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SarahBergbreiter_2014Y-_我为什么要制造米粒大小的机器人_
My students and I work on very tiny robots. 我和我的学生研究非常小的机器人。
Now, you can think of these as robotic versions of something that you're all very familiar with: an ant. 你可以把它想象成 某种我们很熟悉的东西:蚂蚁,它的机器人版本。
robotic:adj.机器人的,像机器人的;自动的;n.机器人学; familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友;
We all know that ants and other insects at this size scale can do some pretty incredible things. 我们都知道,蚂蚁和其他类似大小的昆虫 能做一些非常不可思议的事情。
scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢; incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的;
We've all seen a group of ants, or some version of that, carting off your potato chip at a picnic, for example. 比如,一群蚂蚁,或一群其他昆虫, 会在你聚餐时扛起薯片扬长而去,我们对此都不会陌生。
carting:n.马车运输;运出;v.载运(cart的ing形式); potato chip:n.[食]薯片;
But what are the real challenges of engineering these ants? 但是,开发这种蚂蚁大小的机器人真正的困难是什么呢？
engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词)
Well, first of all , how do we get the capabilities of an ant in a robot at the same size scale? 首先,如何让这么小的机器人 具有蚂蚁般的功能呢？
first of all:adv.首先;
Well, first we need to figure out how to make them move when they're so small. 首先,我们需要研究如何 让这么小的机器人动起来。
We need mechanisms like legs and efficient motors in order to support that locomotion , and we need the sensors , power and control in order to pull everything together in a semi-intelligent ant robot. 我们需要腿一般的结构,配以高效的马达, 让机器人动起来, 而且,我们需要感应器、动力源和控制系统, 这一切都要在蚂蚁大小的半智能机器人内部整合起来。
mechanisms:n.机制;[机]机构(mechanism的复数);机械;[机]机构学; efficient:adj.有效率的;有能力的;生效的; locomotion:n.运动;移动;旅行; sensors:n.[自]传感器,感应器;感测器(sensor的复数);
And finally , to make these things really functional , we want a lot of them working together in order to do bigger things. 最后,让这一切真正发挥作用, 我们希望大量的机器人协作,来完成一些更重要的任务。
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地; functional:adj.功能的;
So I'll start with mobility . 我们先来谈移动吧。
mobility:n.移动性;机动性;[电子]迁移率;
Insects move around amazingly well. 昆虫的移动能力惊人得高。
move around:v.走来走去;绕着…来回转;
This video is from UC Berkeley. 这段视频来自加州大学伯克利分校,
It shows a cockroach moving over incredibly rough terrain without tipping over, and it's able to do this because its legs are a combination of rigid materials, which is what we traditionally use to make robots, and soft materials. 视频中,一个蟑螂在障碍中穿梭, 丝毫不受阻碍, 这么强的移动能力得益于它们的腿部结构, 其腿部既有我们通常用来制造机器人的坚硬的材料, 也有柔软的材料。
cockroach:n.蟑螂 incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地; terrain:n.[地理]地形,地势;领域;地带; tipping:n.倾卸台;adj.倾翻的;倾卸的;v.使倾斜;轻拍;踮起脚走(tip的现在分词); combination:n.结合;组合;联合;[化学]化合; rigid:adj.严格的;僵硬的,死板的;坚硬的;精确的; traditionally:adv.传统上;习惯上;传说上;
Jumping is another really interesting way to get around when you're very small. 对于昆虫这么小的躯体,跳跃是另一个有趣的移动方式。
get around:到处走走;逃避;说服;传开来(等于getround);有办法应付;有办法应付局面;
So these insects store energy in a spring and release that really quickly to get the high power they need to jump out of water, for example. 比如,这些昆虫存储在弹簧般的腿中的能量在跳跃的瞬间 会被急速释放出来,使它们得以从水中跳出来。
release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与;
So one of the big contributions from my lab has been to combine rigid and soft materials in very, very small mechanisms. 我们实验室的一大贡献是结合 硬质材料和软质材料, 制成非常小的结构部件。
contributions:n.捐款;捐资;定期缴款;贡献;促成作用;(contribution的复数)
So this jumping mechanism is about four millimeters on a side, so really tiny. 这个跳跃部件每边只有大约4毫米, 确实很小。
millimeters:n.毫米;(millimeter的复数)
The hard material here is silicon, and the soft material is silicone rubber . 我们选用的硬质材料是硅,软质材料是硅橡胶。
silicone:n.硅树脂;[口腔]硅酮; rubber:n.橡胶;橡皮;v.涂橡胶于…;
And the basic idea is that we're going to compress this, store energy in the springs, and then release it to jump. 基本的设计思路是先将其压缩, 将能量存储于弹簧中,释放出来实现跳跃功能。
compress:vi.受压缩小;vt.压缩,压紧;精简;
