VOA慢速英语2021--跳舞机器人背后的团队

Boston Dynamics¹ is an American technology company that has developed a series of robots designed to move in ways similar to humans and animals.

The company has spent years building robots with useful abilities like walking, moving through rough terrain² and picking things up with their hands. The machines are designed to be used in work settings³ to perform a number of different tasks.

Videos of some of the robots – especially those that look like animals when they move – have been popular on the internet in the past.

But the company's latest video to go viral shows a group of robots dancing to the 1962 hit song "Do You Love Me" by The Contours. The video received more than 23 million views during its first week.

The performance shows two Boston Dynamics humanoid robots, called Atlas⁴, doing several dance moves – such as the twist, the mashed⁵ potato and others. The two are joined by Spot, a dog-like robot, and Handle, a wheeled robot designed for lifting and moving boxes.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Boston Dynamics founder⁶ and chairperson Marc Raibert admits the video is fun to watch. But he said the real success behind the experiment was the valuable lessons the project taught his team.

"It turned out that we needed to upgrade⁷ the robot in the middle of development," Raibert said. He said that step was necessary in order for the robot to be strong enough and have enough energy to do the whole performance without stopping. "So that was a real benefit to the design," he added.

The difficulty of teaching⁸ robots to dance also pushed Boston Dynamics engineers to develop better motion-programming tools. These tools helped the robots do several things at once - balance, bounce⁹ and perform dance moves without breaks.

Some social media users¹⁰ who watched the video commented that the robots' dancing was so similar to a human that they could not believe their eyes. Some praised the robots' moves and the technology powering them. Others suggested that what they were seeing was probably computer-generated imagery, or CGI.

But Raibert said it was all real, the result of long and hard work, fueled by a strong desire to program a robot that could dance to the beat. "We wanted it to do human dancing and ... when a human dances, the music has a beat and their whole body moves to it — their hands, their body, their head."

Raibert added: "It looked like the robot was having fun and really moved with the music. And I think that had a lot to do with the result of the production."

The Atlas robots used a wide range of sensors¹¹ to perform the dance moves, including 28 actuators. These are devices¹² that serve as muscles by converting¹⁴ electronic or physical signals into movement. The robots were also equipped with three powerful computers, including one that processes perception¹⁵ signals and two that control movement.

Aside from the technology progress, Raibert said it was also pleasing that the video became so popular with people across the world.

"We got a call from one of the sound engineers who had recorded the original Contours performance back in the '60s. And he said that his whole crew of Motown friends had been passing it around and had been excited by it," he added.

Words in This Story

terrain – n. a particular kind of land

task – n. a piece of work to be done

upgrade – v. to improve something by making it newer or better quality

benefit – n. a good or helpful result or effect

bounce – v. jump up and down on a soft surface

beat – n. a regular movement or sound

convert¹³ – v. to change the appearance or purpose of something

perception – n. the ability to notice something

1 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

2 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

3 settings   

n.镶嵌( setting的名词复数 )；环境；装置；（某事、戏剧、小说等的）背景

参考例句：

• to study behaviour in laboratory and naturalistic settings 研究实验室里的以及仿自然环境中的行为
• This machine has two settings: fast and slow. 这种机器有两种可调的速度：快速和慢速。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

5 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

7 upgrade   

vt.提高，加强，改善；n.提高，改善

参考例句：

• We need to upgrade the status of teachers.我们需要提升老师的地位。
• To upgrade a clerk to manager.将办事员提升为经理。

8 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

9 bounce   

n.弹，反弹；冲劲，冲力；v.(使)弹起(跳起)

参考例句：

• She's got a lot of bounce.她浑身都是劲。
• The ball gave a high bounce.那球弹得很高。

10 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

11 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

12 devices   

n.设备；装置( device的名词复数 )；花招；（为实现某种目的的）计划；手段

参考例句：

• electrical labour-saving devices around the home 节省劳力的各种家用电器
• modern labour-saving devices such as washing machines and dishwashers 诸如洗衣机和洗碗机之类的现代化省力设备

13 convert   

v.（在形式、状态、用途等方面）（使）改变

参考例句：

• I must convert sorrow into strength.我要化悲痛为力量。
• At what rate does the dollar convert into pounds?美元以什么汇率兑换成英镑？

14 converting   

n.吹（炉冶）炼，转炉炼钢v.（使）转变( convert的现在分词 )；（使）转化；皈依；改变（信仰）

参考例句：

• Jim's got some half-baked idea about converting his garage into a sauna. 吉姆初步计划把他的车库改造成一个蒸汽浴室。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Quite recently man has succeeded in converting sunlight directly into electrical energy. 最近人们已经成功地把太阳光直接转化为电能。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 perception   

n.感知，感觉，觉察(力)；认识，观念，看法

参考例句：

• What's your perception of the matter?你对此事有什么看法？
• He was a man of keen perception.他是一个感觉敏锐的人。