Translation 1_week 1
Exercise 1: Translate the following highlighted passages into Vietnamese.
‘Ten years ago this was science fiction’: the
rise of weedkilling robots
1. The makers of robot weeders say the machines can reduce pesticide use and be part of a
more sustainable food system
2. A robot made by Carbon Robotics kills weeds on farmland using lasers. Photograph:
Carbon Robotics
3. In the corner of an Ohio field, a laser-armed robot inches through a sea of onions, zapping
weeds as it goes.
4. This field doesn’t belong to a dystopian future but to Shay Myers, a third-generation farmer
whose TikTok posts about farming life often go viral.
5. He began using two robots last year to weed his 12-hectare (30-acre) crop. The robots –
which are nearly three metres long, weigh 4,300kg (9,500lb), and resemble a small car –
clamber slowly across a field, scanning beneath them for weeds which they then target with
laser bursts.
6. “For microseconds you watch these reddish color bursts. You see the weed, it lights up as
the laser hits, and it’s just gone,” said Myers. “Ten years ago this was science fiction.”
Other than engine sounds, the robots are almost silent and each one can destroy 100,000
weeds an hour, according to Carbon Robotics, the company that makes them.
7. Carbon Robotics, in common with other agri-robotic startups, emphasizes the
environmental benefits these machines can bring to farming by helping to reduce soil
disturbance, which can contribute to erosion, and allowing farmers to heavily reduce or
even eradicate the use of herbicides.
8. Farmers are under increasing pressure to reduce their use of herbicides and other chemicals,
which can contaminate ground and surface water, affect wildlife and non-target plants, and
have been linked to increased cancer risk. At the same time, they are battling a rise in
herbicide-resistant weeds, giving extra impetus to the search for new ways to kill weeds.
9. “Reduced herbicide usage is one of the spectacular outcomes of precision weeding,” said
Gautham Das, a senior lecturer in agri-robotics at the University of Lincoln. Destroying
weeds with lasers or ultraviolet light uses no chemicals at all. But even with robots that do
use herbicides, their ability to precisely target weeds can reduce the use about 90%
compared with conventional blanket spraying, Das said.
10. Five years ago there were almost no companies specializing in farm robots, said Sébastien
Boyer, the French-born head of San Francisco-based robot weeding company FarmWise,
but it’s now “a booming field”.
11. The global market for these agricultural robots – which can also be designed to perform
tasks such as seeding, harvesting and environmental monitoring – is predicted to increase
from $5.4bn in 2020 to more than $20bn by 2026. “Things scale up very quickly in
agriculture,” said Myers.
12. They’re not just the preserve of larger farms, said Elizabeth Sklar, an engineering professor
at King’s College London, “some of the smaller farms are able to be more flexible with
trying out new approaches”.
13. Farmwise robots are being used by farmers in California and Arizona. Photograph:
FarmWise
14. FarmWise found its first customers in California’s Salinas Valley, which grows lettuce,
broccoli, cauliflower and strawberries and is known as “America’s salad bowl”. Ten of the
US’s 20 largest vegetable growers, in California and Arizona, now use the company’s robot
weeders, according to Boyer. “In the beginning, they started working with us as an
experiment, but now they are heavily relying on us”.
15. Removing pests, such as aphids, thrips and lygus bugs, is a next step for
FarmWise. Robots can markedly reduce the use of fungicides and pesticides, said Boyer,
by applying them more precisely, using computer vision.
16. As well as concerns over farming chemicals, labor shortages also play a part in robots’
advance into farmland. Farm labour can be “expensive, hard to come by and dangerous”
for people involved, said Myers. In a viral TikTok video in April he said he could not hire
workers to pick his asparagus crop because the government had not granted him visas in
time.
17. There are still big challenges to wider-scale adoption. One problem is working in places
where a battery recharge is not always readily available, which is a reason some robots –
including those made by Carbon Robotics and FarmWise – use diesel for power, which
itself produces harmful emissions and pollution.
18. The robot farmers of the future “have got to be different than the machines we’ve created
in the past. You don’t want big, fossil fuel-guzzling machines; you want smaller, renewable
energy-using machines,” said David Rose, professor of agricultural innovation at the
University of Reading in the UK.
