Three Generations of Robots
1. The automatically controlled industrial manipulators are divided into three generations: programmed, adaptive and intellectual.
2. Characteristic of the first generation – the programmed robots – is that their control system acts according to a rigid oft-repeated programme1 all the time. But the programmed robot is easily retuned to various action programmes.
3. All the industrial robots in stamping, mechanical processing, forge and foundry work, and in other auxiliary "manual" operations as well as in loading and unloading that have been widely introduced belong to this generation. They will continue to be the main type of robot. But adaptive robots, or robots of the second generation, are being developed along with them. Where they differ is that they possess the most elementary senses in their manipulators – tactile (sense and touch), power (reaction to the magnitude of the work effort),2 locating,3 (reaction to the distance to the object and the speed of approaching it), and light (reaction to the object located within a beam of light), and subsequently micro process the information.
4. The third generation – intellectual robots – possess far richer means for sensing (including sight), for appraising the situation, and for processing information with a view to adopting a decision and carrying it out using drives and organizing the purposeful movement of the manipulator. This enables us to say that here the robot possesses a mo dicum4 of "artificial intellect".
5. However, in these complex problems, man is not yet completely excluded. Artificial intellect will be used when it is more effective than human intellect, i.e. in the cases when the human organism itself will not be able to react quickly to a large bulk of information5 that an artificial intellect can process quickly. But for a long time to come, these systems will have an operator, who will solve problems in complicated situations, using human experience.
6. All these objectives figure in the state programme for the development of robot technology in future, and will be carried out to benefit the various industries.
Notes
1. a rigid oft-repeated programme – фиксированная часто повторяющаяся программа
2. the magnitude of the work-effort – величина (степень) рабочего усилия
3. locating – местоположение
4. modicum – очень малое количество (чуточка)
5. a large bulk of information – большой объем информации
III. Say what you have learned about the first generation of robots.
IV. Find the information about the second generation of manipulators and say it to your group-mate.
V.Which paragraph contains the information about the third generation of robots?
VI. Explain why artificial intellect can't be used now instead of human one and say when it will be used.
VII. Summarize the ideas developed in texts А, В and С. Use this information to make a report on the theme "Robots Today and Tomorrow". The following plan will help you:
1. Historical background of robots.
2. Three generations of robots.
3. Different types of industrial robots.
4. The role of robots in industrial production.
UNIT THIRTEEN
• Grammar:Complex Sentence (§ 17)..
Functions of one(§23).
• Word-formation;adj +n =n
n +adj =adj.
• Individual Work:Lab Work "Complex Sentence".
LESSON ONE
Pre-text Exercises
I.Practise the reading of the following words:
negotiation [nIˏgquSI'eISn], persuasion [pq'sweIZn], ingredient [In'gri:diqnt], source [sO:s], receiver [rI'si:vq], encode [In'kqud], originate [q'riGIneIt], misinterpretation [ˏmIsIntWpri'teISn], verbal ['vq:bl].
II. Check up if you can read these words correctly and say what words in the Russian language help you to guess their meaning:
communication, information, process, symbol, discipline, instruction, model, telephone, engineer, nature, factor, position.
III. State to what parts of speech the words in black type belong:
1. Communicationis a process by which informationis exchanged between individuals. 2. The basicingredients of a communications model include a source, encoder,message, channel, decoder, receiver,feedback and noise. 3. Telephone, radio and television delivera continuous stream of information. 4. The electrictelegraph was the beginning of the whole vasttelecommunications industry. 5. The man who put most effort into developing the telegraph was a successful American painterand sculptorSamuel Morse. 6. Modern communication owesits very existenceto the evolution in digitalelectronics. 7. A great Russian scientistA.S.Popov was the first who produced an apparatus which became the world's greatest meansof communication. 8. It was the energy and persistenceof A.G.Bell which madethe telephone a practical instrument. 9. Thomas Alva Edison is known as one of the greatest inventorsof his time. 10. Present-day telephones, television sets, satellites and microwave transmitters all restupon a foundation of computers.
IV. Find Russian equivalents given below to the English compound words:
short-circuit, loud-speaker, intervision, hardware, software, hyper-graph, microreader, microcopy, hi-fi (high fidelity), lo-fi (low fidelity), high-light, highway, shorthand;
микроинструкция, короткое замыкание, стенография, программное (математическое) обеспечение, аппаратура, гиперграф, громкоговоритель, уменьшенная копия, аппарат для чтения микрофильмов, аппарат высокого класса, аппарат низкого класса, интервидение, световой эффект, автомагистраль.
