VOA慢速英語：豐田推出行走輔助機(jī)器人 幫助殘疾人行走

Toyota Plans to Offer a Robotic Leg to Help the Disabled

豐田推出行走輔助機(jī)器人 幫助殘疾人行走

Japanese carmaker Toyota has designed a robotic leg to help disabled people walk.

日本豐田汽車制造商設(shè)計(jì)了一款機(jī)器腿來幫助殘疾人行走。

The company demonstrated the new device to reporters at its headquarters in Tokyo this week.

本周，豐田公司會在東京總部為記者演示它的最新裝置。

The robotic leg is called the Welwalk WW-1000 system. It has a mechanical frame that fits onto a person’s leg below the knee. Patients can practice walking on a special treadmill.

這款機(jī)器腿配備Welwalk WW-1000系統(tǒng)，他具有一副機(jī)械框架可以安裝在人體膝蓋以下部分，患者可以通過在一種特殊的跑步機(jī)上來訓(xùn)練走路。

Eiichi Saito is a doctor and an executive vice president at Fujita Health University. His university helped Toyota develop the robotic leg.

Eiichi Saito是一名醫(yī)生同時是 Fujita 健康大學(xué)的副校長，他的大學(xué)助力豐田公司研發(fā)制造出這種機(jī)器腿。

Saito said it is designed to be worn on one leg for patients who are paralyzed on one side of their body because of a stroke or other disease.

Saito稱，對于由于中風(fēng)或者其他疾病導(dǎo)致半身癱瘓的人來說，機(jī)器腿會被設(shè)計(jì)為只磨損病患一只腿的形式。

The device is attached with a strap to the thigh, knee, ankle and foot of the person using it. A motor helps to bend and straighten the knee. Sensors provide information about what is happening and medical staff can control the system through a touch panel screen.

這種裝置通過一根帶子與使用者的大腿，膝蓋，腳踝，腳部緊緊的系在一起。一個發(fā)動機(jī)會幫助進(jìn)行膝蓋的伸直和彎曲，而傳感器將正在發(fā)生的情況提供給醫(yī)療人員從而通過觸摸屏來控制整個系統(tǒng)。

“This helps just barely enough,” said the researcher, who said helping a patient too much can slow recovery.

研究人員稱：這種情況是剛剛好的，幫助患者太多則會導(dǎo)致康復(fù)速度的減慢。

Japanese carmakers are also making robots

日本汽車制造商也在制作機(jī)器人

Japanese carmakers have been developing robotics for manufacturing and other uses for many years.

日本汽車制造商多年以來都在致力于研究用于制造業(yè)和其他用途的機(jī)器人。

Honda MotorCo., for example, has developed the Asimo humanoid robot that can run, dance and speak.

例如，日本本田汽車公司已經(jīng)發(fā)明出能跑，能跳舞，還能說話的仿人機(jī)器人“阿西莫”。

Toyota’s WelWalk system uses robotic technology to assist people in moving and walking. Toyota took about 10 years to develop the robot walker.

豐田汽車的Welwalk 系統(tǒng)使用機(jī)器技術(shù)來協(xié)助人們移動和走路，大概花費(fèi)了10年的時間來發(fā)明行走機(jī)器人。

Toshiyuki Isobe is with Toyota’s Frontier Research Center. He told Reuters news service that it has taken the company time to develop robotics products.

Toshiyuki Isobe在豐田公司前沿研究中心工作，他告訴路透社記者并稱發(fā)明機(jī)器產(chǎn)品消耗的是公司的時間。

“The biggest challenges have been in determining the needs of the robot market, which is relatively new, and to ensure that our products are safe,” he said.

他還說：對于機(jī)器人市場需求的判定上最大的挑戰(zhàn)是需求相對更新快，還要保證我們的產(chǎn)品是安全的。

Robots that assist in health care are seen as an important and growing market.

協(xié)助醫(yī)療保健的機(jī)器人被看做是一個很重要并且不斷擴(kuò)大的市場，

Growing market for robots in healthcare

醫(yī)療保健的機(jī)器人市場不斷擴(kuò)大

Eiichi Saito says Toyota’s device is aimed at helping common paralysis caused by health problems like strokes that can happen to aging people. Japan’s population is aging faster than other countries. In 2015, more than 26 percent of Japanese were aged 65 or older.

Eiichi Saito稱豐田公司的裝置目的是幫助由于健康問題導(dǎo)致的普通癱瘓患者，例如發(fā)生在老年人身上的中風(fēng)。日本的人口比其他國家的老齡化速度快，在2015年，超過26%的日本人達(dá)到了65歲甚至更老。

Robotic devices may also be better for patients in some cases. Saito said patients using the device can recover more quickly because the robotic sensors in the WelWalk are more sensitive to movement than a human health worker.

機(jī)器人裝置也可能在其他案例中對于患者的效果更好，Saito 稱：病患通過使用這種裝置能恢復(fù)的更快，因?yàn)樵谝苿由?，WelWalk中的機(jī)器傳感器比人類健康工作者更敏感。

Some experts expect demand for robots used to assist in care of the old and disabled will increase sharply. That is because there will be fewer people in the work force to care for the growing number of older patients.

一些專家預(yù)期用于協(xié)助老年人和殘疾人醫(yī)療的機(jī)器人需求會有急劇增加，是因?yàn)樵趧趧恿Υ筌娭?，越來越少的人會照顧不斷增加的老年患者?/p>

The International Robotic Federation says more than 37,000 robots used in healthcare for the aged and disabled will be sold between 2016 and 2019. It says the field is expected to increase a lot in the next 20 years.

國際機(jī)器人聯(lián)盟稱在2016年至2019年，超過37000個被用于老年人和殘疾人醫(yī)療保健的機(jī)器人將會發(fā)售。還指出在接下來的20年里這個領(lǐng)域?qū)泻艽蟮耐卣埂?/p>

Toyota plans to rent 100 of the robotic systems to medical centers in Japan later this year. Costs include a $9000 one-time charge and a monthly rental cost of $3,200.

豐田公司計(jì)劃在今年晚些時候會出租給日本的醫(yī)療中心1000套機(jī)器系統(tǒng)。花費(fèi)包含9000美元的一次性繳費(fèi)和每月3200美元的租金。

However, competition in walking assistance devices is growing. The medical technology company Hocoma of Switzerland and ReWalk Robotics of the United States also have developed robotic walkers.

然而，在協(xié)助行走裝置上的競爭越來越激烈，瑞士醫(yī)療技術(shù)公司Hocoma和美國的“重新行走”機(jī)器人公司也都發(fā)明出了機(jī)械行走器。

I’m Mario Ritter.

馬里奧·里特爾報(bào)道。