自动化制衣难题被攻克 机器人缝出完整服装

 　　It's hard to teach a robot to sew.

　　教机器人缝纫是非常困难的。

　　Robots are good at handling materials that are rigid¹ and easy to lift, cut and maneuver².

　　机器人擅长处理易于拿起、剪切、调转的硬质材料。

　　But it's a different story with making clothes. Why? Fabric³ is floppy⁴.

　　但做衣服却是另一回事。为什么？因为布料质地柔软。

　　Jonathan Zornow's startup Sewbo in Seattle, the US, has found a way around that.

　　乔纳森·佐尔诺在美国西雅图创立的初创企业Sewbo找到了解决方案。

　　The solution was to temporarily stiffen⁵ fabric with a water-soluble polymer, making it rigid enough for a robot to handle.

　　这个方案就是利用水溶性聚合物将布料暂时硬化，达到机器人能处理的程度。

　　自动化制衣难题被攻克 机器人缝出完整服装

　　In 2015, Zornow, quit his day job as a web developer to focus on developing his robotic sewing system.

　　2015年，佐尔诺辞去了网页开发师的工作，专心研发机器人缝纫系统。

　　He rented a programmable robotic arm and bought a standard sewing machine and an ultrasonic⁶ welder⁷.

　　他租了一个可编程的机械臂，买了一架标准缝纫机和一个超声焊接机。

　　His goal was to program the robotic arm to fully⁸ assemble a T-shirt from start to finish.

　　他的目标是为机械臂编程，让它从头到尾完整地缝制一件T恤。

　　It followed a sequence of functions: a machine cuts cloth panels to be sewn, the panels are drenched⁹ with the polymer and stiffened¹⁰, a robotic arm uses suction cups to lift each panel and position it in the sewing machine.

　　缝制一件T恤要经过一系列程序：机器裁剪衣料以便缝制，用聚合物浸湿衣料使其硬化，机械臂用吸盘拿起每块衣料，将其放在缝纫机上。

　　Finally, the robotic arm lifts the stitched T-shirt off the sewing machine.

　　最后，机械臂再将缝好的T恤从缝纫机上拿起来。

　　"A single robot wouldn't perform all these tasks. It would be two or more robots along the assembly process," said Zornow.

　　佐尔诺表示:"单独的一个机器人不能完成所有的这些任务。整个装配过程需要两个或者更多的机器人。"

1 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

2 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

3 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

4 floppy   

adj.松软的，衰弱的

参考例句：

• She was wearing a big floppy hat.她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
• Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk?你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗？

5 stiffen   

v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬

参考例句：

• The blood supply to the skin is reduced when muscles stiffen.当肌肉变得僵硬时，皮肤的供血量就减少了。
• I was breathing hard,and my legs were beginning to stiffen.这时我却气吁喘喘地开始感到脚有点僵硬。

6 ultrasonic   

adj.超声的；n.超声波

参考例句：

• It was very necessary for people to take type-B ultrasonic inspection regularly.定期进行B超检查是十分必要的。
• Sounds are classified into two kinds: sonic and ultrasonic.声波分为两类，即普通声波与超声波。

7 welder   

n电焊工

参考例句：

• He left school at 15 to become an apprentice to a welder.他15岁离开了中学成为一个焊接工人的学徒。
• Welder done at least once a month when the dust handling.焊机时每月至少做一次除尘处理。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。