With inspiration from nature and some help from research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology （news - web sites）， a team led by Carnegie Mellon engineering professor Metin Sitti built a tiny robot that can walk on water， much like the insects known as water skimmers or Jesus bugs.
受大自然靈感的啟發(fā)和在美國馬薩諸塞理工學(xué)院研究人員幫助下，美國Carnegie Mellon大學(xué)工程學(xué)教授Metin Sitti領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的團(tuán)隊(duì)，試制成功了世界上第一臺能在水上行走的微型機(jī)器人，它猶如水上蜻蜓類的昆蟲動(dòng)物。
It's only a prototype， but some researchers imagine the water-skimming robot could have many uses. With a chemical sensor， it could monitor water supplies for toxins； with a camera it could be a spy or an explorer； with a net or a boom， it could skim contaminants off the top of water.
它雖然僅是臺樣機(jī)，但是研究人員認(rèn)為，水上機(jī)器人有廣泛用途：裝上化學(xué)檢測感應(yīng)器可監(jiān)控水上毒品走私；裝上攝像器，水上機(jī)器人就是一個(gè)水上特工人員或一個(gè)探險(xiǎn)家；裝上過濾網(wǎng)柵，水上機(jī)器人可用于清理掉水面上污染物。
Producing it was "the final challenge of microrobotics，" said Sitti， who runs Carnegie Mellon's NanoRobotics Lab. "It needs to be so light and so compact."
管理Carnegie Mellon大學(xué)微型機(jī)器人實(shí)驗(yàn)室的Sitti教授說，水上機(jī)器人的制造是“微型機(jī)器人的最后沖刺，因?yàn)橹圃煲筇貏e高，既要非常輕巧又要非常精密。”
Sitti's robot is little more than a half-inch boxy body made from carbon fibers and eight， 2-inch steel-wire legs coated with a water-repelling plastic （technically making it a water spider）。
Sitti試制成功的水上機(jī)器人，有一個(gè)矮胖身體和八條腿。身子是由一根半英寸略長點(diǎn)碳纖維制成，腿腳由2英寸長涂了防水塑料鋼絲制成（技術(shù)上使它像個(gè)水上蜘蛛）。
It doesn't have a brain， any sensors or a battery. Its "muscles" are three flat-plate piezoelectric actuators — pieces of metal that bend when electricity runs through them. Wires run from the actuators to a power supply.
它既沒有腦袋，也沒裝上感應(yīng)器?！?臂力”是三個(gè)扁平的壓電啟動(dòng)器－當(dāng)電流通過它時(shí)金屬板彎曲。啟動(dòng)器電線接到電源上。
The robot can stand on water — it doesn't float — and can skim backward and forward， propelling itself with two legs that act like oars. Sitti said he could build a more complex water-skimming robot within six months.
水上行走機(jī)器人可站立在水面（不是漂?。?，可向前向后掠過水面，二個(gè)腿像槳葉一樣推動(dòng)自身運(yùn)動(dòng)。Sitti說，他能在六個(gè)月內(nèi)制成更復(fù)雜的水上行走機(jī)器人。
Sitti's prototype is especially impressive considering researchers didn't know how water skimmers walked on water until last year.
去年研究人員還不知道水上行走機(jī)器人如何在水上行走，Sitti的樣機(jī)特別給他們深刻印象。
Massachusetts Institute of Technology mathematician John M.W. Bush and two graduate students solved the riddle by placing dyes and particles in water and using a high-speed video camera.
馬薩諸塞州理工學(xué)院工程數(shù)學(xué)家JohnM.W. Bush和其他兩個(gè)研究生通過把染料和微粒放在水中的方法，借助高速攝像機(jī)幫助解決了其中難題。
Sitti's prototype shows how important lighter and stronger materials have been to robotics.
Sitti行走機(jī)器人樣機(jī)證明，高強(qiáng)度輕重量材料對機(jī)器人制作是何等重要。
"If you had asked us 10 years ago to build a water bug， I don't think we would have done it，" said Mark Cutkosky， an Stanford University engineering professor who has been building roach-like robots.
美國斯坦福大學(xué)工程學(xué)教授Mark Cutkosky說：“若在10年前，要我制作水上行走機(jī)器人，我未必能行。”他制作過像蟑螂樣的機(jī)器人。
Sitti's robot weighs about a gram， about the same as half a dime. So far， it's also cheap. Sitti estimates the materials in his spartan prototype cost about $10.
