At the end of every year in recent memory, it seems, high-tech optimists have predicted the next year as the one when robots will finally lift from our shoulders the burden of dreary domestic tasks.
回顾近些年，似乎每当接近年终之时，那些拥护高科技的乐观主义者就会预测，在未来一年里，机器人终将挑起我们肩上的家务重担。
Think washing floors, scrubbing the grill, cutting the lawn, watering plants, changing cat litter, vacuuming the carpet — and, for good measure, pacifying the baby and entertaining the older children.
想想看，那些清洁地板、擦洗烧烤架、修剪草坪、给植物浇水、换猫砂和吸地毯的家务活儿——更妙的是，还能哄哄小婴儿，逗逗大孩子。
That was certainly the case at the close of 2013, said Dan Kara, a robotics analyst with ABI Research. “This was supposed to be the year where everything was going to be different,” Mr. Kara said. “Again.”
这确实就是2013年结束前的情况，一家市场调研公司ABI Rearch的机器人科技分析师丹·卡拉(Dan Kara)说。“应该就在今年，会发生翻天覆地的变化，”卡拉说，“再一次。”

And while that home-robotics revolution didn’t exactly come to fruition this year, Mr. Kara said a handful of interesting robotic debuts in 2014 brought consumers one step closer to the chore-free home of the future.
虽然在这一年里，家用机器人的革命没有实实在在地结出什么果实，但卡拉说，有十多款于2014年初次亮相的趣味机器人，让消费者们向没有家务活儿的未来又迈近了一步。
That sentiment was echoed by two others who closely follow the consumer robotics industry: Erico Guizzo, editor of the Automaton blog of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and Andra Keay, managing director of Silicon Valley Robotics, an industry group. Based on recommendations from these specialists, as well as some firsthand tests, here are 10 notable robots that made their debut this year.
这种想法还得到了另外两个人的回应，他们都是消费型机器人行业的密切追踪者：一位是电子与电气工程师协会(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)“机器人”(Automaton)博客的编辑埃里克·圭佐(Erico Guizzo)，另一位是该行业中一个名为“硅谷机器人(Silicon Valley Robotics)”的商业团体的主管安德拉·凯伊(Andra Keay)。根据这几位专家的推荐和某些一手测评，这里给大家介绍十款今年首次亮相的超棒机器人。
Neato Botvac Vacuums constitute the biggest and most competitive consumer-robotics category in the marketplace, and they’re getting better. The earliest models were criticized for their over-reliance on humans to maintain them. (“I had to constantly clean my cleaning robot,” Mr. Guizzo said.) Owners also had to drag the bots to their charging stations when the batteries died, and move furniture that the robots couldn’t squeeze beneath. The Neato Botvac ($480 to $600) requires less cleaning than the earliest robotic vacuums, and it features good pickup power and a low profile that helps it sneak under couches. My favorite feature: When the battery is low, the Botvac returns to its charging station. When Dyson’s much-anticipated robot appears next year, watch for similar features.
吸尘机器人(Neato Botvac) 真空吸尘器是市场上规模最大、也最有竞争力的一类消费型机器人，而且设计得越来越好。这类机器人最早的型号，因为过度依赖人类的维护而受到了一些指责（“我得常常清理我的清洁机器人。”圭佐说）。主人还得把它在电池耗尽后搬到充电器旁，或者把它无法钻下去清扫的那些家具挪开。而这台售价在480美元（约合人民币2979元）至600美元（约合人民币3724元）的Neato Botvac机器人所需的维护工作，则比早期的机器人吸尘器少得多。这款机器人的特点是吸附能力强，且扁平的外形有助于它钻入沙发下面。我最喜欢的一个特点是：一旦进入低电量状态，Botvac机器人就会回到自己的充电站。等明年戴森公司(Dyson)那款众望所归的机器人上市时，我们再来看看它的类似功能吧。
Grillbot It’s a small, nasty job that’s too often forgotten until the food is ready to throw on the barbecue, but cleaning a grill can be a pleasure — as long as someone else is doing it. The $130 Grillbot works like a miniature Roomba, but with more fearsome metal bristles. On a hot or cold grill, start the bot, close the lid and 10 to 30 minutes later, the grate is clean enough to cook on. Some users have noted the bot’s tendency to shed bristles, but Ethan Woods, the company’s chief executive, said a new design has addressed the issue. Forgetful types will appreciate the device’s alarm, which sounds when the bot is left in a hot grill for too long.
