This interesting article is about a new robot named Baxter programmed to assist human workers without accidental harm; using sensors to sense obstacles and then move accordingly. The author of this text is John Markoff, known for his book and articles about a hacker named Kevin Mitnick, and is also known for his work at the New York Times. Robots and new technology are rapidly flooding the industry at the moment -the issue is getting humans and machines to work together and make the machines safe for humans. Automation and AI are programs still in research now in order to produce maximum safety for workers. This piece is intended to detail a new technology, and also assure readers that robots will not cause the laying off of workers. It is mostly factual, detailing the some of the nuances of the robot: how it works, how much it may cost once it gets on the market, how its safety mechanisms work, and also how it works with live humans. Markoff explains this and gets his point across using a few different devices. He uses clear-cut examples from real sources and qualified people, such as the director of the plastics company that tested Baxter. His diction is made for the layman; using few words that could be considered technical jargon, perhaps also from an awareness that not many of his audience would be familiar with technical terms. As for whether or not he got his point across, well, while his conclusion leaves much to be desired, it leaves a sense that the possibilities of this technology are boundless, with the words, “it will be able to adapt the system with more complex and capable hands”. Using quotes from Mr. Budnick, the president of Vanguard Plastics, Markoff accomplishes his goal of how well Baxter works with humans, as Mr. Budnick’s people worked with it. All in all, I say he accomplished his goal.
Here's a link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/science/a-robot-with-a-delicate-touch.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www
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