在线英语听力室

Companies Develop Robots to Make Clothes

时间:2022-12-22 06:01:15

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

Companies Develop Robots to Make Clothes

Large clothing and technology companies, including Siemens AG and Levi Strauss & Co., are developing robots to make clothes. The process of using robots or computers for human work, known as automation, has raised concerns about jobs for many people around the world.

Eugen Solowjow heads an automated2 clothes manufacturing project at a Siemens lab in San Francisco.

"Clothing is the last trillion-dollar industry that hasn't been automated," he said.

The worldwide clothing market is estimated to be worth $1.52 trillion, the independent research group Statista says.

Supply chain issues

The idea of using robots to increase manufacturing in the United States grew more popular during the pandemic. COVID-19 interfered3 with supply chains around the world, highlighting the risk of using distant factories.

But moving clothing manufacturing back to Western markets, including the United States, is a sensitive issue.

Many clothing companies are unsure about publicly discussing automation. Such reports would cause public concern that automation will take jobs from workers in poor countries.

One industry inventor, Jonathan Zornow, said he has received online criticism, and a death threat, in connection with his work.

Fabric4 problem

Sewing - the act of using a needle and thread to make clothes - is especially difficult to automate1.

Robots do not have the fine touch skill that human hands do. Robots are getting better, but it will take years to fully5 develop their ability to handle fabric, said five researchers questioned by Reuters.

But current research efforts are also looking at doing just enough work by machine to close the cost difference between U.S. and foreign factories.

Work at Siemens grew out of efforts to create software to guide robots that could handle all types of materials, such as thin wire cables, said Solowjow. He added that researchers soon realized one of the best targets for automation was clothing.

Siemens worked with the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute in Pittsburgh. They identified a San Francisco company with a promising6 way to deal with the fabric problem. The startup, Sewbo Inc., hardens, or stiffens8, fabric with chemicals. The hardened fabric is then similar to other material robots can handle, like metal for example. Once the robots finish sewing the piece, the clothing is washed to remove the chemical.

"Pretty much every piece of denim9 is washed after it's made anyway, so this fits into the existing production system," said Zornow, Sewbo's inventor.

This research effort widened to include several clothing companies, including Levi's and Bluewater Defense10 LLC, a small U.S.-based maker11 of military clothes. They received $1.5 million in financing from the ARM Institute to experiment with the technique.

Other efforts

There are other efforts to automate sewing factories. Software Automation Inc, a startup in Georgia, has developed a machine that can sew clothing by pulling the cloth over a special table, for example.

Sanjeev Bahl, who opened a small jeans factory called Saitex in downtown Los Angeles two years ago , has studied the Sewbo machines. He is preparing to set up his first experimental machine.

At his factory in September, he said that many sewing jobs are ready for a new process.

"If it works," he said, "I think there's no reason not to have large-scale (jeans) manufacturing here in the U.S. again."

Words in This Story

texture12 – n. the way that something feels when you touch it

supply chain -- n. the companies, materials, and systems involved in producing and delivering goods

thread -- n. a long, thin piece of cotton, silk, etc., used for sewing

handle -- v. to manage or control (something) with your hands

stiffen7 – v. to make (something, such as cloth) difficult to bend or move

fabric – n. woven or knitted material

denim – n. a strong usually blue cotton cloth that is used especially to make jeans

scale -- n. the size or level of something especially in comparison to something else


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 automate oPLyy     
v.自动化;使自动化
参考例句:
  • Many banks have begun to automate.许多银行已开始采用自动化技术。
  • To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today.使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。
2 automated fybzf9     
a.自动化的
参考例句:
  • The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
  • Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS),作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。
3 interfered 71b7e795becf1adbddfab2cd6c5f0cff     
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉
参考例句:
  • Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 fabric 3hezG     
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。
5 fully Gfuzd     
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。
6 promising BkQzsk     
adj.有希望的,有前途的
参考例句:
  • The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
  • We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。
7 stiffen zudwI     
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。
8 stiffens c64c63d7eef59fc32ac9536a052f1035     
(使)变硬,(使)强硬( stiffen的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Heating the foam stiffens it and forms it. 暖气泡沫stiffens它和形式。
  • He stiffens in momentary panic. 他心里一阵惊慌,浑身不自在起来。
9 denim o9Lya     
n.斜纹棉布;斜纹棉布裤,牛仔裤
参考例句:
  • She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤,一件白粗布工作服上衣。
  • Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。
10 defense AxbxB     
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
参考例句:
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
11 maker DALxN     
n.制造者,制造商
参考例句:
  • He is a trouble maker,You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼,你不要跟他在一起。
  • A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
12 texture kpmwQ     
n.(织物)质地;(材料)构造;结构;肌理
参考例句:
  • We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
  • Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。