V. Form nouns adding the suffix -er (-or) to the given verbs, translate them:
Example: to record — записывать
recorder — звукозаписывающий аппарат
to encode, to decode, to receive, to interpret, to process, to transmit, to read, to produce, to discover, to inform, to deliver, to design, to elect, to instruct, to supervise.
VI. Translate the following compound adjectives:
inch-thick, atom-free, heat-proof, trouble-free, iron-strong, duty-free, note-worthy, hammer-proof, dust-free, gas-blue, snow-white, century-old, iron-grey, pencil-thin.
VII. Check up if you remember the meaning of the following verbs. Consult a dictionary if necessary:
to deliver, to decode, to interpret, to select, to transmit, to differentiate, to permit, to join, to complete, to invent, to refer to, to appreciate, to convey.
VIII. Define the functions of the word one in the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. A given problem can have more than onealgorithm for its solution. 2. The new devices have a number of advantages over the old ones.3. A "negative ion" is onewhich has gained (получил) an electron. 4. A "positive ion" is onewhich lost an electron. 5. Circuits that can perform this logical operation and similar oneshave been built and tested. 6. At present robot technology has two major branches, onetechnological and the other scientific. 7. Higher speeds are oneof the basic features of modern technical progress. 8. Onemust always be careful when operating this machine. 9. Our old laboratory equipment was much worse than the new one.10. The idea of automation is oneof the most important ideas for modern industry.
IX. Translate the sentences into Russian paying attention to the meaning of the word one:
1. The theory of the basic devices in radio engineering – radio transmitting and radio receiving ones — was developed by the scientists. 2. To understand what laser is one has to understand how light is generated. 3. The input unit to be described here is a new one. 4. One can make matter vibrate in different ways. 5. In future power stations will use the principle of direct conversion of solar energy into electric one. 6. Due to radioactive elements one can measure the thickness of various materials. 8. He knew that no one could help him. 9. The history of the exploration of the Urals has been a long one. 10. I know only one solution of this problem.
X. Find in text A sentences with the word one and translate them into Russian.
XI. Find the sentences with additional clauses among the ones given below. Translate these sentences into Russian:
1. It seems probable that language was fully developed about 25,000 years ago. 2. Precise recording instruments show that no two native speakers of a language pronounce any word or sound of that language exactly the same. 3. We often hear that the increasing flood of information will be one of the problems of the 21-st century. 4. Some people believe that learning a foreign language is just a matter of memorizing words. 5. When Galileo invented the telescope he realized that an arrangement of lenses could also be used to magnify objects. 6. At the beginning of the 20-th century, astronomers believed that Mars was
quite similar to our world. 7. Scientific study of society shows that human history develops from stage to stage according to definite laws.
8. Maxwell predicted that waves longer than those of light could exist.
9. The laboratory is the place where experiments as well as scientific research may be carried out. 10. If you want to get the atomic weight of an element, you must add together the protons and neutrons. 11. The atomic weight of an element tells us how many times it is heavier than hydrogen.
XII. Translate the sentences paying attention to the subordinating
conjunctions introducing attributive clauses:
1. Electronics is that branch of science and technology which studies the conduction of electricity through gases or in vacuum. 2. There are about thirty radio stations in the world that put on Esperanto programmes. 4, Chemistry is the science that deals with the structure of matter and its changes. 5. The degree to which computers will take over human functions may frighten some people and astonish others. 6. Omar Khayam wrote a book on algebra which was the best of its time and he also prepared and improved astronomical tables. 7. The device which is expected to be available later, looks like a hand-held calculator with a keyboard of letters instead of numbers. 8. The laboratory is the place where experiments as well as scientific research may be carried out. 9. The liquid takes up the shape of a vessel in which it is contained. 10. There are some general guides that you will find helpful for your experiment.
XIII. Choose the sentences with attributive clauses from the ones
given below. Translate them into Russian:
1. Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs or behaviour. 2. Computers are machines which are able to solve complex mathematical problems. 3. Atoms and electrons are so small that they cannot be seen under the most powerful microscopes. 4. Radio is a device that transmits and receives signals and programs by electromagnetic waves. 5. A transistor is a small electronic device whose function is the same as that of an electronic tube 6. The medium or channel through which the message is carried may take the form of face-to-face communication. 7. It is often said that one should use the language of those to whom one is speaking. 8. Corrosion is a very serious problem which worries scientists, technologists and economists.