19. Some robots are already powered by renewable energy. UK-based Small Robot Company’s
spider-shaped weeding robot is powered by Tesla batteries. Danish company FarmDroid’s
machines and a herbicide-spraying robot made by Switzerland’s Ecorobotix are both solar
powered.
20. With batteries rapidly becoming lighter and gaining capacity, farm robots could soon be
electrified, said Paul Mikesell, head of Carbon Robotics. This must be accompanied by
charging infrastructure on farms, said Rose. “I don’t think we’re far away at all,” he added.
21. In the meantime, using fewer herbicides may be worth some diesel use, said Richard Smith,
a weed science farm adviser from University of California at Davis. “In comparison to all
the other tractor work that is done on intensive vegetable production fields, the amount
used for the auto-weeders is a small percent,” he said.
22. Another challenge is cost. These robots are still expensive, though broader adoption is
likely to bring costs down. Carbon Robotics’s robot costs roughly the same as a mid-size
tractor – in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (it won’t confirm exact costs) – though the
company says it is also exploring leasing possibilities.
23. FarmWise sells robots’ weeding labor, rather than the robots themselves, charging roughly
$200 an acre. Selling a weeding service instead of selling robots requires less upfront
investment from farmers, said Boyer, and helped get the robotics business off the ground.
24. “These service models should reduce the cost barrier for most farmers, and they do not
have to worry too much about the technical difficulties with these robots,” Das said.
25. Covid has been a problem, too, impeding access to clients, investors and semiconductors
from Asia. The pandemic has “squeezed startups out of the runway”, says Andra Keay,
head of the non-profit Silicon Valley Robotics.
26. But, beyond weeding robots, Covid has also spurred interest in how robots can shorten
supply chains.
27. Robot-run greenhouses can use hydroponics – growing plants without soil – to produce
food closer to large population centres like New York, instead of in places like California
where soil is richer.
28.
29. Iron Ox uses robots to produce food in greenhouses. Photograph: Iron Ox
30. Iron Ox, a robot-powered greenhouse company based in California, has devised a robotic
arm which scans each greenhouse plant and creates a 3D model of it to monitor it for
disease and pests. It operates two robotic greenhouses now selling produce to shops in the
Bay Area, and just broke ground on a third in Texas.
31. “Not a lot has changed in agriculture, especially in fresh produce, in the last 70 years,” said
Brandon Alexander, the head of Iron Ox who grew up in a large Texas farming family.
“Robotic farming offers a chance for humanity to address climate change before 2050,” he
said.
Exercise 2: Self pratice: Translate the following passages into English.
Robot diệt cỏ dại bằng tia laser gấp 20 lần sức người
1. Nếu như năng suất trung bình của một người khỏe mạnh mỗi ngày có thể làm cỏ
được khoảng 0,4 ha thì năng suất của loại robot diệt cỏ Carbon Robotics cao gấp 20
lần.
2. Robot chăn nuôi bò sữa kiểu Úc
3. Robot và tự động hóa nuôi gia cầm hiệu quả thế nào?
4.
5. Công suất của chiếc robot diệt cỏ dại này có thể loại bỏ hơn 100.000 gốc cỏ dại mỗi giờ,
tương đương từ 6-8 ha cây trồng một ngày. Ảnh: CR
6. Đây là thành tựu khoa học mới vừa được hãng Carbon Robotics công bố thế hệ thứ ba
mang tên Autonomous Weeder (robot diệt cỏ tự hành)- một robot nông nghiệp thông
minh có thể tự xác định cỏ dại và sau đó tiêu diệt chúng bằng tia laser công suất cao.
7. Sự ra đời của loại robot diệt cỏ dại thế hệ mới này được cho là rất kịp thời khi các loại cỏ
dại đang là một thách thức lớn đối với nhiều nền nông nghiệp thế giới. Nguyên nhân
chính là do cỏ dại cạnh tranh gay gắt với các loại mùa màng hoặc thực vật về không gian,
ánh sáng mặt trời và chất dinh dưỡng trong đất.
