莫，這個兩足機器人設計得像人一樣可以行走，在其他許多方面也和人類相似。阿西莫能夠對人的動作和聲音做出肢體反應。它具備多種功能，包括踢足球、做手勢、人臉識別以及在其所處的環境中四處走動。阿西莫具備的語言能力有限，只會用短語和肢體動作對聲音指令做出回應。

如果你需要一個“對話”功能更強的機器人，不妨看看日本的成人機器人。它是“受雇”在位于東京的日本科學未來館工作的兩個機器人中的一個。成人機器人能夠直接與游客對話，而它的“妹妹”兒童機器人則不停地大聲朗讀世界新聞報道。不過，這兩個機器人并不會自己發聲，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，相似的技術還被用來控制“與克拉什對話”游戲中的“海龜克拉什”。

1. droid [dr??d] n. （科學幻想小說中的）人形機器人

2. go awry： （事）出岔子，失敗

3. peril [?per?l] n. 極大的危險

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

7. replica [?repl?k?] n. 復制品

8. protocol [?pr??t?k?l] n. 禮儀

9. neurotic [nj???r?t?k] adj. 神經質的

10. bipedal [?ba??pi?dl] adj. 有兩足的