Scientists at the University of Liverpool have developed a robot, which can perform experiments(实验) on its own. But earlier robots usually (停留, 待) in one place and did a single job over and over.
The UL robot is the (相反) of that. The 1.75-meter robot is (相似的) in size to a human. Though it weighs much more than ordinary people it's able to (容易地)move around in the same kind of space as humans do.
The robots uses an unusual system to guide it—even in the dark. With one long arm which can (转向) in almost any direction, the robot can use several different kinds of lab tools. Besides, the robot can do many different (任务) such as picking things up, and setting them down.
To test their robot, the scientists gave it a difficult job: find a special thing from water, using light. The robot worked (确切地)172 hours straight, stopping for only a couple of hours each day to recharge its batteries. It never feels (瞌睡的).To do the same work would have (花费) a human several months.
Andrew Cooper, who is the (领导,领袖) of the program, says the robot is meant to help scientists to free up time for the human researchers to think creatively.
