日本將推出一款可以自動疊衣的機器人

Hate doing laundry? Shin Sakane has a solution.

不喜歡洗衣服？Shin Sakane會爲你提供一個解決方案。

The Japanese inventor received 6 billion yen ($53 million) from partners, including Panasonic Corp., last month to advance "the Laundroid" – a robot Sakane is developing to not only wash and dry garments, but also sort, fold and neatly arrange them.

最近，這位日本發明家從包括松下電器在內的一批合作伙伴那裏獲得了60億日元(約合5300萬美元)投資，旨在開發一款名爲“Laundroid”的機器人--它不僅可以洗衣服、熨衣服，還能把衣服疊好，並按順序放好每件衣服。

The device could fill the roles of washing machine, dryer and clothes drawer in people's homes.

這款設備可以放置在家中，同時扮演洗衣機、烘乾機和衣櫥的角色。

Sakane, whose earlier inventions include an anti-snoring device and golf clubs made of space materials, said the funding will bring closer his dream.

Sakane之前曾發明過一款防鼾器和一個使用太空材料製作的高爾夫球杆，他表示這些投資使他距離自己的夢想又近了一步。

Among his inspirations for the project is the 1968 Stanley Kubrick sci-fi classic "2001: A Space Odyssey."

他的靈感來源於1968年斯坦利·庫布裏克拍攝的著名科幻電影《2001：太空漫步》。

While the full product is slated for release in 2019, an early version that can only sort and fold clothing goes on sale worldwide in March.

全功能版產品將會在2019年發佈，但該公司將會在明年三月上市銷售一款早期版產品，但預計只能摺疊並整理排序衣服。

The goal is to eventually get the price of the full version to less than about 300,000 yen ($2,700). The model going on sale in March will probably cost significantly more due to higher initial production costs.

Sakane的目標是最後能生產出一臺售價不高於30萬日元（2700 美元）的完整版產品。明年三月份上市的產品售價可能很高，因爲初始的生產成本較高。

"We decided that by combining Panasonic's washing and drying machine technology and 7D's folding technology, it is possible to bring an all-in-one product to the market," said Kyoko Ishii, a spokeswoman for Panasonic.

松下公司的發言人Kyoko Ishii表示："我們決定將松下的洗衣機和烘乾機技術與7D公司的衣服摺疊技術結合在一起，可能向市場推出一款一體化的產品。"

Users will still have to do some tasks, such as partially buttoning shirts, ensuring clothes aren't inside out.

不過即便如此，用戶可能還是需要手工處理一些作業，比如將待洗襯衫的鈕釦解開、確保衣服不會擰在一起等。