Английский язык в сфере компьютерных и телекоммуникационных технологий (стр. 19 )

Тем не менее описанные в статье новинки позволяют получить представление о наиболее серьезных проблемах, стоящих на пути коммерческого производства андроидов. Качественные роботы весьма дороги и, скорее всего, вряд ли будут стоит дешевле хороших автомобилей (то есть 25-30 тыс. долл.). Искусственный интеллект, с которым ассоциируются многие модели, пока находится в зачаточном состоянии. Фактически на данном этапе ученые работают лишь над тем, чтобы роботы научились уверенно передвигаться и выполнять элементарные команды. Много неприятностей доставляют разработчикам несовершенные аккумуляторы: максимальный срок автономной работы робота едва достигает получаса. Однако перечисленные проблемы не являются неразрешимыми, и вполне возможно, что лет через 12-15 в зажиточных семьях появятся электронные гувернеры, дворецкие и сиделки.

UNIT III

ENTERTAINMENT ROBOTS

EXERCISE 1

Read and translate the text.

An entertainment robot1 is, as the name indicates, a robot that is not made for utilitarian use, as in production or domestic services, but for the sole subjective pleasure of the human it serves, usually the owner or his housemates, guests or clients. Robotics technologies are applied in many areas of culture and entertainment.

Expensive robotics are applied to the creation of narrative environments in commercial venues where servo motors, pneumatics and hydraulic actuators are used to create movement with often preprogrammed responsive behaviors such as in Disneyland's haunted house.

Entertainment robots can also be seen in the context of media arts2 where artist have been employing advanced technologies to create environments and artistic expression also utilizing the actuators and sensor to allow their robots to react and change in relation to viewers.

Relatively cheap, mass-produced entertainment robots are used as mechanical, sometimes interactive, toys which perform various tasks and tricks on command. The first commercial hit was, not surprisingly, modelled on the most popular pet: the canine. While primitive robot toy models only execute standardized pre-programmed routines, advancing technology allows for interaction with the user, thus somewhat resembling a live playmate, but which has no feelings and always remains inferior to a pet.

In fact manufacturers even found it pays3 to produce a toy that is essentially designed to be nurtured, rather like an egg, as proven by the success of the Japanese Tamagotchi.

Entertainment robots can take the form of interactive marketing tools at trade shows where promotional robots move about a trade show floor providing tongue - in - cheek4 interaction with attendees about products, ad services in order to bring to particular companies trade show booth.

As usual in the entertainment industry, capital and creativity are invested to try and top anything the private person can afford. Thus expensive robots are made for use as:

marketing tool - showed off by the manufacturers in order to promote their products and technology prop - inanimate performer or even artificial actor in show, TV and movie production

In 1956, Nicolas Schцffer created Cysp 1 (SpatiodynamiqueCybernйtique), a robot and dancer working together to create an abstract sculpture and choreography with concrete music by Pierre Henry. These works could react to color, sound and light.

Survival Research Laboratories, in San Francisco, California, create large destructive robotic performances to roast contemporary culture and express their distaste for the military-industrial complex.

Emergent Systems is creating large-scale interactive art environments where robots are able to respond to humans and each other.

Intel Museum hosts the interactive robot, ARTI, which is short for "artificial intelligence". This robot is considered to be a work of fine art and is capable of recognizing faces, understands speech and even teaches the museum guests about the history of the museum and its founders.

Notes to the text:

1Anarrativeenvironment(повествовательнаясреда) is a space, whether physical or virtual, in which stories can unfold. A virtual narrative environment might be the narrative framework in which game play can proceed. A physical narrative environment might be an exhibition area within a museum, or a foyer of a retail space, or the public spaces around a building - anywhere in short where stories can be told in space.

2media art is a genre that encompasses artworks created with new mediatechnologies, including digital art, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual art, Internet art, interactive art, computerrobotics, and art as biotechnology. Media Art often involves interaction between artist and observer or between observers and the artwork, which responds to them. Yet, as several theorists and curators have noted, such forms of interaction, social exchange, participation, and transformation do not distinguish new media art but rather serve as a common ground that has parallels in other strands of contemporary art practice.