烤架机器人(Grillbot) 清洁烤架是项细碎繁琐的工作，通常人们直到食物已经要上架烤了，才会想起架子还没擦。但清洗烤架也可以是一种乐趣，只要干活的人不是自己。这台售价130美元（约合人民币807元）的烤架机器人，工作起来就像一台迷你的Roomba吸尘器，只是多了些吓人的金属鬃毛。在一台灼热或冰冷的烤架上启动这台机器人，并合上盖子，经过10至30分钟，格栅就洁净一新，可以开始烧烤了。有些用户已经注意到，这款机器人有脱落鬃毛的趋势，但该公司的首席执行官伊桑·伍兹(Ethan Woods)说，目前新设计的机器人已经解决了这一问题。有健忘症的人还会喜欢该设备的闹钟设计，如果机器人被忘在一个受热的烤架上，时间一长就会铃声大作。
Soloshot2 Filming oneself, for fun or work, is easy enough if you stand still. But for less-static pursuits — like sports, dance or just even romping in the yard with your toddler — filming and doing are mutually exclusive. The Soloshot2 is a $400 system made up of a robotic camera harness and a separate sensor that attaches to whatever you want to film. The harness points the camera in the direction of the sensor. With a range of 2,000 feet and a battery life of eight hours for the base and four hours for the sensor, the Soloshot2 can be used to videotape any activity, even your next synchronized swimming session (the sensor is waterproof). The only thing you need worry about is someone stealing your camera while you’re playing in the pool.
自拍机器人(Soloshot2) 不管是拍着玩还是从事摄影工作，站着不动的自拍容易得很。但要拍摄不那么静态的画面——比如运动、跳舞，或者只是在院子里和你蹒跚学步的孩子嬉闹，这时候拍摄和被拍就总难以兼顾了。这台Soloshot2是一套价值400美元（约合人民币2482元）的系统，由机器人摄像架与一个附着在拍摄对象上的独立感应器组成。该设备的拍摄距离为2000英尺（约610米），基座电池寿命8小时，感应器4小时，因而可以用来录制任何活动，甚至是你的下一次花样游泳表演（感应器是防水的）。你唯一需要担心的是在泳池里玩耍时，有人偷走你的摄影机。
Litter-Robot Changing cat litter is the most dreaded entry on my children’s list of chores. The Litter-Robot may change that. It’s built with a sensor that knows when your cat has visited, and afterward the unit rotates like a giant cement mixer, to sift and deposit clumps into a waste tray. There are downsides: The Litter-Robot is fairly big — about 29 inches high and roughly 25 inches from front to back — so it may not fit easily in smaller apartments. At $389, it’s not cheap. And you need to keep it stocked with carbon filters and waste-tray liners.
猫厕机器人(Litter-Robot) 在我家孩子们的家务清单上，换猫砂是最无趣的一件事。现在，这台猫厕机器人可能会带来些改变。该设备装了一个感应器，可以知道你的猫何时来过，然后这台机器就会旋转起来，像一台巨大的水泥搅拌机，把块状物都过滤下来，倒进一个垃圾盘里。但它也有些缺点：这台机器人太大了——高约29英寸（约74厘米），前后长约25英寸（约64厘米）。所以，面积较小的公寓可能不太合适。而且389美元（约合人民币2414元）的售价也不便宜。你还得为它装好活性炭过滤器及废物盘内的衬垫。
rockaRoo A company based in Pittsburgh, 4moms, built the rockaRoo to track a baby’s weight and seat position hundreds of times per second, and replicate the rocking motion with a seat that pivots at the bottom. The motion includes “falling at the speed of gravity,” the company said, and the motor is quiet enough to allow napping or for the baby to hear whatever music parents wish to play over the device’s internal speakers. For parents of colicky or otherwise sleepless babies, this particular bot may be worth the $180 price. For this parent of older kids, it arrived around 12 years too late.
