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.
日本人对机器人和高科技的迷恋举世闻名，不过你是否知道他们现在已经制造出了机器稻草人？这个机器稻草人就是超级机器狼，它要吓走的可不仅仅是乌鸦。
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.
在我小时候，农民常常用老式的稻草人把小鸟和其他野生动物从稻田里赶跑。你肯定知道，就是那种挂着破衣服的架子，再系上小铃铛增强效果，这确实能赶跑动物。可这种稻草人和日本机器稻草人根本不能相提并论，机器稻草人有一个你能想象到的最酷炫最夸张的名字——超级机器狼。他们说，这款机器狼可以吓跑任何野生动物，不管是鹿还是熊，因为它看上去实在是太可怕了。
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.
这款超级机器狼由北海道机器人公司的生木奥塔设计，最近被一个农业合作组织JA Kisarazu-shi借了去，去试试它赶跑野生动物的威力。这个机器狼看上去就像地狱恶犬一般，有一双怪异的大眼睛和一张血盆大口。不但看上去可怕，它还有更大的本事。
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.
这个高科技稻草人配备了能感知动物靠近的红外线感应设备。当动物走进稻田，机器人就被激活了。它的眼睛会变成红色，头也会转动，表现出自己是活物，它还能发出40种不同的震耳欲聋的吼叫声，从狼嚎到人声，甚至是枪声。如果你不相信它的感应技术，超级怪兽狼还可以定时，这样你就可以让机器狼每隔一定时间激活一次。
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.
超级机器狼的创造者去年12月份在札幌植物园Kaiyuen对其进行测试。过去像鹿这样的野生动物在觅食时总爱啃树或者毁坏其他植物，但是自从装上了这款现代稻草人，动物毁坏植物的事件减少了90%。JA Kisarazu-sh的农民对这个新朋友也大加赞赏，说自从7月11日装上这个超级怪兽狼后，田里就再没出现过鸟或者野生动物。
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.
虽然这项技术仍在试验阶段，但由于超级机器狼的表现极佳，生木宣布9月份便会上市。每只机器狼的售价为20万日元（合人民币1.2万元）。这个稻草人价格不菲，但是绝对是最先进的。