XIV. Find in text A complex sentences. Define the types of subordinate clauses and translate the sentences into Russian.
XV.Match up the words which have a similar meaning:
a) to broadcast, symbol, to understand, discipline, purpose, to include, to speed up, to change, quantity, to reduce, medium, for example, to appreciate.
b) to alter, to radio, for instance, environment, to approve, to realize, to accelerate, subject, aim, to embrace, sign, amount, to cut down.
XVI.Listen to the following tape-recorded lexical programme, memorize all the words and word groups:
■ to exchange — обменивать (ся), менять (ся) ■ tool — перен. орудие, средство; инструмент ■ communications models — модель связи (коммуникации) ■ system of spoken symbols — система речевых знаков ■ theorist — теоретик ■ source — источник я encoder — кодирующее устройство; кодировщик ■ message— сообщение, сигнал ■ decoder — декодирующее устройство; декодер
■ feedback — обратная связь ■ to originate — происходить, брать начало ■ to translate — преобразовывать, переводить в другую систему ■ to accomplish — выполнять; завершать ■ message fidelity — точность (верность) сообщения ■ message for transmittal — сообщение для передачи ■ precise meaning — точное значение ■ ingredient — составная часть, компонент в negotiations — переговоры
■ call — телефонный разговор; вызов ■ sound — звук ■ to select — выбирать, отбирать, подбирать ■ to convey — выражать; сообщать, передавать.
LESSON TWO
I. Read text A. Try to understand all details. Use a dictionary if necessary:
Text A
Communications Model
1. Communication isa processby which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behaviour.
2. Verbal communication, commonly referred to as1 "talking", is based on a system of spoken symbolsthat are used to relay ideas and emotions. It is a vital and powerful tool2 for the passage of information, the delivery of explanations and instructions, and the acts of negotiation and persuasion.
3. To fully understand oral communication3,let's look at the nature
of the process. Models are useful in the engineering discipline4, as they
are in our daily job-related5 and personal communications6. A model of
communication has been developed by several theorists in the field.
4. The basic ingredients of this modelinclude a source, encoder, message, channel, decoder, receiver, feedback, and noise. Communication originates in the source, which may be conceived as a member of a project team7 who has some information to transmit. This information is translated via an encoding process into a set of symbols8 or a language. The purpose or intent of the source is expressed in the form of a message. The medium or channel through which the message is carried may take the form of face-to-face communication9, for example, or perhaps a telephone call. The receiver decodes and interprets the message in light of his own frame of reference10 and experience. The feedback, the receiver provides the source, informs the message initiator11 whether the communication has been effectively accomplished. Noise, in the behavioural sense, includes factors such as conceived value judgments, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings which can reduce the message fidelity.
5. The presentation and discussion of the model of communication is intended to help the engineerunderstand why some of the messages sent are not received as originally intended. For example, care must be taken12 in encoding a message. The words selected by the source must convey precise meaning if the receiver is to decode them as they were intended, not in light of one's personal value system13. This suggests that when one is sending a message,one should place oneself in the position of the receiver and prepare and encode the message accordingly. It is often said that one should use the language of those to whom one is speaking. The engineer, accordingly, should understand and appreciate the process of decoding as he does the encoding of the message for transmittal.
Notes
1. commonly referred to as — на которую обычно ссылаются как на
2. its is a vital and powerful tool — это важное и мощное средство
3. oral communication — устное общение, коммуникация 4 engineering discipline — техническая дисциплина
5. job-related communication — деловое общение
6. personal communication — личное (персональное) общение
7. project team — проектная группа
8. a set of symbols — набор символов (знаков)
9. f ace-to-face communication — личное общение
10. in light of his own frame of reference — согласно его собственной компетенции
11 the message initiator — отправитель сообщения
12care must be taken — следует быть осторожным
13 not in light of one's personal value system – не в собственной интерпретации
II.Say whether the following statements are true or false:
1. Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or be haviour. 2. Verbal communication is not considered to be a vital and powerful tool for the passage of information, the delivery of explanations and instructions. 3. The basic ingredients of a communications model do not include a source, encoder, message, channel, decoder, receiver, feedback and noise. 4. The presentation and discussion of the model of communication is intended to help the engineer understand why some of the messages sent are not received as originally intended, 5. The engineer should understand and appreciate the process of decoding as he does the encoding of the message for transmittal.
