We can make all the jokes we want about taking baths ourselves, but if we are ill in bed and can't get up, we'll be thankful to the nurses who help us get clean. While I am not a nurse, and have never given anyone a bath, I would imagine that it would take a lot of sympathy (同情) and patience to do so. Yet those who attended the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems last month were introduced to Cody, a robot that can bathe human beings. The robot has a base that can be turned to all directions, two humanlike arms, and movable wrists (腕). It uses a camera to locate parts of the human body. It then uses bath gloves to clean with a little pressure. The robot was designed at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Charles Kemp of the Healthcare Robotics Lab is the senior researcher for the project. In a test run, Cody was able to remove 96% of a test subject's dirt—not bad for a robot. But don't go asking for Cody yet—he's still a model. Yet researchers believe that one day Cody may take the place of nurses for this task. Researchers say that Cody will give patients dignity and protect their personal information. I suppose that would depend on the patient. I'm not sure whether a robot using a camera would make me feel very dignified. Even so, I can appreciate the need. We don't have enough nurses to go around, and those places that are the most shorthanded, for example, nursing homes, are those that have the most patients who are unable to bathe themselves. Still, before I get there, I hope they think of a better way to solve the problem. 小题1:The writer thinks bathing others must ________.
|