8. Ngoài ra cỏ dại cũng có thể tạo điều kiện cho côn trùng gây hại cây trồng dễ dàng hơn.
Chính vì vậy việc kiểm soát cỏ dại luôn luôn là mối quan tâm hàng đầu của người nông
dân.
9. Một vấn đề lớn khác nữa là việc sử dụng các loại hóa chất diệt cỏ hiện nay còn có thể giết
chết hoặc gây hại cho thảm thực vật và gây ô nhiễm tài nguyên đất, nguồn nước. Trong
khi đó nếu tiêu diệt cỏ dại bằng phương pháp thủ công, nhổ bằng tay luôn là khâu khó
nhằn nhất đối với nhà nông và tình trạng thiếu nhân công lao động đã và đang còn là một
vấn đề lớn trong ngành nông nghiệp hiện nay.
10. Các cuộc trình diễn thí điểm đối với robot diệt cỏ tự hành của hãng Carbon Robotics cho
thấy, chiếc máy nông nghiệp này có thể tiêu diệt cỏ dại tốt mà không gây hại đến tài
nguyên đất hoặc nước.
11. Và đặc biệt là nó hoạt động một cách độc lập tự chủ, loại bỏ sự phụ thuộc vào lao động
chân tay. Cách thức hoạt động của nó giống như một cỗ máy làm đất nông nghiệp khối
lập phương vận hành bằng các bánh xe.
12. Khi nó tự xuống đồng ruộng, toàn bộ 12 camera gắn trên thân máy sẽ tự động rà quét mặt
đất. Một máy tính trên bo mạch được hỗ trợ bởi trí tuệ nhân tạo (AI) có thể xác định được
cỏ dại và các tia laser carbon dioxide của robot sau đó sẽ quét sạch cỏ dại.
13. Công suất của chiếc robot diệt cỏ dại này có thể loại bỏ hơn 100.000 gốc cỏ dại mỗi giờ,
tương đương từ 6-8 ha cây trồng một ngày. Để làm phép so sánh, nông dân trồng rau
Shay Myers cho biết, một người khỏa mạnh mỗi ngày chỉ có thể làm cỏ tối đa được
khoảng 0,4 ha.
14. Ông Myers đang kỳ vọng khi mua cỗ robot diệt cỏ này về sử dụng có thể hết khấu hao
trong vòng từ 2-3 năm. Tuy nhiên giám đốc điều hành hãng Carbon Robotics, Paul
Mikesell hiện vẫn úp mở giá bán chiếc robot thế hệ mới này, có thể lên tới hàng trăm
nghìn USD (và ông đã từ chối cung cấp mức giá chính xác).
15.
16. Cỗ máy diệt cỏ dại thông minh của hãng Carbon Robotics. Ảnh: CR
17. Theo các chuyên gia, với mức giá trên thì đó không phải là một mức giá chưa từng có đối
với một thiết bị nông nghiệp hiện đại, nhưng trên thực tế nó vẫn khiến robot nông nghiệp
xa tầm với đối với phần đa nông dân, mặc dù có cả lựa chọn cho thuê.
18. Tuy nhiên hiện Carbon Robotics đã bán hết toàn bộ số robot đã lên kế hoạch sản xuất
trong năm 2021 theo đơn đặt hàng.
19. "Đây là một trong những phát minh thế hệ mới và có giá trị nhất mà tôi từng thấy. Tôi kỳ
vọng robot sẽ trở thành một xu hướng chủ đạo vì cách chúng giải quyết hiệu quả một số
vấn đề quan trọng nhất của ngành nông nghiệp, bao gồm cả việc lạm dụng hóa chất, hiệu
quả quy trình và hoạt động", James Johnson, chủ trang trại Carzalia ở bang New Mexico
(Mỹ) cho biết.
Exercise 3: Reference: Translate the following highlighted passages into English.
Carbon Robotics Disrupts Farming Industry with Autonomous Weeders
Robots eliminate weeds with lasers to solve one of the farming industries’ biggest challenges.
