日本超級機器狼：高科技“麥田裏的守望者”
Japan’s fascination with robotics and all things high-tech is legendary, but did you know they make robot scarecrows now? Well, Super Robot Wolf is meant to scare a lot more than crows.
日本人對機器人和高科技的迷戀舉世聞名，不過你是否知道他們現在已經制造出了機器稻草人？這個機器稻草人就是超級機器狼，它要嚇走的可不僅僅是烏鴉。
When I was growing up, farmers kept birds and other wild animals away from their crops with old fashioned scarecrows. You know, some rags hanging on a cross structure made of sticks with some chimes or small bells for added effect, and that worked ok. But those things couldn’t hold a candle to this Japanese robot scarecrow with the coolest, most over-the-top name imaginable – Super Robot Wolf. They say it can scare away any wild animal, from deer to bears, and it definitely looks terrifying enough to do it.
在我小時候，農民常常用老式的稻草人把小鳥和其他野生動物從稻田裏趕跑。你肯定知道，就是那種掛着破衣服的架子，再繫上小鈴鐺增強效果，這確實能趕跑動物。可這種稻草人和日本機器稻草人根本不能相提並論，機器稻草人有一個你能想象到的最酷炫最誇張的名字——超級機器狼。他們說，這款機器狼可以嚇跑任何野生動物，不管是鹿還是熊，因爲它看上去實在是太可怕了。
Developed by Hokkaido robotics company Ohta Seiki, Super Robot Wolf was recently borrowed by JA Kisarazu-shi, an agricultural cooperative association, to test its effectiveness in keeping wild animals away from crops. Looking like a hell hound, with freakishly large eyes and chompers that could bite through anything, Super Robot Wolf is a scary sight behold, but there’s a bit more to it than that.
這款超級機器狼由北海道機器人公司的生木奧塔設計，最近被一個農業合作組織JA Kisarazu-shi借了去，去試試它趕跑野生動物的威力。這個機器狼看上去就像地獄惡犬一般，有一雙怪異的大眼睛和一張血盆大口。不但看上去可怕，它還有更大的本事。
The high-tech scarecrow is equipped with an infrared ray sensor that lets it detect animals as they approach. When they get to close, the robot activates. The eyes start glowing red, its head moves from one side to the other to create the illusion that it is alive, and it is capable of playing approximately 40 different sounds in rotation, from wolf howling, to human voices and even gunshots, at high volume. And if you don’t trust its intruder detection capabilities, Super Monster Wolf also comes with a timer, so you can program it to activate at certain intervals.
這個高科技稻草人配備了能感知動物靠近的紅外線感應設備。當動物走進稻田，機器人就被激活了。它的眼睛會變成紅色，頭也會轉動，表現出自己是活物，它還能發出40種不同的震耳欲聾的吼叫聲，從狼嚎到人聲，甚至是槍聲。如果你不相信它的感應技術，超級怪獸狼還可以定時，這樣你就可以讓機器狼每隔一定時間激活一次。
The creators of Super Robot Wolf began testing it at a Sapporo botanical garden called Kaiyuen, in December of last year. Wild animals like deer used to damage the trees and other plants there, in search of food, but ever since the modern scarecrow was installed, incidents decreased by 90%. The farmers of JA Kisarazu-shi also had nothing but praise for their new best friend, saying that there have been no signs of wild animals or birds near their crops since Super Monster Wolf was installed on July 11.
超級機器狼的創造者去年12月份在札幌植物園Kaiyuen對其進行測試。過去像鹿這樣的野生動物在覓食時總愛啃樹或者毀壞其他植物，但是自從裝上了這款現代稻草人，動物毀壞植物的事件減少了90%。JA Kisarazu-sh的農民對這個新朋友也大加讚賞，說自從7月11日裝上這個超級怪獸狼後，田裏就再沒出現過鳥或者野生動物。
Although technically still in trial phase, Super Robot Wolf has been performing so well that Ohta Seiki has already announced plans to put it on the market in September. Each unit will retail for about ¥200,000. Not the cheapest scarecrow money can buy, but definitely the most advanced one.
雖然這項技術仍在試驗階段，但由於超級機器狼的表現極佳，生木宣佈9月份便會上市。每隻機器狼的售價爲20萬日元（合人民幣1.2萬元）。這個稻草人價格不菲，但是絕對是最先進的。
