3. Read and translate the text:

According to the "Robot Institute of America", 1979, "A robot is defined as a reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks."

A robot is described as a machine designed to execute one or more tasks repeatedly, with speed and precision (Webster's dictionary). There are as many different types of robots as there are tasks for them to perform. A robot can be controlled by a human operator, but most robots are controlled by computer.

People keep finding new uses for robots. Robots can make and package drugs, textiles, and foods. Certain dangerous jobs are best done by robots. Guided remotely using video cameras, there are mini-androids that investigate and defuse bombs.

Robots can also go into dangerously polluted environments, like chemical spills or radioactive "hot zones" in nuclear power plants. Some spider-like robots are designed to explore areas with extreme radiation that would kill a human. The need for such a robot was made clear during the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986. An explosion and fire released dangerous radioactive material into the air which made rescue and containment work nearly impossible.

Some robots "see" using ultrasonic sound, much the same way bats do. Touch sensors, also help otherwise blind robots navigate. Feelers, contact switches and bump sensors let a robot know when it has made contact with walls or objects. Piezoelectric material is often used in touch sensors because such crystals respond to pressure with a small electric voltage. They can detect vibration, impact, and even heat.

Robotic sensors can detect specific gases including gases that humans can not smell. One of the most important uses of smelling robots is in airports, detecting fumes from explosives hidden in luggage and shoes.

Speech recognition systems have come a long way in the last decade. There are already systems that let you "type" into a computer with your voice and some telephone menus use speech recognition systems to let you make your selections verbally. Processing language is complicated for any kind of robots.

If you think robots are mainly the stuff of space movies, think again. Right now, all over the world, robots are on the move. They are painting cars at Ford plants, assembling Milano cookies for Pepperidge Farms, walking into live volcanoes, driving trains in Paris, and defusing bombs in Northern Ireland. As they grow tougher, nimbler, and smarter, today's robots are doing more and more things humans can't—or don't want to perform Robots are ideal for jobs that require repetitive, precise movements. Human workers need a safe working environment, salaries, breaks, food and sleep. Robots don't. Human workers get bored doing the same thing over and over, which can lead to fatigue and costly mistakes. Robots don't get bored.

Ninety percent of robots work in factories, and more than half make automobiles. Car factories are so highly automated that most of the human workers supervise or maintain the robots and other machines. Robots assemble car body panels and weld them together, finish and paint the car bodies, and stack and move partially completed cars.

Another factory job done by robots is arranging chocolates in boxes. Guided by a computer vision system, a robotic arm can locate a piece of chocolate on a moving conveyer belt, gently pick it up and turn it to the proper orientation, and place it in a specific location within a box on another moving conveyer belt. Sure, it's a task that almost anyone could do.. .but could you do it 20,000 times a day, every day?