【TED演讲稿】机械的未来：可以像动物那样移动

TED演讲者：Robert Katzschmann / 罗伯特·卡奇曼

演讲标题：The future of machines that move like animals / 机械的未来：可以像动物那样移动

内容概要：Imagine a boat that propels by moving its "tail" from side to side, just like a fish. That's the kind of machine that TED Fellow Robert Katzschmann's lab builds: soft-bodied robots that imitate natural movements with artificial, silent muscles. He lays out his vision for machines that take on mesmerizing new forms, made of softer and more lifelike materials -- and capable of discovering unknown parts of the world.

想象一下，一艘船通过像鱼一样摆动“尾巴”前进。TED Fellow 罗伯特·卡奇曼（Robert Katzschmann）的研究团队就设计了这么一款机械：利用人造、安静的肌肉模仿自然动作的软体机器人。他给我们展示了对机械的展望，它们会拥有令人眼花缭乱的新形态，由更柔软、更仿生的材料制成，还可以探索世界的未知之域。

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【1】Modern engineering focuses on rotating motors to power almost any machine.

现代工程的所有机器 几乎都是用旋转电机驱动的。

【2】It has taken about 200 years for motors to become what they are today.

我们花了 200 年才把电机 发展成今天这个样子。

【3】And they're still loud and unnatural in their ways.

它们依旧“我行我素”地 制造噪音、格格不入。

【4】The constant noise of machines causes problems for living beings everywhere, both in the ocean and also on land.

机械不断发出的噪音 让各处的生物头疼不已, 海里的、地上的。

【5】Humans who are constantly exposed to noise can become stressed, depressed and even develop tinnitus.

长时间暴露在噪声中的人类 会焦虑、抑郁, 甚至会患上耳鸣。

【6】In contrast, there are no rotating motors in nature.

然而, 自然界中并没有旋转电机。

【7】Nature often smoothly, glides, swims or wiggles, without the rattling of rigid parts or the loud rubbing of surfaces.

自然界的生物通常流畅地 滑动、游动、摆动, 没有硬质部件的响声, 也没有表面之间的摩擦噪音。

【8】I believe we can and should rehaul our approach to how we make machines.

我相信我们可以, 也应该改变我们制造机械的方式。

【9】Instead of using rigid or unnatural materials, what if we made biomimetic machines?

不再使用刚性或非自然的材料, 而是制造仿生机器,会怎么样？

【10】Machines made of soft or living materials that are adaptive and safe to use in a variety of everyday tasks?

由柔性或生物活性材料制成的机器, 适用于各种日常活动中的安全使用。

【11】Can you imagine boats or submarines that propel themselves by moving their tails from side to side, just like fish do?

你可以想象船只或者潜水艇通过 像鱼一样摆动尾巴推进吗？

【12】So to imitate these natural movements, we have to replace rotating motors and fast, spinning propellers with artificial muscles.

要做到这种自然的动作, 我们不应该使用旋转电机和 快速旋转的螺旋桨, 而应该使用人造肌肉。

【13】And I can tell you this, this can be done.

我可以告诉你的是, 我们真的可以做到这一点。

【14】Our team of researchers at MIT and ETH Zurich has started to develop less disruptive robots by introducing a new, biomimetic way of moving through water.

我们来自麻省理工学院和 苏黎世联邦理工学院的研究团队 已经开始研发一款 较容易融入现况的机器人, 引入了一种全新的 在水中游动的仿生方式。

【15】We created a biomimetic robotic fish.

我们设计了一款仿生机器鱼。

【16】Her name is Sophie.

她叫苏菲（Sophie）。

【17】She's the first demonstration of a fully untethered, soft robot that can explore the ocean without the need for propellers.

她是首个完全无需外界电力的 柔性机器人示例, 可以在没有螺旋桨的情况下 探索海洋。

【18】Sophie pumps water back and forth within a highly deformable tail.

苏菲用她高度柔韧的尾巴前后划水。

【19】Her tail movement imitates the natural swimming motion of real fish.

她尾部的动作模仿了 真实鱼类自然游动的动作。

【20】Sophie's natural design allows her to closely monitor aquatic life.

苏菲贴近自然的外形让她可以 近距离监控海洋生态。

【21】Now, there's a catch.

但是有一个问题。

【22】Sophie is energy-hungry and loud.

苏菲需要消耗大量能量, 还会制造噪音。

【23】Yes, we successfully managed to build a robot that swims like a fish, but...

没错,我们做出了一个 可以像鱼那样游泳的机器人, 但是……

【24】Sophie requires a motor and a pump to properly work.

苏菲的正常运作还是需要 一台电机和一台泵。

【25】Now we are replacing that motor and pump, which is noisy and not desired in such a way, we're replacing it with silent, artificial muscles.

我们不想再用这震耳欲聋、 令人讨厌的电机和泵了。 而是用安静的人造肌肉代替。

【26】These muscles are called HASELs.