摇摇机器人(rockaRoo) 总部设于匹兹堡(Pittsburgh)的公司4moms建造了摇摇机器人rockaRoo，该设备可以感应婴儿的体重，每秒钟数百次地追踪婴儿的坐姿，并可通过一个底部活动的座椅反复摇摆。该公司称，这个摇摆的动作包括“以重力的速度下落”；而且座椅的马达安静得足以让婴儿入睡，还能让宝宝听到座椅内置音箱中的音乐，父母想通过它播放什么都可以。对于家中宝宝不睡觉或爱哭闹的父母而言，这台售价180美元（约合人民币117元）的独特机器人也许物有所值。而对孩子年龄更大一些的父母来说，这台机器人大概发明玩了12年吧。
Scooba 450 No company has done more to popularize home robotics than iRobot, the maker of the Roomba vacuum, the Looj gutter cleaner, the Mirra pool cleaner and, this year, the Scooba 450 floor scrubber. The $600 device soaks the floor, spreads cleaner and scrubs and vacuums the dirty water before a final pass with a squeegee. One hiccup we had during our otherwise successful testing: The “Virtual Wall” accessory, which creates an infrared barrier to keep the Scooba out of specific areas, cast so much infrared light that in smaller spaces the robot was hesitant to scrub anywhere.
洗地机器人(Scooba 450) 论及家用机器人的普及化，哪家公司都比不过iRobot。这家制造商生产了除尘者Romba、清沟者Looj、清池者Mirra，以及今年（2014年——译注）推出的洗地机器人Scooba450。这台售价600美元（约合人民币3724元）的设备可以把地板打湿、喷洒清洁剂，擦拭后再吸去脏水，最后用一把橡胶扫帚清洁一遍。这款产品本可以通过我们的测评，但中途出了个小岔子：为了让Scooba绕过某些特定的区域，我们用“虚拟墙壁”设备释放出一些红外线作为屏障，但它释放的红外线太多了，以至于在面积较小的地方，这台机器人竟无所适从，不知该去哪儿打扫。
Robomow RS Most household tasks can be blown off with few consequences. Drag your feet on lawn-mowing duties, though, and you pay dearly. Robomow’s RS ($1,100 to $2,000) is among the latest entries in a category that’s attracting competition from established brands and start-ups. Setting up the mower can be a chore, as you must map out your yard with wires to define the Robomow’s boundaries. Once that’s done, though, the bot cuts as often as you like and returns to its charging dock when low on power. It’s electric, so noise is less of a problem than with conventional mowers. For American consumers, one big question for Robomow and its competitors is long-term reliability. But analysts give the latest generation of robotic mowers good marks for reliability, and electric mowers generally require none of the annual maintenance faced by owners of gas-powered mowers.
剪草坪机器人(Robomow RS) 大多数家务活儿都可以拖上一拖，后果并不严重；但你如果拖拖拉拉地不剪草坪，那代价可就大了。Robomow公司的RS机器人（售价1100美元[约合人民币6837元]至2000美元[约合人民币12412元]），是剪草坪机器人中新推出的几款产品之一，目前，这类产品正吸引着来自成熟品牌与新兴公司的竞争。启用这台割草机的工作可能非常繁琐，因为你得用铁丝在草坪上划分出Robomow机器人的工作范围。不过，一旦这项工作完成，这款机器人便可让你随心所欲地剪草坪，想剪几次就剪几次了。用到电量低时，它就会自动返回充电平台。由于这台机器是电动的，所以比起传统的割草机，它的噪音基本不成问题。而对美国消费者而言，Robomow剪草机及其市场竞争者都面临着长期可靠性的问题。不过分析家们都给新一代机器人剪草机的可靠性评出了高分。此外，电动剪草机无需每年维护，而燃气割草机的用户则要面对这一问题。
Kibo The toy market is cluttered with robots that dance and make noise and then, if my children are any indication, collect dust once a child has grown bored with the toy’s schtick. Kibo is a different breed of bot, having emerged from a children’s technology lab at Tufts University. Designed for ages 4 to 7, it’s a learning tool disguised as a toy: Kids program the $230 robot using wooden blocks that form different commands. Kibo scans the sequence of the blocks and executes the commands, while also reacting to sounds, light and obstacles. Its components are so intuitively designed that a child (or adult) can operate it without reading directions. The idea isn’t so much to get kids to understand programming, but rather to use a self-programmed device to enhance playtime activities like storytelling and role playing.
