An Australian professor is developing a robot to monitor the health of grazing cattle, a development that could bring big changes to a profession that's relied largely on a low-tech approach for decades but is facing a labor shortage.
一位澳大利亚教授正在开发一种监测放牧牛健康状况的机器人，可能会给这个几十年来主要依赖低技术方案但面临劳动力短缺的职业带来巨大变化。
Salah Sukkarieh, a professor at the University of Sydney, sees robots as necessary given how cattlemen are aging. He is building a four-wheeled robot that will run on solar and electric power. It will use cameras and sensors to monitor the animals. A computer system will analyze the video to determine whether a cow is sick. Radio tags on the animals will measure temperature changes. The quality of grassland will be tracked by monitoring the shape, color and texture of grass. That way, cattlemen will know whether they need to move their cattle to another field for nutrition purposes.
悉尼大学教授萨拉赫·苏卡瑞认为，考虑到牧民们年纪越来越大，机器人是必要的。他正在建造一个依靠太阳能和电力运行四轮机器人，使用摄像头和传感器来监测牛群。计算机系统将分析视频以确定奶牛是否生病，牛群身上的无线电标签会测量温度的变化，通过监测草的形状、颜色和质地来跟踪草原的质量。这样，牧场主们就会知道他们是否需要为了营养将牛群转移到另一片草原。
Machines have largely taken over planting, watering and harvesting crops such as com and wheat, but the monitoring of cattle has gone through fewer changes.
机器在很大程度上接管了玉米和小麦等作物的种植、灌溉和收割，但对牛群的监测没有多大变化。
For Texas cattleman Pete Bonds, it's increasingly difficult to find workers interested in watching cattle. But Bonds doesn't believe a robot is right for the job. Years of experience in the industry - and failed attempts to use technology - have convinced him that the best way to check cattle is with a man on a horse. Bonds, who bought his first cattle almost 50 years ago, still has each of his cowboys inspect 300 or 400 cattle daily and look for signs that an animal is getting sick.
对于得克萨斯州的牧场主皮特·邦兹来说，越来越难找到愿意牧牛的工人。但邦兹认为机器人不适合这份工作。多年的行业经验——以及使用技术的失败尝试——让他相信，检查牛群的最好方法是让人骑在马上。邦兹在大约50年前买了他的第一头牛，现在他仍然让他的每个牛仔每天检查300或400头牛，查看它们是否生病。
Other cattlemen see more promise in robots. Michael Kelsey Paris, vice president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, said a robot could be extremely useful given rising concems about cattle theft. Cattle tend to be kept in remote places and their value has risen, making them appealing targets.
其他牧场主认为机器人更有前途。俄克拉荷马州牧牛人协会副主席迈克尔·凯尔西·帕里斯表示，鉴于人们对偷牛的担忧日益加剧，机器人可能非常有用。牛往往被饲养在偏远的地方，价值也有所上升，这使它们成为有吸引力的目标。
网友评论