So there's no motors on board this right now, no power. 至此,机器人身上还没有马达也没有动力源。
This is actuated with a method that we call in my lab "graduate student with tweezers ." (Laughter) 我们实验室称此驱动机器人移动的方法为 「手持镊子的研究生」。（笑声）
actuated:adj.开动的;动作的;v.驱动;激励(actuate的过去分词形式);使运转; tweezers:n.镊子;小钳子(tweezer的复数形式);
So what you'll see in the next video is this guy doing amazingly well for its jumps. 下一段视频中,你们将看到 这个同学是多么擅长操控其跳跃。
So this is Aaron, the graduate student in question, with the tweezers, and what you see is this four-millimeter-sized mechanism jumping almost 40 centimeters high. 这是Aaron,刚才提到的那位研究生同学,他手持镊子, 你们看到的是一个4毫米大小的机器人 跳到40厘米那么高,
centimeters:n.[计量]厘米(centimeter的复数);
That's almost 100 times its own length. 这个高度几乎是其自身高度的100倍,
And it survives, bounces on the table, it's incredibly robust , and of course survives quite well until we lose it because it's very tiny. 掉下来,继续在桌子上跳跃, 异常「强健」,跳个不停,直到消失在我们视野之外, 因为它太小了。
robust:adj.强健的;健康的;粗野的;粗鲁的;
Ultimately , though, we want to add motors to this too, and we have students in the lab working on millimeter-sized motors to eventually integrate onto small, autonomous robots. 然而,最后我们还是想给它加上马达, 我们实验室研究微型马达同学 最终把毫米级别的马达嵌入这个微小的机器人中。
Ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究; eventually:adv.最后,终于; integrate:v.成为一体;(使)加入;adj.完全的; autonomous:adj.自治的;自主的;自发的;
But in order to look at mobility and locomotion at this size scale to start, we're cheating and using magnets . 但为了观察这个尺寸下的移动和运动能力, 我们“作弊”使用了磁铁。
magnets:n.磁铁;磁石;吸铁石;有吸引力的人(或地方、事物);(magnet的复数)
So this shows what would eventually be part of a micro-robot leg, and you can see the silicone rubber joints and there's an embedded magnet that's being moved around by an external magnetic field . 这段视频展示的就是最终要成为机器人的腿的部件, 你们可以看到,硅橡胶的接合点那儿 嵌入了一块磁铁,外部的磁场驱动 这个部件移动。
joints:n.关节; v.接合,联合; (joint的第三人称单数和复数) embedded:adj.嵌入式的;植入的;内含的;v.嵌入(embed的过去式和过去分词形式); external:n.外部;外观;形式;外部情况;adj.外部的;外面的;外界的;外来的; magnetic field:磁场;
So this leads to the robot that I showed you earlier. 顺着这个思路和方法,我们就制成了之前为你们展示的机器人。
The really interesting thing that this robot can help us figure out is how insects move at this scale. 这个小机器人让我们明白的最有趣的事情是 这么大小的昆虫的移动方式。
We have a really good model for how everything from a cockroach up to an elephant moves. 小至蟑螂,大至大象,我们都有非常好的模型 来解释其移动方式。
We all move in this kind of bouncy way when we run. 我们都是以这种弹跃的方式来跑动。
bouncy:adj.有弹性的;快活的;精神饱满的;自大的;
But when I'm really small, the forces between my feet and the ground are going to affect my locomotion a lot more than my mass , which is what causes that bouncy motion. 但当我非常小时,我的脚和地面之间的力对我移动的影响 要远大于我的重量对我移动的影响, 而这正是弹跃式移动的原因。
mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集;
So this guy doesn't work quite yet, but we do have slightly larger versions that do run around . 毫米级别的机器人的移动能力还不完善, 但我们也有稍微大一点的能够四处跑动的机器人,
slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地; run around:n.遁词;借口;
So this is about a centimeter cubed , a centimeter on a side, so very tiny, and we've gotten this to run about 10 body lengths per second, so 10 centimeters per second. 这个东西的体积大约是1立方厘米,每边长度1厘米,依然很小, 我们能让它每秒钟移动10倍其自身长度, 也就是每秒钟10厘米,
cubed:v.立方(cube的过去分词);
It's pretty quick for a little, small guy, and that's really only limited by our test setup. 这对于这么小的家伙来说是很快了, 而这还受我们的实验设施所限,
limited:adj.有限的; n.高级快车; v.限制; (limit的过去分词和过去式)
But this gives you some idea of how it works right now. 但你现在大概了解它的机制了。
We can also make 3D-printed versions of this that can climb over obstacles , a lot like the cockroach that you saw earlier. 我们也可以利用3D打印技术打印出这种能躲避障碍的机器人, 很像你们之前看到的蟑螂。
obstacles:n.障碍;障碍物;阻碍;(obstacle的复数形式)
But ultimately we want to add everything onboard the robot. 我们的最终目标是把一切都嵌入机器人内,
onboard:adv.在船上;在飞机上;在板上;adj.随车携带的;