(BUSINESS WIRE)--Carbon Robotics, an autonomous robotics company, today unveiled its
third-generation autonomous weed elimination robots. The Autonomous Weeder leverages
robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and laser technology to safely and effectively drive through
crop fields to identify, target and eliminate weeds.
“Farmers, and others in the global food supply chain, are innovating now more than ever to keep
the world fed. Our goal at Carbon Robotics is to create tools that address their most challenging
problems, including weed management and elimination.”
Unlike other weeding technologies, the robots utilize high-power lasers to eradicate weeds
through thermal energy, without disturbing the soil. The automated robots allow farmers to use
less herbicides and reduce labor to remove unwanted plants while improving the reliability and
predictability of costs, crop yield and more.
“AI and deep learning technology are creating efficiencies across a variety of industries and
we’re excited to apply it to agriculture,” said Carbon Robotics CEO and Founder, Paul Mikesell.
“Farmers, and others in the global food supply chain, are innovating now more than ever to keep
the world fed. Our goal at Carbon Robotics is to create tools that address their most challenging
problems, including weed management and elimination.”
By deploying robots created by Carbon Robotics, farmers will experience the following benefits:
•
•
•
•
A significant increase in crop yield and quality: Lasers leave the soil microbiology
undisturbed, unlike tillage. The lack of herbicides and soil disruption paves the way for a
regenerative approach, which leads to healthy crops and higher yields.
A reduction in overall costs: Automated robots enable farmers to reduce the highly
variable cost of manual labor as well as reduce the use of crop inputs such as herbicides
and fertilizers. Labor is often farmers’ biggest cost and crop inputs account for 28.2% of
their total expenses. Reducing costs in both these areas is a huge benefit.
Adoption of regenerative farming practices: Traditional chemicals used by farmers,
such as herbicides, deteriorate soil health and are tied to health problems in humans and
other mammals. A laser-powered, autonomous weed management solution reduces or
eliminates farmers’ needs for herbicides.
An economical path to organic farming: One of the largest obstacles to organic
farming is cost-effective weed control. A solution to weed management that doesn’t
require herbicides or an increase in manual labor provides farmers with a more realistic
path to classifying their crops as organic.
Carbon Robotics’ groundbreaking technology is designed for row crops with 200 acres to tens of
thousands of acres. A single robot will weed 15-20 acres per day and replace several
deployments of hand weeding crews. Since its founding in 2018, the company has worked
closely with farmers to develop its technology, which supports effective and efficient weed
elimination for both conventional and organic farmers. The robots have undergone beta testing
on specialty crops farms, working on fields with a variety of crops, including broccoli and
onions.
“This is one of the most innovative and valuable technologies that I’ve seen as a farmer,” said
James Johnson of Carzalia Farm, who has utilized Carbon Robotics’ technology on his farm. “I
expect the robots to go mainstream because of how effectively they address some of farming’s
most critical issues, including the overuse of chemicals, process efficiency and labor. These
robots work with a variety of crops, are autonomous and organic. The sky’s the limit.”
Carbon Robotics’ 2021 models have already sold out, but new models for the 2022 growing
season are available for pre-order. Carbon Robotics offers a leasing option, which makes the
robots more accessible to smaller farms with less acreage. The company will continue to explore
new robot models and capabilities to help farmers improve efficiency and reliability across a
variety of tasks.
About Carbon Robotics
Carbon Robotics is pioneering the next revolution in agriculture through the deployment of
autonomous robots. Carbon Robotics’ Autonomous Weeders are purpose built to tackle one of
the industry’s biggest problems: weed control. By leveraging artificial intelligence, robotic
controls, and laser technology, Carbon Robotics’ revolutionary, high-precision approach
improves crop yield, provides safer working conditions for farmers, reduces overall costs
associated with modern farming, and creates sustainable paths to regenerative and organic
produce. Carbon Robotics was founded in 2018 and is based in Seattle. For more information,
visit: https://carbonrobotics.com/.
Exercise 4: Reference: Listen and interprete the audio file into Vietnamese.
https://soundcloud.com/reflectiveenglish/e61-weed-killing-robots