VOA慢速英语--机器人将会给建筑行业带来巨大变革

Robots Bring Change to Construction Industry

When Noah Ready-Campbell was a young adult, he worked for his father’s construction company.

Back then, he dreamed of a day when robots might take over the dirty, repetitive parts of his job, such as earthmoving and leveling.

Years later, Ready-Campbell left his job as an engineer with Google to make that dream come true.

Ready-Campbell formed a start-up called Built Robotics. The San Francisco, California-based company develops technology to produce self-driving heavy equipment. Ready-Campbell says the company’s goal is to make construction safer, faster and less costly¹.

The construction industry has fallen behind others when it comes to the use of new technologies such as robotics. Built Robotics is part of a new wave of automation².

Investors³ are putting more and more money into start-ups that are developing robots, software and other technology for construction.

The industry struggles to find skilled workers and faces a growing number of unfinished projects. But self-operating machines are changing the nature of building.

Michael Chui is with the McKinsey Global Institute, a business research organization in San Francisco. Chui told the AP, “We need all of the robots we can get, plus all of the workers working, in order to have economic growth.”

He added, “As machines do some of the work that people used to do, the people have to … transition⁴ to other forms of work, which means lots of retraining.”

Workers at Berich Masonry⁵ in Englewood, Colorado, recently spent several weeks learning how to operate a robot called SAM, or the Semi-Automated Mason. SAM is a $400,000 machine from the company Construction Robotics, based in Victor, New York.

The machine can lay 3,000 bricks in eight-hours, a normal workday. That is several times more than a human bricklayer can do in the same period. But humans are still needed to load bricks into the SAM and make sure it works right.

Todd Berich is president of Berich Masonry. He wants the improved technology to permit the company to accept new projects.

“Right now I have to tell them ‘no’ because we’re at capacity,” he said.

Bricklayer Michael Walsh says the SAM lessens⁶ the load on his body. But he does not think it will take his job.

Brian Kennedy agrees. He is the policy director for the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied⁷ Craftworkers. His organization supports the rights of construction workers in the United States and Canada. Kennedy says the union is not worried that machines will replace human workers any time soon.

“There are lots of things that SAM isn’t capable of doing that you need skilled bricklayers to do,” said Kennedy. “We support anything that supports the … industry. We don’t stand in the way of technology.”

The rise of construction robots comes as the building industry faces a severe decrease in labor⁸ supply.

One recent study showed that 70 percent of construction businesses have a difficult time finding skilled workers.

Mike Moy heads a mining operation for the building materials supplier Lehigh Hanson in Sunol, California. He says it is difficult to find people who even know how to operate some of the necessary equipment.

“Nobody wants to get their hands dirty anymore. They want a nice, clean job in an office,” he noted⁹.

Moy saves time and money by using a drone to measure the huge amounts of rock and sand his company sells. The machine can measure the materials on the whole 36-hectare place in 25 minutes. The same job takes a human a full work day to do.

I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

construction – n. the business of building things such as houses or roads

start-up – n. a new business

automation – n. a system of operation that uses machines and computers instead of people to do the work

transition – v. to make a change from one state, place, or condition to another

brick(s) – n. a small, hard block of baked clay that is used to build structures such as houses and sometimes to make streets or paths

capacity – n. the largest amount that a factory or company can produce or manage

capable – adj. able to do something

drone – n. a type of small aircraft that flies without a pilot

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 automation   

n.自动化（技术），自动操作

参考例句：

• Automation will mean the loss of many jobs in this factory.自动化将意味着这个工厂要减少许多工作职位。
• Automation has helped to increase production.自动化促进了生产的发展。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 transition   

n.转变，变迁，过渡

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood.青春期是童年与成年之间的过渡时期。
• They all support a peaceful transition.他们全部都支持和平过渡。

5 masonry   

n.砖土建筑；砖石

参考例句：

• Masonry is a careful skill.砖石工艺是一种精心的技艺。
• The masonry of the old building began to crumble.旧楼房的砖石结构开始崩落。

6 lessens   

变少( lessen的第三人称单数 )； 减少（某事物）

参考例句：

• Eating a good diet significantly lessens the risk of heart disease. 良好的饮食习惯能大大减少患心脏病的机率。
• Alcohol lessens resistance to diseases. 含有酒精的饮料会减弱对疾病的抵抗力。

7 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

8 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。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。