Rise of the sunbots

摘要

Next to the Santa Rita jail in sunny Dublin, California, a robot tends a field of solar panels. It quietly makes its way along a rail underneath them, stopping at each to adjust its tilt to face the sun. This is SolBot, one of a handful of robots on the leading edge of a movement to use automated construction, operation and maintenance to slash the cost of solar power - critical if it is ever to compete with fossil fuels.