来自美国新泽西州的几位本科生了响应美国国防部的一项挑战,成功设计并制造了一台用于引爆海底未爆炸的水雷的机器人。在设计过程中不断克服了一些技术问题。快来随着托福小编一起来看看托福阅读材料的详细介绍,看看他们在过程中遇到了哪些问题?又是怎样设计成功的?
在进行托福阅读之前,一起学习一下文章中的疑难词:
autonomously adv. 自治地;独立自主地
challenge n. 挑战;怀疑
hands-on adj. 亲身实践的,亲自动手的
mine n. 矿vt. 开采,采掘vi. 开矿pron. 我的
thrusters n. [航] 推进器
lasern. 激光
resourceful adj. 资源丰富的;足智多谋的
一起阅读吧!
Many teachers believe that "hands-on" experience is the best way to learn. A group of students in the United States is putting that belief to the test.
The students are with the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. They successfully designed and built a robot for uncovering unexploded mines at the bottom of the sea. The technology students made the robot to answer a challenge from the U.S. Department of Defense.
The underwater vehicle is called Perseus II. The students recently tested Perseus II in a 95-meter-long tank of water at the Stevens Institute of Technology.
The robot costs about $15,000 to build. The students use a video game controller to direct its movements at the bottom of the tank. Devices known as thrusters enable the robot to go up, down, and toward its target in the water.
Video cameras on the robot send images back to a computer through a 13-meter long cable. Perseus II also has a set of lasers. They are used to measure the size of an object.
The robot is the creation of five undergraduate students. For over six months, they worked between 15 and 20 hours a week to design and build Perseus II.
Michael DeLorne supervised the project. He says the specialized requirements of the robot were demanding.
"Their goal was to go down and find this unexploded ordnance and not only just find them but provide information to an expert on the surface so he or she could make a decision whether it was something dangerous or not.".
Michael DeLorne says the students came up with some resourceful solutions for difficult problems. One such problem was how to control the position of the robot while underwater.
"One unique thing they did, they developed an algorithm that allowed them to autonomously control the vehicle's depth."
Mark Siembab is a member of the Perseus II team. He says the team developed a low-cost method to mark the location of whatever object they found.
"One component sank to the bottom and anchored itself while the other component had a brightly colored orange ball, which would float to the surface and provide a positive identification to the passer-by or the authorities to let them know there's an object down there and we'd marked it."
Perseus II was successfully tested in Florida with similar robots built at other engineering schools. In a separate development, new students at the Stevens Institute of Technology have already started on the next project. It is an unmanned flying vehicle they are calling Perseus III.
长难句:
1.Their goal was to go down and find this unexploded ordnance and not only just find them but provide information to an expert on the surface( so he or she could make a decision whether it was something dangerous or not)句子类型:状语从句
句子拆分:
主干:Their goal was to go down and find this unexploded ordnance and not only just find them but provide information to an expert on the surface
结果状语从句:so he or she could make a decision whether it was something dangerous or not
whether or not引导的状语从句:whether it was something dangerous or not
翻译:它们的目标是下潜然后找到未爆炸的武器。而且不仅是找到他们,还要为地面上的专家提供信息。这样专家就能评估该武器是否危险
2.One component sank to the bottom and anchored itself (while the other component had a brightly colored orange ball), which would float to the surface and provide a positive identification to the passer-by or the authorities (to let them know there's an object down there and we'd marked it).
句子类型:状语从句+定语从句
句子拆分:
主干:ne component sank to the bottom and anchored itself.
状语从句:while the other component had a brightly colored orange ball
定语从句:which would float...and provide...(to let them know做目的状语)
翻译:机器人的一个部件会沉到底部然后固定住,而安装了亮橙色球的另一个部件会浮上水面,让有关人员能够正确辨认,并让有关人员知道,水下有东西而且机器人已经对其进行了标记。
文章大意:
来自于新泽西州霍博肯市的史蒂文斯理工学院的学生成功设计并制造了一台用于引爆海底未爆炸的水雷的机器人,他们是为了响应美国国防部的一项挑战。
这台水下机器人被称为柏修斯2号,制造费用大约为1.5万美元。学生们使用视频游戏控制器引导其在水箱底部移动。机器人身上的摄像头将图像通过一根13米长的电缆发回到电脑。柏修斯2号还具备一组激光器,用于测量物体的尺寸。
该机器人是五名本科生的作品。在过去六个月里,他们每周工作15到20小时来设计和制造柏修斯2号。
负责监管该项目的迈克尔·德洛尔(Michael DeLorne)表示:机器人的专业要求很高。它们的目标是下潜然后找到未爆炸的武器,还要为地面上的专家提供信息,使专家评估该武器是否危险。
需要解决的这些复杂问题。问题之一包括当机器人下水后如何控制其位置。
在佛罗里达州,柏修斯2号同其它工程学校制造的类似机器人一起成功进行了测试。另一方面,史蒂文斯理工学院新的学生们已经开始进行下一个项目。这是名为柏修斯3号的一种无人飞行器。
文章架构:
第1段:文章主旨句:学生成功设计并制造了一台用于引爆海底未爆炸的水雷的机器人。
第2-12段:关于这台水下机器人--柏修斯2号的相关介绍,包括费用、技术、设计过程的问题解决、实现的目标等等。
第13段:简要介绍学生们接下来的研究项目。
文章题材:
社会科学--关于水下机器人的研究介绍
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