VOA慢速英语2021--美国公司把机器人租给小工厂

Better technology and rising wages are leading an increase in sales of robots to big companies all across America. But smaller factories have shown less interest in the devices. Robots are costly¹ purchases.

Now, some investors² are supporting a financial plan for a robot pay-by-use plan. This means smaller factories could pay to use a robot when they want its service, but they would not own the device.

Garry Tan's business Initialized Capital is one of the investors. He says he sees three important social and economic changes taking place now.

Tan said low-cost and better robot computer vision and other intelligence technology is growing more available. He said financing is available at low interest rates, also.

And, disagreements between the United States and China about supply chains have created more interest in robots, Tan said.

The investors' business plan puts much of the financial demand on new robot companies. These companies carry the risk of a manufacturer losing a business deal or changing a product. Smaller factories often produce smaller amounts of special products that do not need robotic support. And Silicon³ Valley Robotics, an industry group supporting robot startups, says that in the past, financing has been difficult.

Still, some powerful investors support the idea.

Tiger Global, the biggest financer of this year's new tech companies, has invested in three robot leasing companies in seven months.

Bob Albert's family owns Polar Hardware Manufacturing, a 105-year-old factory in Chicago. The company paid less than $10 an hour for a robot. It paid the average human more than $20 an hour.

Albert watched this month as a robot arm picked up a metal bar, spun⁴ around, and placed it in an older machine. Together, the machines created a door handle.

"If the robot works really well, we'll use it a lot," said Albert, who was pleased with the early results.

Westec Plastics Corp, in Livermore, California, got its first robot in January 2020 and now has three from Rapid Robotics. The company charges $3,750 a month for a robot in the first year and $2,100 a month starting in year two.

"Melvin runs 24 hours a day, all three shifts, and that replaced three full operators," said President Tammy Barras about the named robot.

She also said she is saving about $60,000 in labor⁵ costs a year with one robot alone. "We've had to increase our wages quite significantly this year because of what is going on in the world. And luckily, Melvin has not increased his pay rate. He doesn't ask for a raise."

Barras, who has 102 employees, says robots cannot replace humans today because robots can perform only repetitive, simple jobs.

Jordan Kretchmer is cofounder and CEO of Rapid Robotics. He said he meets people who have doubts about robots. "A lot of times we've walked in and there's a graveyard⁶ of robots that they bought in the past," he said. But he added, "robots can be easy and they do work when they're in the hands of the right people."

Words in This Story

shift – n. the scheduled period of time during which a person works

graveyard – n. a place where old things are left or thrown away

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

4 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。