III.Find the place in paragraph 2 containing information about verbal communication,
IV.In paragraph 3 find the English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:
техническая дисциплина, модель, деловое общение, разрабатывать, теоретик, природа, область, понимать, ежедневно, иллюстрировать.
V.Answer the following questions on paragraph 4:
1. What are the basic ingredients of a communications model? 2. Where does communication originate? 3. The purpose of the source is expressed in the form of a message, isn't it? 4. How does the receiver decode and interpret the message?
VI. Read paragraph 5 and say:
a) what the presentation and discussion of the model of communication is intended for; b) whether care must be taken in encoding a message; c) how one should behave when one is sending a message; d) what language one should use in sending a message; e) how the engineer should treat the processes of decoding and encoding the message for transmittal.
VII. Write out of the text words, word combinations for describingthe procedure of encoding the message.
VIII. Describe the basic ingredients of a communications model to your partner.
IX. Divide text A into logical parts and find the topical sentences
in each part.
X. Fill in the boxes of the following logical diagram of the text
with Russian equivalents:
 | |||
|
XI. Speak about a communications model using topical sentences and words from the scheme.
XII. Read text A again. Concentrate on key fragments in black type. Rearrange the key fragments so as to make a logical plan of a would-be precis. Write the precis of the text. Try to make the number of the sentences in your precis equal to the number of paragraphs in the original.
LESSON THREE
I. Look through the list of the English words and their Russian equivalents facilitating reading text B:
medium (pi. media) — средство, способ, путь; среда; to evolve -развивать, разрабатывать; message — сообщение, послание; to revolutionize — революционизировать; information – информация; to remain — оставаться; facility — средство; to displace — вытеснять, смещать; mail — почта; to supply — поставлять; снабжать; to store – хранить; continuous – непрерывный; to exhibit – демонстрировать, показывать; feature – характерная черта, особенность.
II. Read the text andtry to find the main information of it:
Text В
New Electronic Media
Over time, a wide range of communications media1 have been evolved to support human activities. In the process, new media have often assumed some (or all) of the functions of existing media. For example, Letters have been a personal communications medium for thousands of years. In the 19th century priority messages began to travel by telegraph, and since the end of that century, people have been able to talk to each other over the telephone. This development so revolutionized personal communications that writing letters is a dying art – the information they contain and the functions they perform are now included in a telephone call. Telegraph has also undergone change While it may still exist as a wire connection carrying low-speed data2 it has also developed into an automatic network serving commercial and industrial establishments. Even though the majority of message traffic has been diverted to Telephone, the telex network remains a vital communications facility in many nations. In other nations, Telegraph is being displaced by Data Communications4, and both Telegraph and Telephone are being replaced by Electronic Mail5, and other media.
Communications media may be differentiated on the basis of the functions they perform. Thus, Books, Magazines, Newspapers and Letters supply capsules of information which are of use over a limited time. For instance: many books will be of interest to someone for several years; on the average6, magazines evoke interest7 over a shorter period of time; and newspapers and letters hold the interest8 of the majority of readers for a matter of days, or less. Insofar as9 they all store information which can be retrieved10 as many times as the user desires, they can be called record media11.
In contrast, Telephone, Radio and Television deliver a continous stream of information12, as it is produced. They can be called real-time media . So can Data Communications, the medium which permits the exchange of information between machines. As for Telegraph it exhibits both real-time and record features.
Notes
l. a wide range of communications media – широкий набор средств связи
2. a wire connection carrying low speed data – проводная связь, передающая несрочную информацию
3. serving commercial and industrial establishments – обслуживающую торговые и промышленные учреждения
4. data communication — передача данных
5. electronic mail — электронная почта
6. on the average — в среднем
7. evoke interest — вызывают интерес
8.hold the interest — удерживают интерес
9. insofar as – поскольку
10. which can be retrieved — которую можно восстанавливать
11. record media — записывающие средства
12. a continuous stream of information – непрерывный поток информации
13 real-time media – средства передачи данных (или информации) в реальном масштабе времени
III. Answer the following questions to the text:
1. What kinds of communications media have been evolved over a time? 2. Has telephone undergone any change? 3. What is the basis for differentiating communications media? 4. What are record– and real-time media?
