The future of technology

For robots to function less like machines and more like humans, they need to be covered in artificial or synthetic skin. Which features of human skin does robot skin need to copy? Choose from a-d.

a sensitive to touch

b sensitive to heat

с stretchable

d all of these

Now read the text and check your answer.

Read the text again to find the answers to these questions.

1. What sort of tasks are robots good for?

2. Typically, which industries make use of robots?

3. What do robots need in order to work with people?

4. How does E-skin stretch?

5. Why is stretchability important?

6. How could walking robots use information from E-skin in their feet?

7. How could E-skin help robots not to damage themselves?

8. What two features of E-skin would be important in bathing a baby?

Robots are very good at doing the same task in the same place over and over again. In factories and nuclear power stations more than a million robots behave in this way every day.

For robots to work with people, for example caring for the old, they need to be much more like humans. They need to be able to move like humans and adapt to new places. They also need to be more sensitive to touch and temperature. In humans it is skin which provides important information on pressure and heat.

Engineers at the University of Tokyo have developed an artificial skin for robots which is sensitive to pressure and temperature thanks to a large number of sensors. In addition, because it uses a mesh or net structure it can be stretched by up to 25% and still retain its sensitivity. This means it can be used to cover moving parts like joints.

This E-skin opens the way for much more sensitive robots. For example, walking robots could use feedback from their feet to adjust to different surfaces. Robots in future may be able to grasp different tools and use them as humans do. Domestic robots could pick up and bathe a baby without hurting it. They would also be less likely to damage themselves.

A lot remains to be done. E-skin will provide much more information than the robot requires at any one time. Human brains can select only the important information. Before robots can act like humans, they need to have brains like humans.

66 Reading bank key

^{Reading bank key}

Technology in sport

2

a Fastskin, Strapless goggles

b Precool vest, Power socks, Swift suit

с Power socks, Swift suit

d Fastskin, Swift suit, Strapless goggles

3

1. It reduces body temperature and therefore the risk of heat injury.

2. Because sharks are famously fast swimmers of the fish world.

3. Leg muscle vibration. The vibration is wasted energy.

4. It keeps them cool.

5. They are stuck to the eye sockets with medical glue.

b 2

Appropriate technology

2 Item	Quantity
5-metre metal or bamboo poles	3
750x20 mm toothed wheels	3
125 cc petrol engine	1
3 mm armour plate wheel motors	2 pieces 3

3

1. Dervish

2. It clears anti-personnel mines.

3. It's made from easily available materials and is cheap to make and use.

4. To create more pressure

5. After it has exploded 1,500 mines.

6. It covers in a series of tight circles so no mines are missed.

Crime-fighting and security

1

A

1. Advanced taser gun

2. Police

3. It uses compressed air to fire darts attached to electric cables. These deliver an electric shock which causes temporary paralysis.

В

1. Iris-scanning

2. Airports, banks

3. The iris is scanned digitally and stored in a database. This provides a check or match when the person later requests entry to a high-security area.

С

1. Offender tracking

2. Police

1. A tracking unit records an offender's movements via GPS. A server matches these movements to places and reports automatically to the police if the offender enters forbidden areas.

Manufacturing

1. material removal: drilling

2. joining: welding

3. coating: plating

4. joining: using adhesives

5. casting: die casting

6. moulding: blow moulding

7. forming: extrusion

8. forming: forging

9. coating: powder coating 10 forming: shearing

Reading bank key 67

Transport

1

Petrol engine and electric motor

2

1. Running at a constant speed, 'cruising'

2. Low-speed cruising

3. Overtaking, hill climbing, and accelerating from stop

4. It is not necessary to charge the batteries.

1. The electric motor serves as a generator when braking. The petrol engine also drives the generator when the batteries are low.

High living: skyscrapers

1/2

1. It saves energy by balancing the weight of the lift.

2. They keep the car steady and act as a safety feature.

1. Brakes on the guide rails operated by a 'governor', double-doors, multi-strand steel ropes, shock absorbers or buffers at the base of the lift shaft

3

1. It logs all passenger calls, monitors the number of passengers travelling from floor to floor, and the position of any car in the system and its speed. It can direct passengers to the car which will get them to their destination fastest, and will prevent any car which is overloaded from moving.

2. The large number of safety devices make it virtually impossible for an accident to happen.

Medical technology

1 a Administering medical help from a distance b Looking after people from a distance

с Operating on people from a distance

2. the Internet, satellite phones, video links, digital cameras

3. people living, working, or travelling remote from medical help

Personal entertainment з

a9 b3 c5 d6 e8 f2 g4 h7 il

Careers in technology

з

a7 b4 c8 d5 e3 f6 g2 h1

Possible logical order

b4 c8 e3 g2 f6 a7 h1 d5

The future of technology

1

d

3

1. The same task in the same place over and over again

2. Factories and nuclear power stations

3. They need to be able to move like humans, adapt to new places, and be sensitive to touch and temperature.

4. It has a mesh or net structure.

5. E-skin has to cover moving parts like joints.

6. They could adjust to different surfaces.

7. The robot could detect any obstacle as soon as it touched it.

8. Sensitivity to pressure and temperature

68 Unit 9

Switch on

1 Name some famous skyscrapers. Which cities are they in?

2 Look at the diagram. It shows some of the components of a skyscraper. Match a-f below with 1-6 in the diagram, a concrete base b cladding с floors below ground d steel columns e horizontal I-shaped girders f steel piles

High living: skyscrapers 69

In this unit

• key terms for different parts of a skyscraper

• how to describe safety signs and give safety advice

• how to stress long words

• using your search skills to find out about the world's tallest buildings

It's my job

1 Listen to Leon Peters, a Steel Erector, and answer the questions.

1. How big is Leon's gang?

2. How long is a contract?

3. What kind of buildings has he worked on?

4. What word does he use to describe components which are cut and drilled off-site?

5. How long is a typical shift?

2Listen again and find the reasons why

1. contracts vary in length

2. bonuses are paid

3. you need good ground people

4. you don't come down for tea-breaks

5. moving girders is dangerous.

Reading

How skyscrapers are built

1 Put these stages in the construction of a skyscraper in the correct order. Then work in small groups and compare answers.

a Metal decking called floor formers are laid

between the beams to form a shallow pan.

b Outer walls, called cladding, are lifted into

position by crane.

с Girders are bolted to the columns to form the

floors of the building.

d 1 The foundations are laid.

e Liquid concrete is poured onto the formers.

f Ducts are installed beneath each floor to

carry cables and pipes.

g The vertical steel columns that form the base

of the building's main frame are fixed to the foundations.

h The process is repeated floor by floor until the

skyscraper is completed.