Match the phrases or words with the construction that is used afterwards.

Module 9

Transportation and travel: beyond human capabilities

Lesson 3

Speaking: industrial robots

3.1.1. Remember the robotic arm from the previous lesson? The first lesson had a simplified picture of it, and here is a photo of an actual industrial robot. Speak on the structure and principle of operation of the robotic arm using the picture and the questions (on the left) to help you.

1. What do you see in the picture? 2. What does the robotic arm consist of? 3. Show the shoulder joint, the elbow joint and the wrist joint. 4. What operation do you think is being performed by the robotic arm? 5. Explain how it moves (step motors). 6. What sensors does the robotic arm need to move properly? 7. How do motion sensors work?

3.1.2. Speak about possible robotic jobs and end effectors using the picture, questions and information below.

1. Read the information to the left of the picture. What other robotic jobs can you think of?

(to drill holes, to tighten bolts, to fill containers, to twist caps onto peanut butter jars, …..)

2. What end effectors would these jobs need? (use the prompts to the right of the picture)

3. What end effector can you see in the picture?

4. Explain how a pressure sensor works using the gripper example.

How Are Robots Used in a Factory? Robots in factories are used to: · lift heavy items · assemble parts together · join parts together using glue or by welding · paint things glue – клей welding – сварка

The robot's end effector depends upon the job that the robot has to do. It could be: · a gripper (like a hand, for picking things up) · suction pads (for lifting sheet metal or glass) · a paint spray gun (for painting things) · a welding gun (for joining metal together) suction pad – присоски welding gun – сварочный пистолет

3.1.3. *This video has no spoken text! So you should provide your own commentary. Watch the video and answer the questions:

1. What items are there on the conveyor belt?

2. Are the items positioned in any order?

3. What is the purpose of the assembly line?

4. What kind of end effector is used?

5. How many end effectors are applied?

6. How many items can they pick in one step?

7. How can end effectors ‘see’ the items?

3.1.4. *Think of a production process you would like to describe. Present your production process by answering the following questions.

1. What product would you make?

2. How many robotic arms would be used?

3. What sensors would the robots have and how would they work?

4. What actuators would you include?

5. What end effectors would you need?

Start your presentation with a conditional sentence:

If I were to design an automated production process, ……….

Listening: space robots

3.2.1. Discuss these questions with your groupmates:

a) What do you remember about missions to Mars?

b) What do you think the robotic arms of Martian rovers are like? What tasks do they perform? What end effectors might they use?

3.2.2. Before watching, make sure you know the following:

to bounce (подпрыгивать), airbag cocoon, JPL, outcrop of layered bedrock (слоистая порода, вышедшая на поверхность), frigid desert, field geologists, to read clues (clue – ключ, улика), toolkit (набор инструментов), to analyze the composition, looking for evidence (знак, доказательство) of, to make a series of startling discoveries, like blueberries in a muffin, hematite ['hiːmətaɪt], water soaked rocks (скальная порода, пропитанная водой), like pearls in oysters, ripples (зыбь, рябь).

3.2.3. Watch the video about the rover called Opportunity and try to answer the questions:

1. What do these numbers mean: 140 million; seven?

2. When did Opportunity land on Mars?

3. What did the landing module look like?

4. Why are rovers called ‘field geologists’?

5. How many cameras does the rover have?

6. What does it have a toolkit for?

7. What evidence did the rover look for?

8. What mineral was found on Mars embedded in rocky outcrops and littering the ground?

9. What conditions could have led to this mineral forming the structures described?

10. Why did the “ripples” form in the Martian sand?

11. What do these discoveries suggest?

12. Was the Opportunity mission successful and why?

3.2.4. *Look at these sentences used in the video and open the brackets. Listen again and check your answers.

a) It’s hard to tell whether it was an environment that could (support) life.

b) Suppose you (to be) a microbe, would you (like) that place or not?

c) If Opportunity mission (end) here, it would (be) a great success.

d) The water at Meridiani may (last) hundreds of thousands if not millions of years.

Speaking: giving advice

3.3.1. As you know now, robotics is a demanding field of engineering, and the more challenging an activity is, the more people are expected to work together… and obviously, they need to be able to get along well. This term, we have already studied how to deal with complaints and say sorry, and now it’s time to practice giving advice to your colleagues or friends interested in robotics!

Think:

Do you like giving advice?

Do you often ask for advice?

3.3.2. WATCH OUT!

Do you know the difference between:

ADVICE[ədˈvaɪs]

and

ADVISE [ədˈvaɪz]

Which word is a verb and which one is a noun?

Answer:

- Suggestions about what you think someone should do or how they should do something (a noun): ADVICE

- to make a suggestion about what you think someone should do or how they should do something (a verb): ADVISE

THINGS TO REMEMBER

NEVER SAY:

Can you give me ~~AN ADVICE~~, please?

Advice is an uncountable noun, so:

- it is never used in the plural

- it never comes after “an” or a number

✗ Naomi Wolf gave me ~~a good advice~~ in her book.

✓ Naomi Wolf gave me some good advice in her book.

✗ They were always there to give practical ~~advices~~.

✓ They were always there to give practical advice.

You can also say a word of advice, a piece of advice, or (informally) a bit of advice. But none of these expressions is common.

Don't confuse advice (a noun) and advise (a verb):

✗ I would ~~advice~~ you to choose this company.

✓ I would advise you to choose this company.

3.3.3. USEFUL PHRASES FOR GIVING ADVICE

The most popular way of giving advice is by using the modal verb: “should”. However, we can also use other different phrases or expressions and words.

Match the phrases or words with the construction that is used afterwards.

1.	should	to do something
2.	had better	I would do something
3.	ought	do something
4.	how about	do something
5.	why don’t you	doing something
6.	if I were you	do something

Examples of the structures above in context :

If you want to study robotics, you should start learning it right now.

You ought to study math and physics.

Why don’t you take part in the robots competition with me?

How about watching a sci-fi movie?

If I were you, I would stop wasting your time and start reading books on robotics.

You’d better start learning computer programming now, if you have an exam tomorrow.

3.3.4. Watch the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyE6l7Ewko8). Using the ideas from the video, practice the words and phrases in the situations below:

1. Your friend’s 3-year-old son is interested in robotics.

2. Your friend wants to make a career in robotics.

3. You best friend is planning to carry out some research in robotics.

4. You nephew wants to build a little robot.

3.3.5. Imagine you are in a business situation and you would like to give advice in a more polite way than just saying “you should” or “you ought to”.

How can you make the phrases more polite so you sound more diplomatic and gentle?

Look at the ideas below:

Next time, you might want to think about (not) V-ing. . .

You might want to consider …

You might want to …