IV.Speak about the basis for differentiating communications media.
V.Give a short summary of text B.
LESSON FOUR
I. Look through the list of words facilitating reading text C:
forerunner — предшественник; ancestor — предок, прародитель; impulse — импульс, толчок; to detect — обнаруживать; click -щелканье, щелчок; to coin — создавать новые слова; wireless — беспроводной; to succeed in — добиваться успеха; particle — частица; amateur — любитель; broadcasting — передача радио– и телевизионных программ; service — служба.
II.Read the following text carefully. While reading it look for the
answers to the questions:
1. Who was the discoverer of electric telegraph? 2. Who made the telephone a practical instrument? 3. Who laid the foundations of electronics?
Text С
The Magnitude of Invention
1. The electric telegraph was the beginning of the whole vast telecommunications industry, the forerunner of the telephone, radio, television, communications satellites1 — in fact, a direct ancestor of everything now united under the convenient heading of "electronics".
2. But as with most other great inventions, the idea had been around for a long time. As early as 1747 electrical impulses had been transmitted along a wire laid across Westminster Bridge2, and detected at the other end by the crude but effective method of having someone hold on to the wire.
3. Strangely enough, the man who put most effort3 into developing the telegraph was a successful American painter and sculptor, Samuel Morse. On April 1, 1845, the world's first telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington has been opened for public use4, and after that the telegraph spread rapidly across Europe and America.
4. Joining the continents proved a much more difficult job5, but in 1856 the Atlantic Telegraph Company was organized to attempt the most demanding technical feat of the age and, in 1859, the Atlantic cable was completed.
5. But the inventors were already striving to transmit something more than the clicks of a Morse key. Wheatstone had coined the word" telephone in 1821, when he was only 19. Many others contributed ideas, but it was the energy and persistence of Alexander Graham Bell which made the telephone a practical instrument. Bell first realized how a telephone could be made to work in June 1875. After that progress was very rapid. The first permanent telephone line was opened in April 1876 in Boston.
6. Twenty years later, the invention of the wireless telegraph was to follow a very similar pattern. Guglielmo Marconi was only 21 years old when he succeeded in transmitting signals' by radio waves for nearly a mile.
7. A much more effective way of producing radio waves, and a more sensitive means of detecting them, were essential for progress, and were soon discovered. The invention of Edison, Fleming, and Lee de Forest were the beginning of electronics, exploiting the newly-made discovery that the electric current was actually a stream of particles, or electrons. They made wireless telephony8 possible, as distinct from telegraphy. By 1919 there were a large number of amateur wireless enthusiasts and conditions were ripe for the beginning of broadcasting services.
Notes
1. communications satellites – спутники связи
2. Westminster Bridge – Вестминстерский мост
3. who put most effort — который внес наибольший вклад
4. for public use — для общественного пользования
5. proved a much more difficult job — оказалась намного более трудной задачей
6.had coined the word — создал (придумал) слово
7. succeeded in transmitting signals — добился успеха в передаче сигналов
8. wireless telephony — беспроводная телефонная связь
9. amateur wireless enthusiasts — радиолюбители
III.Find answers to the following questions:
1. When were electrical impulses transmitted? 2. Who put most effort into developing telegraph? 3. What did Guglielmo Marconi succceed in?
IV. Say what the forerunner of the whole telecommunications industry was.
V. Find the information about the person who contributed greatly into making the telephone a practical instrument.
VI. Say at what age Guglielmo Marconi succeeded in transmitting signals by radio waves.
VII.Which paragraph contains the information that the inventions of Edison, Fleming and Lee de Forest were the beginning of electronics.
VIII.Summarize the general ideas developed in texts А, В and C.
IX.Imagine that you are to make a report about the means of communication at a scientific conference. While preparing the report use the information of texts А, В, С and the following plan:
1. Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals.
2. Modern means of communication rest upon a foundation laid by such scientists as Samuel Morse, Wheatstone, Graham Bell, Edison, Fleming and others.
3. New electronic media have been evolved to support human activities.
4. Telephone, radio, television and data communications are realtime media.
5. Books, magazines, newspapers, letters are record media.