这些肌肉名为 HASEL。

【27】They directly and efficiently convert electrical energy into muscle contractions.

它们可以直接高效地把电能 转化成肌肉收缩。

【28】Take a look at this large muscle we made to lift and lower a leg.

来看一下我们做的这一大块肌肉, 可以把腿提起、放下。

【29】A stack of flexible sheets contracts and relaxes just like a thigh muscle does.

一叠弹性薄片收缩、舒张, 如同大腿肌肉。

【30】Let me tell you how this works.

我来告诉你们它是如何运作的。

【31】So we take laminated sheets to create pouches.

我们用夹层薄片 做出这样的小格子。

【32】We have several of these pouches within a single muscle.

一块肌肉上有很多小格子。

【33】We now take a conductive ink and spray-coat that ink onto these pouches, and then we inject them with oil.

然后把导电油墨 喷涂在小格子上, 再注入油。

【34】After having done this, we have a conductive ink that acts like a flexible electrode that squeezes these liquid-filled pouches when a voltage is applied.

做完这几步以后, 导电油墨就会变成活动的电极, 通电后挤压这些充满液体的小格子。

【35】Now, just like muscles with real fish, we take this kind of filmed muscles and pair them up as antagonistic pairs and put them into our soft robotic fish design.

和真实鱼类的肌肉一样, 我们把这种薄膜肌肉 与相反电极配对, 放入我们的柔性机器鱼设计。

【36】We 3D-print the hull and the spine of this fish, using soft and rigid materials.

我们使用柔性和刚性材料 3D 打印出 机器鱼的身体和脊柱。

【37】The fish now swims silently by electrically charging the muscles inside of the fish in an alternating fashion from one side to the other.

这样机器鱼就可以安静地游动, 由电力驱动体内的肌肉, 与之前的做法截然相反。

【38】To improve our designs, we do not rely on tedious trial and error fabrication.

为了改进我们的设计, 我们不会依赖于 枯燥的测试和反复制造故障。

【39】Instead, our software rapidly simulates and optimizes a design for performance before we have to build it.

相反,我们的软件 在我们将其投入生产前 就快速模拟、优化了性能的设计。

【40】Our approach creates a continuous design space that interpolates between existing fish designs to create new designs.

我们的方法为 既有的机器鱼设计和 新设计创作之间预留了 一块衔接连贯的设计空间。

【41】Our optimization then explores this continuous design space to come up with new and faster creatures we have not seen before.

我们的优化过程会探索 这块连贯的设计空间, 更快地创造出前所未有的新生物。

【42】Robots one day might even be made of living muscle cells.

有朝一日我们可以用 活肌细胞制造机器人。

【43】Wouldn't it be great if such a living robot would then heal itself, just like human muscles do?

如果这个“活机器人”可以自愈, 就像人类的肌肉那样,不是很好吗？

【44】I can tell you this.

我可以告诉你。

【45】Starting from muscle cells, we can already print, grow and stimulate muscles.

我们从肌细胞开始, 已经具备了打印、培养、 刺激肌肉的能力。

【46】We are now beginning to make these muscles larger, longer-lasting and controllable.

我们现在想把这些肌肉做得更大、 更持久、更可控。

【47】It’s a fascinating challenge to engineer a standalone muscle without a supporting organism that provides this muscle with an immune system.

设计制造出一块独立的肌肉, 而这块肌肉并没有 这会是一个很吸引人的挑战。

【48】These living muscles efficiently convert chemical energy that comes from nutrients into muscle contractions.

这些活肌把来自营养素的化学能量 高效地转化为肌肉收缩。

【49】Living muscles can eventually become sustainable and biodegradable machines that decrease emissions and pollution all while actually truly mimicking nature.

这样,活肌最终就会形成可持续、 可生物降解的机械, 减少碳排放和污染, 仅仅是通过真正地 模仿自然界这一过程。

【50】So all of this, what I've told you, is possible with the knowledge that researchers and engineers have today.

我刚刚介绍的所有内容, 借助研究人员和工程师 如今拥有的知识都是可能的。

【51】I believe we have to rethink every machine ever invented from a holistic perspective.

我相信我们该从一个全面的角度 重新考虑每一台 过去被研发出来的机器。

【52】We have to rethink what the machine should do and what it should not do.

我们需要重新考虑 机器该做些什么, 不该做些什么。

【53】I think we want machines that safely integrate with us, improve our quality of life.

我觉得我们希望机器 可以安全地融入我们, 提高我们的生活质量。

【54】All the while, we respect nature, and don't pollute our world with loud noises.

我们必须一直尊重自然, 不要用噪音污染我们的世界。

【55】So let's reimagine machines to take on forms we have never thought of before and discover places we have never been to before.

让我们重新想象 未曾设想过的机器形态, 探索尚未踏足之地。

【56】Thank you.

谢谢。

【57】(Applause)