Unit 3 Life in the future【美文阅读】 Robotic age draws closer随着科技的发展，机器人时代的到来已经指日可待。These days ， robots are more common than you might think.Consider the Roomba，a robotic vacuum(吸尘器)which cleans floors on its own.“We wanted to make something simple that people could use every day ， ” says Greiner ， cofounder of IRobot ， the company that makes the smart vacuum.“And that's what inspired us to build the Roomba.”Some robots like the Roomba are already very common in many US households.IRobot makes everything from the Roomba to robots that someday might become a part of us.“You can have robotics equipped into your body，to get back that arm or leg that you've lost，either in some accident or disease，”says Greiner.Although robots have been developed mainly for military(军用的 )applications ， civilian uses for the technology are growing ， according to Michael Toscano ， president of the Association for Unmanned( 自 控 的 )Vehicles International.“Unmanned systems allow human beings to do their task with an extension of their hands，their eyes and their ears.”“We can put them in the ocean and they'll swim for eight or nine months ， collecting data and monitoring ocean pollution ， ” says Hudson of IRobot.Recently the US Government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)displayed a “robotic man”．Instead of depending on remotecontrol，DARPA's “robotic man” can actually look at some blocks ，find one with a special pattern ，and move it to a new location.Mandelbaum，DARPA's project manager，says more challenging tasks lie ahead.Some day，a DARPA robot might find a hidden bomb or help a disabled person select a shirt and button it.To advance the technology，DARPA...
