3 Robotics 101

Chapter Three Robotics 101 The engineers of the Marlowe 280 built all the robots in the robot room. It was a special place, specifically designed for making new mechanical friends. The engineers needed everything to be completely clean to do their work. One stray clump of dirt, and a robot's sensitive electronics could be ruined. Because it needed to stay so clean, it was one of the few rooms on the Marlowe where kids couldn't go without a parent. That's why Elias kept a miniature laboratory in his bedroom. If he couldn't get to the robot room, he'd make a space to explore his ideas. Normally, all the Marlowe robots got their personalities from a book. Once a robot was complete, its owner downloaded a book onto its hard drive. The robot then acted like a character in that book.

马洛280的工程师们制造了机器人室里所有的机器人。 这是一个特别的地方，专门为结交新的机械朋友而设计的。 工程师们需要所有的东西都完全干净才能工作。 只要沾上一团灰尘，机器人的敏感电子设备就可能被毁。 因为它需要保持干净，所以它是马洛大街上为数不多的几个孩子在没有父母陪同的情况下不能进去的房间之一。 所以伊莱亚斯在卧室里放了个微型实验室。 如果他不能去机器人室，他会腾出一个空间来探索他的想法。 通常，所有的马洛机器人都是从一本书中获得个性的。 一旦机器人完成，它的主人就会把一本书下载到它的硬盘上。 然后这个机器人就像书中的一个角色一样。

Finn's robot, Foggy, came from an adventure book. Genevieve Brooks, one of the older kids, had a robot named Sir Lance-a-bot. Legend had it that a Bilbot Baggins had once roamed the Marlowe's hallways. But Elias thought it would be fun to try a different way. He wanted to make a robot that had its own personality. No books. So he'd hidden a few parts in his room. And slowly but surely he'd built a small robot. It was the size of a skinny gerbil. It would be the skinny gerbil that would change the universe. Everything was perfect. All he had to do was press a button to start it up. Elias took a deep breath and powered it on. And that's when it caught fire.

芬恩的机器人福吉来自一本冒险书。 吉纳维芙·布鲁克斯（Genevieve Brooks）是其中一个年纪较大的孩子，她有一个机器人，名叫Lance-a-bot爵士。 传说有一个叫比尔博·巴金斯的人曾经在马洛家的走廊里游荡。 但伊莱亚斯认为尝试一种不同的方式会很有趣。 他想制造一个有自己个性的机器人。 没有书。所以他在房间里藏了一些零件。 慢慢地，但肯定地，他造了一个小机器人。 它有一只瘦小的沙鼠那么大。 那只瘦小的沙鼠将会改变整个宇宙。 一切都很完美。他所要做的就是按下按钮启动它。 伊莱亚斯深吸了一口气，启动了它。 就在那时，它着火了。

The fire alarm on the Marlowe was louder than a cat whose tail had just been stepped on. Elias didn't panic, but he did get up and walk out of his bedroom. He stood, waiting, in the living room. He knew the little fire-extinguishing robots were on their way. They looked like ketchup bottles on wheels. They would roll into his room, raise their tiny hoses, and shoot foam at the fire. And then he would have to explain to his parents why he'd built a secret robot. But for now, all he had to do was wait. He just had to wait for

马洛大街上的火警警报声比刚被人踩过尾巴的猫还响。 伊莱亚斯没有惊慌，但他确实站了起来，走出了卧室。 他站在客厅里等着。 他知道小型灭火机器人已经在路上了。 它们看起来像带轮子的番茄酱瓶。 他们会滚进他的房间，举起他们的小水管，向火里喷泡沫。 然后他就得向父母解释他为什么要造一个秘密机器人。 但现在，他所要做的就是等待。 他只需要等待

