????福島當地的議員渡邊裕之正在研究福島員工的安全問題，同時充當他們的非官方發言人。他說：“未經訓練的臨時工人用簸箕把高輻射的水舀進桶里，他們迅速出門進門，以減少受到輻射的時間。”一位不愿透露姓名的員工說：“盡管日本號稱擁有全球領先的高科技，但那些廣受贊譽的人形助手沒有一個派上了用場。”他指的就是日本的機器人項目。

????東京電力公司和日本政府正在倉促行動，希望得到機器人在損毀的反應堆中發揮更大作用。他們前往千葉大學（University of Chiba），向未來機器人技術中心（Future Robotics Technology Center）的救災機器人專家取經。

????但是這些努力實在微不足道，而且也已經為時已晚。許多年來，耗費數十億之資的日本機器人研發項目大多數都旨在開發家用助手，有的甚至被人們嘲笑為玩具，而并不像未來機器人技術中心那樣開發具有實際功能的機器人。由于當局優先考慮讓工廠和機器人助手去從事那些在世界其他地方由移民所從事的工作，更有用的機器人反而被邊緣化了。

????日本的“機器人產業之父”約瑟夫?英格伯格說：“日本人喜歡給物品安上一張臉，讓它們看起來像人類或者動物。這樣做更多是為了娛樂，而不是為了實用。他們應該有能力擔任更重要的工作。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：嚴匡正

????"Untrained casual laborers used dustpans to scoop up highly radioactive water into buckets; dashing in and out of doors to reduce their exposure times," says local Fukushima councillor Hiroyuki Watanabe who is studying Daiichi workers and acts as an unofficial spokesman for them. Says one anonymous worker "for all of Japan's high-tech prowess, none of those lauded humanoid helpers were any good at all," referring to Japan's robot programs.

????TEPCO and the Japanese government are scrambling now to get some stronger mechanical help into the stricken reactors, calling on the expertise of disaster robot specialists at Technology's Future Robotics Technology Center (fuRo) at the University of Chiba.

????But it seems too little, too late. For years much of Japan's robot research and development—billions of dollars worth—was aimed at developing humanoid helpers for the home derided by some as toys, not practical robots like those from fuRO. With authorities prioritising factory and helper humanoids to do the work immigrants do elsewhere in the world, more useful robotics were marginalised.

????"The Japanese like to put a face on things, to make them look like a humans or animals. It's more done for entertainment value than real practicality," says Joseph Engelberger the "father of the robotics industry" on Japan's robots. "They should be able to do more."