玩具机器人(Kibo) 玩具市场上充斥着许多机器人，它们可以跳舞、可以发出声音，若以我家孩子的情况作参考，一旦他们的新鲜劲儿过了，这种机器人还可以收集灰尘。但Kibo是一种与众不同的机器人，它由塔夫茨大学(Tufts University)的一间儿童应用技术实验室制造，专门为4至7岁的儿童设计，是一个伪装成玩具的学习工具：孩子们利用可组成不同命令的木块，来给这个售价230美元（约合人民币1427元）的机器人设置程序。Kibo机器人先扫描这些木块的顺序，然后执行这些命令，并对声音、光线和障碍物做出反应。该机器人的零部件设计得非常直观，使得孩子（或成人）不用读说明书也能操作。该产品的设计理念，并不是要让孩子们理解编程；而是用这种可自行编程的设备，强化诸如讲故事和角色扮演等游戏活动的乐趣。
Robotis Mini Robotis generated much attention for its Robotis-OP humanoid robot, which was praised for its sophistication and versatility, but which carries a $12,000 price tag. This year the company released a miniature version of that device, which loses some of the versatility and durability of its bigger sibling but remains a technological wonder. Unlike the humanoid robot toys on the market, the $500 Mini is programmable and responds to touch, gesture and voice commands with fluidity and precision. Some owners have complained that putting the robot together is unduly difficult, and the company tacitly acknowledged as much with video tutorials intended to help users through the hourslong assembly process. Another significant drawback, for now, is that you need an Android mobile device running Android software version 4.0 to control the Mini. The cheapest of these are around $150. An Apple version is in the works, the company said.
Robotis迷你机器人(Robotis Mini) Robotis公司由于生产出了Robotis-OP人形机器人而备受关注，这款机器人因设计精良、功能多样而受到好评。但它贴着一个12000美元（约合人民币74474元）的价签。今年，该公司发布了这款机器人的迷你版。虽然在多功能与持久性方面，它比自家的原版兄弟稍逊一筹，但在技术上仍是个奇迹。与市场上的人形机器人玩具不同，这款售价500美元（约合人民币3103元）的迷你机器人采用了程控设计，可以流畅精准地对触摸、手势和声音命令做出反应。但一些买家曾抱怨，把这款机器人组装起来实在太难了，该公司也坦然默认，推出了视屏教程，意在帮助用户完成这个历时数小时的组装过程。从目前来看，该产品的另一个重大缺点是，你需要一个安卓(Android)系统的移动设备来运行4.0版的安卓软件，才能控制这台迷你机器人。这样一套配置，最便宜的价格约为150美元（约合人民币931元）。据该公司说，该产品的苹果版配置尚在开发中。
Droplet Gardeners with day jobs and cluttered lives understand that watering plants is a classic problem. You want precise and regular watering; you’re more apt to deliver a massive dousing after work and before dinner, and only after the plants have begun tilting earthward for lack of moisture. At $300, Droplet is a pricey but reliable solution to the problem. Set the sprinkler in place, program the system on a computer or mobile device and connect it to your home’s Wi-Fi router, and the system takes over from there. Droplet checks weather data and points the sprinkler to specific pockets of your garden to deliver water where and when it’s needed. With a range of 30 feet in all directions, the units can manage bigger gardens and entire swaths of lawn with less wasted water.
浇水机器人(Droplet) 那些白天要上班、生活一团乱的养花人都知道，给植物浇水是个大问题。你总想按时按量地浇水；但在下班后、晚餐前，或只是在植物们因缺水萎蔫之后，你浇着浇着就浇多了。对于这个问题，这款售价300美元（约合人民币1862元）的浇水机器人是个虽然昂贵却切实可行的解决方案。请把洒水器安装到位，然后在一台计算机或移动设备上为该系统设定程序，再将系统连上你家的无线网络路由器，它就可以接管你家花园里的工作了。浇水机器人会首先检查相关的天气数据，然后在合适的时间跟地点，将洒水器对准花园里的特定位置浇水。该设备可以在30英尺的范围内全方位地浇水，因而可以管理较大面积的花园与各处草坪，而且用水量也浪费得更少。