the itty-bitty, teeny-tiny robots to roll in. Just wait and— "OUT OF THE WAY, EVERYONE. I AM HERE. I AM SAVING THE DAY. THANK ME!" A massive, shiny robot burst into the living room and past Elias, rushing to his bedroom. It looked down at the fire. Elias waited for it to shoot foam out of its hose, but nothing happened. The robot looked at Elias, then looked at the gerbil robot flaming at the foot of his bed. "Well, aren't you going to put it out?" shouted Elias. "SURE AM!" shouted the tall robot. It looked around the room. "Do you have any foam?" said Elias. "NOPE!" said the robot. "NO PROBLEM!" And the tall, strange robot picked up its right foot and stomped on Elias's gerbilbot. "FIXED!" shouted the robot, and it turned to leave. "I FIXED IT. I'M AWESOME." "That was not awesome!" said Elias. "That was... that was... that was my robot!

非常非常小的机器人滚进来。 只要等着——“大家让开。” 我在这里。我在拯救世界。 谢谢我!”一个巨大的、闪闪发光的机器人冲进客厅，经过伊莱亚斯，冲进他的卧室。 它低头看着炉火。 以利亚等着它从软管里喷出泡沫，但什么也没发生。 机器人看了看伊莱亚斯，然后看了看床脚边燃烧的沙鼠机器人。 “好吧，你不把它扑灭吗？” “当然！”高个子机器人喊道。 它环顾了一下房间。 “你有泡沫吗？”以利亚说。 “不！”机器人说。“没问题!”这个高大、奇怪的机器人抬起右脚，踩在伊莱亚斯的沙鼠身上。 “修好了！”机器人喊道，然后转身离开。 “我修好了。我太棒了。” “这一点都不可怕！”伊莱亚斯说。 “那是……那是……那是我的机器人！

Just then, Elias's parents and a handful of other engineers raced into his compartment. "Elias, what happened? Are you okay?!" said his mother. She waved away the smoke and gave him a hug. "Yeah," he said. "I tried to build a robot, and it caught fire. That chucklehead stepped on it." He pointed at the tall robot. "Who is that?" "That's Voltronix Zu!" said his mother. "Our newest invention."

就在这时，伊莱亚斯的父母和其他几个工程师冲进了他的车厢。 “以利亚，发生什么事了？”你还好吗？！”他妈妈说。 她挥挥手把烟抽走，给了他一个拥抱。 “是的，”他说。“我试着造一个机器人，结果它着火了。 那个笨蛋踩到它了。” 他指着那个高大的机器人。 “那是谁？”“那是沃特罗尼克斯·祖！”他母亲说。 “我们的最新发明。”

"He seems kind of...," Elias trailed off. He paused for a moment and tried to think of the right word. He looked at the tall robot. It was now literally patting itself on the back. "Dumb?" "Oh, he just has a few kinks to work out," said his dad. "He's the first robot we made with its own brain. No books!" Elias was shocked. That's what he had been working on. "How?" asked Elias. "No. You didn't. I did. What? No. How?" He was stuck in a loop. Elias's dad looked down at the remains of the robot. He laughed. "You know, son, you're supposed to build something, not destroy it." He gave Elias a hug to show that he was just kidding. "What is this pile of smoking metal, anyway?" asked his dad. "Nothing," he said. "Just a dumb idea I had."

“他看起来有点……以利亚压低声音说。 他停了一会儿，想找一个合适的词。 他看着那个高大的机器人。 它现在简直是在拍拍自己的背。 “哑巴?”“哦，他只是有一些问题需要解决，”他爸爸说。 “他是我们第一个拥有自己大脑的机器人。 没有书!”伊莱亚斯惊呆了。 这就是他一直在研究的。 “怎么做？”以利亚问。“没有。你没有。 我做到了。怎么啦？否。如何?”他陷入了困境。 伊莱亚斯的爸爸低头看着机器人的残骸。 他笑了。“你知道的，孩子，你应该创造一些东西，而不是摧毁它。” 他给了伊莱亚斯一个拥抱，表示他只是在开玩笑。 “这堆冒着烟的金属到底是什么？”他爸爸问。 “没什么，”他说。“只是我的一个愚蠢的想法。”