Some Facts about Robots.

It is estimated that by the end of the century the over­whelming majority of people will be occupied in science, education, administration and the service industry. Machines and robots will be the primary producers of material wealth.

1. A Robot Laboratory Assistant. When a research worker studies biological objects, the brain, for example, he has to operate with tremendous figures: 15 thousand million neurons, 150 thousand million interneuron el elements. One cubic milli­metre of blood has 5 million red blood cells.

Our scientists have developed a machine to count and de­termine these biological microobjects. This robot laboratory assistant does in one to three minutes the work that usually takes a month using conventional technique. This robot, besides counting the objects, also determines their size.

2. Robot Assists Surgeon. A cybernetic device which col­lects information on the main physiological processes taking place in the organism of a patient undergoing an operation has been made at one of Leningrad’s clinics. A special screen shows the patient’s pulse rate, blood pressure and body temper­ature. It has been decided to improve the device to give rec­ommendations to the operator of artificial heart. A computer being assembled at the clinic, after collecting and processing all the necessary information about the patient, will be able to control “heart-lung” apparatus automatically.

3. An Underwater Robot. An underwater robot with the TV camera, the first of its kind, has been successfully tested in the Soviet Union. Intended for detailed studies of the ocean bed at depths as low as 4,000 metres, it was remote-con­trolled from the shore and could perform previously pro­grammed operations. It could be given "hands" adjusted deli­cately enough to thread a needle under water.

4. Space Robots. Space research in our country opens up vast perspectives for robots. Artificial satellites are already circulating the globe. The orbital stations are added to them nowadays. This equipment involves maintenance, repair, part replacement and other jobs which cannot be planned beforehand. Spacecrafts fitted with robots are already in use.

The great advantage of the space robots are that they need no life to support. They could be left in orbit for ever (навсегда), or sent off in a moon vehicle (летательный аппарат) to explore some remote area without anyone worrying about whether it would come back or not. They are also very useful for repairing the outside of a spacecraft or for assembling a space station in orbit.

5. Artificial Man for Medical Students. Science fiction has become reality at a research laboratory in California with the creation of a 6 ft. 2 in. artificial man which breathes and blinks.

“Sim-1”—the first of a series of simulators—was created by several scientists from California universities. He is to serve as a "patient" for medical students. His inventors believe that increasingly complex Sims will be built, shortening from eight to six the number of years of study required for a medical degree.

“Sim-1” human characteristics include ability to breathe, blink his eyes, open his jaws—which contain a full set of teeth—move his tongue and vocal cords, and be affected by drugs (лекарство) in much the same way as a human being. Speech and mobility have not yet been built in, although the inventors say this would be no problem.

6. Robots on a Stroll. In 1910, news was received in Japan that a magic box (a robot using springs) was displayed at the World Exposition in London. This news captured the interest of a boy in the fifth form of an elementary school who started to construct his own robot of tin and cardboard. Ten years passed and the boy, now a young man of 21, had already re­ceived a patent for a robot which could speak. This was the young Aizawa who, since then, has spent all his life in mak­ing toys.

Aizawa has created 700 robots, ranging from 2 meters tall to those of only 30 centimeters. But he is particularly proud of eight of his creations, which are life-size robot brothers. These eight robots not only walk, but also can shake hands, wink, bow, nod and talk. Numerous requests are received by Aizawa for the services of his eight robots, which are dispatched to children’s science museums.

Aizawa brought out two of eight brother robots for a stroll outside his home. One is Goro. He is 165 centimeters tall and weighs 123 kilograms. The other is Hachiro, weighing 60 kilograms and 115 centimeters in height.

 

Notes:

the overhelming majority — переважна більшість

red blood cell — червоні кров’яні кульки

a surgeon — хірург

a “heart-lung” apparatus — апарат “серце-легені”

at the depths as low as — у глибині до

remote-controlled — дистанційно керований

adjusted delicately enough to thread a needle under water — достатньо точно пристосовані, щоб затягувати нитку у голку під водою

life support — (життєві) засоби до існування

without anyone worrying about — ніхто не буде хвилюватись про те

vocal cords — голосові зв’язки

tin and cardboard — жерсть і картон