Sitti行走機(jī)器人重約一克，一半分幣大水。迄今也是的。據(jù)Sitti估計(jì)，他這種簡單的機(jī)器人材料費(fèi)用只要10美元左右。
受大自然靈感的啟發(fā)和在美國馬薩諸塞理工學(xué)院研究人員幫助下，美國Carnegie Mellon大學(xué)工程學(xué)教授Metin Sitti領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的團(tuán)隊(duì)，試制成功了世界上第一臺能在水上行走的微型機(jī)器人，它猶如水上蜻蜓類的昆蟲動(dòng)物。
It's only a prototype， but some researchers imagine the water-skimming robot could have many uses. With a chemical sensor， it could monitor water supplies for toxins； with a camera it could be a spy or an explorer； with a net or a boom， it could skim contaminants off the top of water.
它雖然僅是臺樣機(jī)，但是研究人員認(rèn)為，水上機(jī)器人有廣泛用途：裝上化學(xué)檢測感應(yīng)器可監(jiān)控水上毒品走私；裝上攝像器，水上機(jī)器人就是一個(gè)水上特工人員或一個(gè)探險(xiǎn)家；裝上過濾網(wǎng)柵，水上機(jī)器人可用于清理掉水面上污染物。
Producing it was "the final challenge of microrobotics，" said Sitti， who runs Carnegie Mellon's NanoRobotics Lab. "It needs to be so light and so compact."
管理Carnegie Mellon大學(xué)微型機(jī)器人實(shí)驗(yàn)室的Sitti教授說，水上機(jī)器人的制造是“微型機(jī)器人的最后沖刺，因?yàn)橹圃煲筇貏e高，既要非常輕巧又要非常精密。”
Sitti's robot is little more than a half-inch boxy body made from carbon fibers and eight， 2-inch steel-wire legs coated with a water-repelling plastic （technically making it a water spider）。
Sitti試制成功的水上機(jī)器人，有一個(gè)矮胖身體和八條腿。身子是由一根半英寸略長點(diǎn)碳纖維制成，腿腳由2英寸長涂了防水塑料鋼絲制成（技術(shù)上使它像個(gè)水上蜘蛛）。
It doesn't have a brain， any sensors or a battery. Its "muscles" are three flat-plate piezoelectric actuators — pieces of metal that bend when electricity runs through them. Wires run from the actuators to a power supply.
它既沒有腦袋，也沒裝上感應(yīng)器?！?臂力”是三個(gè)扁平的壓電啟動(dòng)器－當(dāng)電流通過它時(shí)金屬板彎曲。啟動(dòng)器電線接到電源上。
The robot can stand on water — it doesn't float — and can skim backward and forward， propelling itself with two legs that act like oars. Sitti said he could build a more complex water-skimming robot within six months.
水上行走機(jī)器人可站立在水面（不是漂?。?，可向前向后掠過水面，二個(gè)腿像槳葉一樣推動(dòng)自身運(yùn)動(dòng)。Sitti說，他能在六個(gè)月內(nèi)制成更復(fù)雜的水上行走機(jī)器人。
Sitti's prototype is especially impressive considering researchers didn't know how water skimmers walked on water until last year.
去年研究人員還不知道水上行走機(jī)器人如何在水上行走，Sitti的樣機(jī)特別給他們深刻印象。
Massachusetts Institute of Technology mathematician John M.W. Bush and two graduate students solved the riddle by placing dyes and particles in water and using a high-speed video camera.
馬薩諸塞州理工學(xué)院工程數(shù)學(xué)家JohnM.W. Bush和其他兩個(gè)研究生通過把染料和微粒放在水中的方法，借助高速攝像機(jī)幫助解決了其中難題。
Sitti's prototype shows how important lighter and stronger materials have been to robotics.
Sitti行走機(jī)器人樣機(jī)證明，高強(qiáng)度輕重量材料對機(jī)器人制作是何等重要。
"If you had asked us 10 years ago to build a water bug， I don't think we would have done it，" said Mark Cutkosky， an Stanford University engineering professor who has been building roach-like robots.
美國斯坦福大學(xué)工程學(xué)教授Mark Cutkosky說：“若在10年前，要我制作水上行走機(jī)器人，我未必能行。”他制作過像蟑螂樣的機(jī)器人。
Sitti's robot weighs about a gram， about the same as half a dime. So far， it's also cheap. Sitti estimates the materials in his spartan prototype cost about $10.
Sitti行走機(jī)器人重約一克，一半分幣大水。迄今也是的。據(jù)Sitti估計(jì)，他這種簡單的機(jī)器人材料費(fèi)用只要10美元左右。