When I walked onto the Stanford University campus this week and into the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab, I was greeted by a short, gray robot waving his two long arms -- he was looking for a high-five.
　　這個星期，我來到了美國斯坦福大學校園，當我走進大眾汽車創新實驗室時，一個灰色的身材矮小的機器人揮舞著兩條長長的手臂歡迎我的到來，並想與我擊掌。

　　All around me robots of all sizes were roaming the floor. I was trapped -- in the future.
　　各種大小的機器人在我的周圍走來走去，我似乎置身未來。

　　Billed as the Silicon Valley Robot Block Party and held during National Robotics Week, the party yesterday was a celebration of human-robot interactions. Developers, researchers, and makers shared tips and explored the very ideas of what a robot can be and do. The people I met here are interested in robots on many levels. There were startups pitching their businesses, home-brew builders looking to have some fun, high-school kids building competition robots, and Ph.D. students just exploring.
　　“矽谷機器人街區聚會”在“國家機器人周”期間舉行，昨天的聚會是為了慶祝人機交互。開發人員，研究人員和製造者探索了機器人未來的模樣和功能，並分享了一些相關的技巧。參加這個聚會的人都或多或少對此感興趣。一些創業公司在尋找商機，而普通民眾只是想在這裡找些樂子，高中生正在舉辦機器人比賽，博士生在進行科學研究。

　　That high-fiving robot? It's the creation of Willow Garage, a founding member of the Silicon Valley Robotics group that hosted the block party. In 2010, Willow Garage announced it would be delivering 11 of its $400,000 PR-2 robots free to research groups. The program, however, which began as an open-source platform intended to encouraged roboticists to collaborate on creating a universal robot language, has quickly evolved. After just a few years, following an announcement in February, Willow Garage says it is shifting toward becoming a profitable and self-sustaining company. What's next in the lives of robots? That's the question everyone here wants to answer.
　　機器人也會擊掌慶祝？這是Willow Garage公司的創作成果，這家公司是矽谷機器人組織的創始成員之一，同時也主辦了這次的聚會。2010年，Willow Garage公司宣佈將把11個價值40萬美元的“第2代智慧型機器人”免費贈予研究小組。該專案最初是作為一個開源平臺，旨在鼓勵機器人專家合作創建一種通用的機器人語言，目前已經得到了迅速發展。短短幾年後，Willow Garage公司在二月份發出一項聲明後宣稱，它正轉而成為一家具有盈利性和自立性的公司。今後機器人又會出現什麼樣的革新呢？這裡的每一個人都想知道答案。

　　Even after the PR-2's 2010 release, within a year the stereoscopic cameras that provided the PR-2's vision were replaced with commercially available hardware -- Microsoft's Kinect, highlighting the rigorous pace of innovation. The commercial, off-the-shelf technology available to each of us today, as NASA has discovered, is fast, smart, and constantly upgraded.
　　“第2代智慧型機器人”在2010年發佈後，一年之內，為機器人提供視覺的願景立體相機便迅速被市售硬體——微軟的Kinect所取代，這突出了技術創新的步伐如此迅猛。如今，我們每個人都可以享受到商業化的現成技術，而且這些技術發展迅速，充滿智慧化，且不斷升級換代。

　　And as the evolution of robotics quickens, maybe that's what events like National Robotics Week and the Robot Block Party, are all about. There's a sense that though robots are already a great part of our lives, we are still in the early stages of robotics innovation. Things are evolving quickly. For that reason, a marketplace of ideas such as this is incredibly important.
　　機器人革新越來越快，也許這就是人們舉辦國家機器人周和機器人街區聚會的原因。從某種意義上說，雖然機器人已經是我們生活重要組成部分，但我們仍然處於機器人創新的早期階段。萬物都在迅速變化發展，充滿創意的市場非常重要。

　　People and ideas are being connected. Across genres, robotics hobbyists are talking to startups, educators are talking with industry, and students are talking to engineers -- all with a focus on the future -- envisioning a future where automation is smarter, machines are more useful, and everyone has the technical skills to live side by side with our robot friends.
　　在這裡，人們互相交流最新創意。不同行業的人們相互交流，例如，機器人愛好者與創業者，教育家與企業家，學生與工程師，都在聚焦未來。他們期待自動化變得更加智慧，機器變得更加實用，每個人都能與機器人朋友並肩生活。