美国国家公共电台 NPR Even In The Robot Age, Manufacturers Need The Human Touch

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Robots have revolutionized auto¹ manufacturing, but they've hardly replaced the human touch. NPR's Camila Domonoske reports.

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE²: At Volvo's new plant in Ridgeville, S.C., a half dozen robot arms move in coordination³ behind a safety fence. They're spot welding a car's body together. Eventually, this will be an S60 - a luxury sedan.

(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINE WHIRRING)

DOMONOSKE: A small cluster of sparks flies up. We are at the very start of the production line...

(SOUNDBITE OF GEARS GRINDING)

DOMONOSKE: ...Where metal components⁴ are combined to form the car's body. Here, automation dominates. There are more robots than people in this building. And right here, where the robots are welding roofs together, it's dimly lit. Robots don't need much light to work. Jeff Moore is the head of manufacturing for Volvo in America. He says when you're thinking about what jobs to assign to a robot, you start with work that's repetitive, especially if there are safety concerns.

JEFF MOORE: With all the heat and sparks and the high current and things like that associated with welding, that's a natural spot to be looking at where you can more heavily automate⁵.

DOMONOSKE: But follow the car body as it moves down the assembly line and soon enough, the lights come up and humans take over. At the other end of this building, people run their hands over the surface of the metal, feeling for imperfections. There are some things robots are better at than people. They're precise and consistent. But there are other things people are better at. Humans are underrated, Tesla CEO Elon Musk⁶ tweeted last year after Tesla tried to switch to an extremely automated⁷ system. Ultimately, the company gave jobs back to people.

And we're good at more than just testing how things look and feel. Here at the Volvo plant in another vast building, a long line of people are preparing engines to go inside the cars. This work involves a lot of fiddly parts with odd shapes, which need to be threaded together or moved around in complex ways. Robots are bad at these fine motor skills. People are great at it.

And this line handles different engines - gas or hybrid⁸, all-wheel drive, eventually electric motors. They all take different parts. Humans are good at switching back and forth⁹. Robots - not so much. Jason Dodgins, working on this line, used to work at a plant that made bearings. That was less hands-on, he says.

JASON DODGINS: The machine did a lot of the actual labor¹⁰ part. You were basically doing the inspection¹¹. This has a lot more manual labor to it.

DOMONOSKE: Then there's problem-solving. Skip ahead down the line and workers have put together the engine, transmission, axles - everything to make the car go. The car body is waiting on an elevated conveyor. Now the two need to come together. Trey Yonce helps set up the line where this marriage happens.

TREY YONCE: If this radiator¹² is not pushed back far enough, it will crash with the body.

DOMONOSKE: At first, workers had to fix the placement again and again. Now, a robot could see that problem, but it won't get annoyed by it. People?

YONCE: They just got tired of doing it. And a fellow just came up with an idea, and it worked.

DOMONOSKE: He points to a little yellow piece of plastic. It holds the radiator in place to prevent that crash. Jeff Moore says Volvo has already applied¹³ for multiple patents based on ideas that came from workers at this new plant.

(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY)

DOMONOSKE: Humans have strengths compared to robots in all sorts of workplaces, not just auto plants. And in general, people and robots work best together, with robots handling dangerous, monotonous¹⁴ jobs and precision work while people switch between tasks and make decisions. And there's a sort of philosophical¹⁵ lesson here. Susan Helper is an economist¹⁶ at Case Western Reserve University.

SUSAN HELPER: People often think of manufacturing workers as actually a poor substitute for a robot.

DOMONOSKE: People complain. They get tired.

HELPER: So, gee¹⁷, wouldn't robots be better?

DOMONOSKE: That's a fundamental misunderstanding, she says.

HELPER: But in practice, these things are really difficult. And the assembly line worker is making judgments¹⁸ a lot. And it turns out that when you take that person away, you end up with some problems that are hard to solve.

DOMONOSKE: Historically, Helper says, some factories have tried to treat their workers like robots - doing repetitive work without thinking. The best thing robots can do is not replace people but free them up to work like people. Camila Domonoske, NPR News, Ridgeville, S.C.

(SOUNDBITE OF EMERALDS' "GENETIC")

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

4 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

5 automate   

v.自动化；使自动化

参考例句：

• Many banks have begun to automate.许多银行已开始采用自动化技术。
• To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today.使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。

6 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

7 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

8 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

12 radiator   

n.暖气片，散热器

参考例句：

• The two ends of the pipeline are connected with the radiator.管道的两端与暖气片相连接。
• Top up the radiator before making a long journey.在长途旅行前加满散热器。

13 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

14 monotonous   

adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的

参考例句：

• She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
• His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。

15 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

16 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

17 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

18 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。