We want sensing, power, control, actuation all together, and not everything needs to be bio-inspired . 我们想把感应器、动力源、控制系统和触发机构融合在一起, 另外,并不是所有部件都需要是仿生的。
actuation:n.冲动,驱使;刺激;行动; bio-inspired:生物启发;仿生学;仿生物智慧;
So this robot's about the size of a Tic Tac. 这个机器人的体积如一颗嘀嗒糖（很小的薄荷糖）,
And in this case, instead of magnets or muscles to move this around, we use rockets. 我们没有用磁铁或肌肉来实现其运动, 而是利用动力引擎。
muscles:n.肌肉(muscle的复数);
So this is a micro-fabricated energetic material, and we can create tiny pixels of this, and we can put one of these pixels on the belly of this robot, and this robot, then, is going to jump when it senses an increase in light. 这是一个微型动力驱动装置, 我们能为其制作出小的像素点, 并安置在机器人的腹部。 感知到光线强度增加后,这个机器人会跳跃。
energetic:adj.精力充沛的;充满活力的;需要能量的;积极的; pixels:n.像素(组成屏幕图像的最小独立元素);(pixel的复数) belly:n.腹部;胃;食欲;v.涨满;鼓起;
So the next video is one of my favorites. 下一段视频是我的最爱。
So you have this 300-milligram robot jumping about eight centimeters in the air. 300毫克的机器人 跳到8厘米那么高,
It's only four by four by seven millimeters in size. 其三边的尺寸分别只有4毫米、4毫米、7毫米。
And you'll see a big flash at the beginning when the energetic is set off, and the robot tumbling through the air. 在最开始触发其运动时, 你会看到一束光闪过, 这个机器人在空中腾越。
flash:n.闪光; v.闪光; adj.庞大的; at the beginning:首先;从一开始;起初;从头开始; tumbling:v.(使)跌倒;倒塌;(价格或数量)暴跌;(tumble的现在分词)
So there was that big flash, and you can see the robot jumping up through the air. 这就是那束强光, 你能看到那个小机器人在空中跳跃。
So there's no tethers on this, no wires connecting to this. 机器人身上并没栓什么,也没有电线连着它。
tethers:n.范围;系链;拴绳;vt.用绳或链拴住;
Everything is onboard, and it jumped in response to the student just flicking on a desk lamp next to it. 一个同学只是打开了机器人旁边的台灯, 它就会随之跳动。
in response to:响应;回答;对…有反应; flicking:v.轻击;(使)突然快速移动;向…笑了一下;(flick的现在分词) desk lamp:桌灯,台灯;
So I think you can imagine all the cool things that we could do with robots that can run and crawl and jump and roll at this size scale. 我想,你能想象到这么大小的能跑能爬能跳能滚的 机器人所能做的很酷的事情吧。
crawl:v.爬;匍匐行进;(昆虫)爬行;缓慢行进;n.爬泳;缓慢的速度;自由泳;
Imagine the rubble that you get after a natural disaster like an earthquake. 想象一下地震等自然灾害过后,断壁残垣,
rubble:n.碎石,碎砖;粗石堆; disaster:n.灾难,灾祸;不幸;
Imagine these small robots running through that rubble to look for survivors. 这些小机器人穿梭在废墟中 寻找生还者的画面。
Or imagine a lot of small robots running around a bridge in order to inspect it and make sure it's safe so you don't get collapses like this, which happened outside of Minneapolis in 2007. 或者想象一下,一群小机器人在桥梁上奔跑, 检查桥梁的稳定性,确保其安全, 不会发生类似 2007年明尼阿波里斯市外的断桥惨剧。
inspect:v.检查;视察;查看;审视; collapses:v.(突然)倒塌,坍塌;昏倒;坐下;(collapse的第三人称单数) Minneapolis:n.明尼阿波里斯市(美国一座城市);
Or just imagine what you could do if you had robots that could swim through your blood. 或者,想象一下当小机器人能在你的血液中游动, 你能用它来做什么吧,
Right? " Fantastic Voyage ," Isaac Asimov. 「神奇旅程」,艾萨克?阿西莫夫说。
Fantastic:奇异的,空想的 Voyage:v.航行;远行;(尤指)远航;n.航行;(尤指)航海;
Or they could operate without having to cut you open in the first place . 也许医生不需要开刀就能给您做手术。
in the first place:首先;起初;
Or we could radically change the way we build things if we have our tiny robots work the same way that termites do, and they build these incredible eight-meter-high mounds , 另外,如果我们能让机器人实现白蚁的能力, 我们可以从根本上改变筑房的方式。 图片中的八米高度土堆就是白蚁筑成的,真不可思议,
radically:adv.根本上;彻底地;以激进的方式; termites:n.白蚁;(termite的复数) mounds:n.小丘;小山岗;一堆;许多;大量;(mound的复数)
effectively well ventilated apartment buildings for other termites in Africa and Australia. 对于非洲和澳大利亚的白蚁来说, 这是透气性极好的住所。
ventilated:adj.通风的;v.发表;使…通风(ventilate的过去分词);
So I think I've given you some of the possibilities of what we can do with these small robots. 我想,我已经给你们列举了 很多小机器人的应用前景,
And we've made some advances so far, but there's still a long way to go, and hopefully some of you can contribute to that destination. 目前我们已经取得了一些进展,但仍然有很长的路要走, 希望你们可以为实现这个目标而做出贡献。
contribute to:有助于;捐献;
Thanks very much. 非常感谢。
(Applause) （掌声）