【聯合報╱By PATRICK McGEEHAN╱李京倫譯】
Robots Don’t Do Windows, Because Their Work Is Inferior
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As a pair of window washers clung to a scaffold dangling outside the 68th floor of 1 World Trade Center recently, the captivating drama left some below wondering: Why were they up there at all?
In an age when a few clicks on a cellphone can solve myriad problems, it seems fair to ask why people are still descending from the roofs of skyscrapers to rub soapy water on glass and wipe it off with a squeegee. Can’t robots take on this simple, repetitive task and relieve humans of the risk of injury, or death, from a plunge to the sidewalk?
最近，當一對洗窗工人緊貼在紐約世界貿易中心一號大樓六十八樓外的洗窗機上時，這引人注目的場景讓地上一些人納悶：為什麼他們會在那兒？
在這手機按幾下就能解決各種問題的時代，當然有人要問，為什麼還會有人從摩天大樓樓頂垂降，把肥皂水抹在玻璃上，再用橡膠刮刀刮掉？難道機器人不能勝任這個簡單、重複的工作，讓人們免於墜落人行道以致傷亡的風險？
The simple answer, several experts said, is that washing windows is something that machines still cannot do as well as people can. The more complicated answer is that high-rise buildings are more complicated than they used to be.
“Building are starting to look like huge sculptures in the sky,” said Craig S. Caulkins, who consults with building owners on how to maintain their exteriors. “A robot can’t maneuver to get around those curves to get into the facets of the building,” he said.
位專家說，簡單說：機器還無法做得像人那麼好；說得複雜些：高樓比以前難洗。
負責向大樓所有人提供維護大樓外觀建議的高金斯說：「大樓開始變得像空中的巨大雕塑，機器人沒法順應那些曲線，來到某些切面上。」
Mr. Caulkins said “the robots have problems.” Most notably, he said, robotic cleaning systems tend to leave dirt in the corners of the glass walls that are designed to provide panoramic views from high floors.
“If you are a fastidious owner wanting clean, clean windows so you can take advantage of that very expensive view that you bought, the last thing you want to see is that gray area around the rim of the window,” Mr. Caulkins said.
高金斯說，「機器人有它的缺點」，最主要的是，機器洗窗系統常讓玻璃牆的角落留有灰塵，玻璃牆設計卻意在提供從高樓俯瞰的壯闊景觀。
高金斯說：「如果你是個講究的大樓房主，想洗窗好享受你花了好多錢才買到的景觀，你最不想看到的就是窗框周圍有灰色地帶。」
Prime examples of that particular shortcoming were the towers of the original World Trade Center; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey equipped those buildings with a mechanical apparatus for cleaning their windows, but it worked so poorly that human window washers had to follow behind to catch the spots the machine missed, said Steven Plate of the Port Authority.
One of the men who kept the glass of the twin towers clean was Roko Camaj, whose hazardous duty was the subject of a children’s book “Window Washer: At Work Above the Clouds.” The book, published in 1995, quoted Mr. Camaj saying that “Ten years from now, all window washing will probably be done by a machine.”
關於這個缺陷，最典型的例子是原本的世貿中心雙塔。紐約與紐澤西港口事務管理局的普雷特說，港務局在雙塔上設有自動洗窗機，但成效太差，洗窗工人必須跟在後面清理沒清到的地方。
卡馬傑就是雙塔的一個洗窗工，他這分危險工作是1995年出版的童書「在雲上工作的洗窗工人」的主題，書中引用卡馬傑的話寫道：「十年後，洗窗大概全會改由機器來做。」
On that point, Mr. Camaj, who was killed when the towers were destroyed on September 11, 2001, was not a prophet. Mr. Caulkins said “there may be several dozen” skyscrapers in the entire country that employ robots to clean their windows.
Another reason for the sparse use of robots is that buildings require a lot more maintenance than just window cleaning, Mr. Caulkins said.
Equipment is needed to lower people to repair facades and broken windows, like the one that rescue workers had to cut through to rescue the window washers at 1 World Trade Center , he said.
卡馬傑在2001年9月11日雙塔遭撞毀時罹難。在機器洗窗這一點上，他不是先知。高金斯說，現在全美國用機器人洗窗的摩天大樓「可能只有幾十座」。
高金斯說，機器人洗窗不常見的另一原因是，洗窗只是大樓維護工作的一小部分。
他說，大樓要有設備能把人從頂樓垂降下來，修理大樓立面外牆和破損的窗戶，就像世貿一號大樓的洗窗工人逃生設備必須快速從頂樓降到正確位置，才能救命。
If a building requires a mechanism on the roof to lower a platform for that sort of work, the owner is unlikely to invest in a second, mechanized system for cleaning the glass, he said. Gerard McEneaney, a union official, said his union’s members are willing to do the work because it pays well: as much $26.89 an hour plus benefits.
Many of the window cleaners are immigrants from South America. “They’re fearless guys, fearless workers,” Mr. McEneaney said.
高金斯說，如果一棟大樓需要在頂樓安裝一套機械裝置，才能降下洗窗工人逃生平台，老闆不太可能出錢再安裝一套專門洗窗的裝置。工會幹部麥克尼尼說，工會會員都願意做洗窗工作，因為待遇不錯，時薪多達26.89美元（約台幣830元），還有津貼。
許多洗窗工是南美洲移民，麥克尼尼說：「這些傢伙什麼都不怕，什麼活都肯幹。」
He added that he understood why the owners of 1 World Trade Center would employ humans . “They want that building sparkling, sparkling clean,” he said.
Having spent nine years on scaffolds in the city, he knows the dangers. “ You just kind of accept it and rely on your partner and pray that your training has prepared you.”
他還說，他知道為什麼世貿一號大樓的樓主會請人來洗窗，「他們想要大樓乾淨到閃閃發亮」。
他在紐約洗窗九年，深知危險，「你只能接受危險，倚靠洗窗搭檔，祈禱你受的訓練能保住你的命」。
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