3it pays – it is profitable

4tongue-in-cheek - (idiomatic) not intended seriously; humorous

EXERCISE2

Words and expressions to be remembered:

robotics [rəu'bɔtɪks] робототехника	responsivebehaviors - например, действия робота; в программировании - поведение объекта выражается изменением его состояния, отправляемыми объектом сообщениями и другими наблюдаемыми извне действиями и реакциями;
hydraulicactuator-  гидропривод;  гидроусилитель	the canine ['keɪnaɪn ]- собака
utilitarian [jutɪlɪ'tɛərɪən] - практический	impunity [ɪm'pjunətɪ] безнаказанность
inferior [ɪn'fɪərɪə] - стоящий ниже (по развитию, уму)	tradeshow ['treɪdʃəu] показ нового фильма узкому кругу (кинокритикам и представителям проката)
nurture ['nɜ:ʧə] - воспитывать; обучать	prop -  реквизит; бутафория
toroast - высмеивать, поднимать на смех	inanimate [ɪn'жnɪmət] - неживой, неодушевлённый
concretemusic - конкретная музыка (музыка, создаваемая путём записи природных звуков, подвергнутых различным акустическим преобразованиям)

EXERCISE3

Read the following words and word combinations. Try to remember their meanings.

An entertainment robot; made for utilitarian use;  in production or domestic services;  for the sole subjective pleasure of the human; housemates, guests or clients; robotics technologies; areas of culture and entertainment; creation of narrative environments; commercial venue; servo motors; pneumatics and hydraulic actuators; preprogrammed responsive behaviors; media arts; to employ advanced technologies;  to create environments;  trade show; promotional robot; to provide tongue in cheek interaction with attendees; to bring trade show booth; concrete music.

EXERCISE4

Translate the following nouns and make the verbs from them:

Actuator; entertainment; indicator; application; use; program; movement; performance; response; expression; command; production; manufacture; promotion; standard; execution; reaction; transformation; participation; compass

Make up the nouns from the following adjectives and translate them into Russian:

utilitarian; subjective; capable;  narrative; commercial; interactive; humorous; surprisingly; live; private; able; social.

Translate the verbs with the suffix “re”:

recollect; reinforce; reform; resort; recall; rebuild; react; recycle;  redirect; reentry; refresh; restart; retransform; reopen; reobserve; recharge; regenerate;

Find the corresponding Russian meanings for the following word combinations:

unmanned machining; unabated speedunaffected equation; unalarmed failure; unalloyed steel; unbalanced growth; uncertain  discrepancy;  uncompensated loop;  uncomputable function; undecomposable function; unessential factor; unformatted message; unintentional access; unlimited complex;  unmistakable sign; unoptimized data; unpolarized light; unreasonable message; unsaturated logic;  untapped magnetic circuit; untestable area; untransposed transmission line;

непреднамеренный доступ; нетранспонированная линия электропередачи; необъяснимое расхождение;  неуравновешенный контур; неразветвленная магнитная цепь; невычислимая функция; несущественный фактор; бесформатное сообщение; область непроверяемых неисправностей; неограниченный комплекс; верный признак; фрагментированные данные; неполяризованный свет; неразборчивое сообщение; неразложимая функция; логические схемы без насыщения.

EXERCISE5

Read the following text and find in each sentence the model “subject+predicate”. Translate the text andtitleit.

It is likely that intelligent machines such as robots will be used much more than they are at present. One possible area is surgery where computer-controlled robot arms can, in some cases, operate with more precision and less chance of error than a human surgeon. Intelligent machines can also be used in telemedicine to help doctors diagnose and treat patients at a distance, even in different countries. Nanotechnology (technology involving tiny particles) is already being used to create miniature machines small enough to be injected into the body to deliver drugs to the correct place or to destroy dangerous cells. This will probably be developed much more in the future.

EXERCISE6

Summarize the information about entertainment robots.

UNIT IV

ARTICULATED ROBOTS

Text 1

EXERCISE 1

Read and translate the text.

An articulated robot is a robot with rotary joints (e. g. a legged robot or an industrial robot). Articulated robots can range from simple two-jointed structures to systems with 10 or more interacting joints. They are powered by a variety of means, including electric motors. Some types of robots, such as robotic arms, can be articulated or non-articulated. An articulated robot is one which uses rotary joints to access its work space. Usually the joints are arranged in a “chain”, so that one joint supports another further in the chain. It can move along a continuous path - that is a control scheme whereby the inputs or commands specify every point along a desired path of motion. The path is controlled by the coordinated motion of the manipulator joints.