如果你看過電影《異形：契約》，你可能對機器人沒什么好感。但是在這個疫情肆虐的時刻，機器人卻成為了人類的好幫手。從掃大街到給病人量體溫，越來越多的機器人加入了抗疫第一線的工作。

ROBOTS ARE OFTEN CAST in popular science fiction as the villains – soulless automatons that take over the world and enslave mankind. But with the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic, robots are increasingly being employed as helpers, taking on often dull, difficult and dangerous tasks and thus reducing humans' exposure to COVID-19.

在熱門科幻片中，機器人經常以反派的角色出現——統治世界、奴役人類，沒有靈魂。然而，隨著新冠肺炎疫情襲擊全球，機器人越來越多地被當做助手，承擔起通常單調、艱巨和危險的任務，從而減少人類和新冠病毒的接觸。

Across the world, robotics companies are teaming with health care providers and government officials to develop technological solutions for dealing with the global health crisis. In China, robots with tank-like tread have rolled down streets spraying disinfectant. In at least one hospital in South Korea, robots are being used to check patients' temperatures and dispense hand sanitizer. In Tunisia, authorities have deployed robots to ensure people are obeying the lockdown.

在世界各地，機器人公司正與醫療衛生機構和政府官員合作研發技術產品來應對這場全球健康危機。在中國，像坦克一般滾動前行的機器人在街道上噴灑消毒水。在韓國的多家醫院，機器人被用于檢測病人的體溫和分發洗手液。在突尼斯，政府部署了機器人以確保人們遵守隔離規定。

In the United States, two of the principal ways in which robotic technology is being used to fight the pandemic are to disinfect hospital rooms and to act as a telemedicine portal, allowing doctors and health care workers to communicate via video conference directly with patients without unnecessarily exposing themselves to the highly contagious virus.

在美國，機器人技術被用來抗擊疫情的兩個主要方式是給醫院病房消毒和作為遠程醫療平臺，讓醫生和醫護人員可以通過視頻會議直接和病人交流，又可以避免接觸到這種高傳染性的病毒。

In Boston, doctors, researchers and robotics engineers have teamed up to bring a friendly, dog-like robot named Spot into Brigham and Women's Hospital, allowing doctors to interact with COVID-19 patients via telemedicine.

在醫生、研究人員和機器人工程師的合作下，友好的機器狗“斑點”進入了波士頓的布里格姆女子醫院，讓醫生可以通過遠程醫療系統和新冠肺炎患者進行互動。

While other technology companies have built robots with built-in screens that serve as the doctor's stand-in in health care settings, what sets Spot apart is its four-legged design, which allows the robot to move about easily in different settings, such as the triage tent set up outside the hospital.

盡管其他科技公司已經造出了有內置屏幕的機器人，可以在醫療機構中作為醫生的替身，但是“斑點”的與眾不同之處就在于它有四條腿，可以輕易地在不同的場地四處走動，比如醫院外支起的分流帳篷。

In March, at the onset of the pandemic, a coalition from the hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Spot's manufacturer, robotics firm Boston Dynamics, began developing and testing the robot's design to enable Spot to interact with patients, thus reducing the exposure of frontline health care workers to the virus. In the place of a head, Spot has an iPad affixed to a stand, allowing doctors to conduct telemedicine sessions with their patients.

今年三月疫情來襲時，該醫院的聯盟機構麻省理工學院和“斑點”的制造商波士頓動力機器人公司開始研發和測試這款機器人的新功能，讓“斑點”可以和病人互動，從而減少一線醫護人員和病毒的接觸。“斑點”的“頭”是一個固定在臺子上的平板電腦，讓醫生可以對病人進行遠程醫療服務。

"Most people actually really like it," says Dr. Peter Chai, an emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist who serves as the hospital's chief investigator on the robot project.

該醫院機器人項目的首席調查員、急診醫師、醫學毒理學家皮特·柴博士說：“大多數人還挺喜歡它的。”

Researchers are working to increase the robot's diagnostic abilities, enabling it to gauge the patient's temperature and measure his or her respiratory rate.

研究人員正致力于提高這款機器人的診斷能力，讓其可以給病人量體溫和呼吸頻率。

Chai predicts that hospitals will continue to find ways to use robots even after the coronavirus pandemic subsides, whether it be through delivering supplies to rooms or seeing patients with other contagious diseases.

柴博士預計，在疫情過去之后，醫院也會繼續探索使用機器人的方式，無論是讓機器人運送物資到病房，還是為有其他傳染病的患者診治。

英文來源：US News

翻譯&編輯：丹妮