In 2015, 25 teams from around the world competed to build robots for disaster response that could perform a number of tasks, such as using a power tool, working on uneven terrain and driving a car. That all sounds impressive, and it is, but look at the body of the winning robot, HUBO. Here, HUBO is trying to get out of a car, and keep in mind, the video is sped up three times.
2015 年,全世界的二十五個團隊 比賽建造災害應變機器人, 機器人必須要能做幾項工作, 比如,使用電動工具、 在不平坦的地形上工作, 以及開車。 這些聽起來都很讓人欽佩,的確, 但,看看得獎機器人 HUBO 的身體。 這裡,HUBO 在試圖下車, 別忘了, 影片已經是用三倍速播放。
(Laughter)
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HUBO, from team KAIST out of Korea, is a state-of-the-art robot with impressive capabilities, but this body doesn't look all that different from robots we've seen a few decades ago. If you look at the other robots in the competition, their movements also still look, well, very robotic. Their bodies are complex mechanical structures using rigid materials such as metal and traditional rigid electric motors. They certainly weren't designed to be low-cost, safe near people and adaptable to unpredictable challenges. We've made good progress with the brains of robots, but their bodies are still primitive.
HUBO 是韓國團隊 KAIST 打造的最先進機器人, 它的能力讓人印象深刻, 但它的身體看起來仍很像 我們幾十年前看到的機器人。 如果你們去看看 比賽中的其他機器人, 它們的動作看起來仍然, 嗯,非常像機器人。 它們的身體是複雜的機械結構, 用的是堅硬的材料, 比如金屬及傳統的剛性電動馬達。 它們的設計理念肯定不是低成本, 不是為了在人類身邊很安全, 或適應不可預測的困難。 我們對機器人的大腦有很好的進展, 但它們的身體仍然很原始。
This is my daughter Nadia. She's only five years old and she can get out of the car way faster than HUBO.
這位是我女兒娜迪雅。 她才五歲, 她下車的速度都比 HUBO 快。
(Laughter)
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She can also swing around on monkey bars with ease, much better than any current human-like robot could do. In contrast to HUBO, the human body makes extensive use of soft and deformable materials such as muscle and skin. We need a new generation of robot bodies that is inspired by the elegance, efficiency and by the soft materials of the designs found in nature. And indeed, this has become the key idea of a new field of research called soft robotics.
她還可以輕鬆在兒童 攀爬的猴架上盪來盪去, 任何人形機器人都沒她做得好。 相對於 HUBO, 人類的身體大量使用 軟性且可變形的材料, 像是肌肉和皮膚。 我們需要一種 新世代的機器人身體, 採用自然界中優雅、有效率, 以及使用軟性材料的設計。 這個想法已經成了一個 新研究領域的核心概念, 這領域叫做「軟性機器人學」。
My research group and collaborators around the world are using soft components inspired by muscle and skin to build robots with agility and dexterity that comes closer and closer to the astonishing capabilities of the organisms found in nature. I've always been particularly inspired by biological muscle. Now, that's not surprising. I'm also Austrian, and I know that I sound a bit like Arnie, the Terminator.
我的研究團隊和全世界的合作夥伴 採用的軟性元件, 靈感來自肌肉和皮膚, 用這些元件打造的機器人, 在敏捷度和靈巧度上, 會越來越接近 大自然中的有機體 所擁有的驚人能力。 生物肌肉總是特別讓我有靈感。 那並不讓人意外。 我也是奧地利人,我知道我的口音 有點像阿諾,魔鬼終結者。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Biological muscle is a true masterpiece of evolution. It can heal after damage and it's tightly integrated with sensory neurons for feedback on motion and the environment. It can contract fast enough to power the high-speed wings of a hummingbird; it can grow strong enough to move an elephant; and it's adaptable enough to be used in the extremely versatile arms of an octopus, an animal that can squeeze its entire body through tiny holes. Actuators are for robots what muscles are for animals: key components of the body that enable movement and interaction with the world. So if we could build soft actuators, or artificial muscles, that are as versatile, adaptable and could have the same performance as the real thing, we could build almost any type of robot for almost any type of use. Not surprisingly, people have tried for many decades to replicate the astonishing capabilities of muscle, but it's been really hard.
生物肌肉是演化中的真正傑作。 在受傷之後它會復元, 且它和感官神經元密切整合, 以便得到動作 和環境的回饋資訊。 肌肉可以快速收縮, 讓蜂鳥的翅膀以高速拍打; 它可以成長到非常強壯, 讓大象能夠移動; 它的適應力好到可以被用在 非常多變化的章魚觸手上, 章魚可以讓它的身體 擠壓穿過小小的洞。 機器人的促動器 就像是動物的肌肉: 是組成身體的關鍵元件, 讓身體可以移動, 和世界進行互動。 所以,如果我們能 打造出軟性促動器, 或人造肌肉, 且多變化、適應力強, 能和真實的肌肉有同樣的表現, 那麼就能打造幾乎 任何種類的機器人 , 應用在幾乎任何用途上。 不意外,數十年來人們都在嘗試 複製肌肉的驚人能力, 但這非常困難。
About 10 years ago, when I did my PhD back in Austria, my colleagues and I rediscovered what is likely one of the very first publications on artificial muscle, published in 1880. "On the shape and volume changes of dielectric bodies caused by electricity," published by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen. Most of you know him as the discoverer of the X-ray. Following his instructions, we used a pair of needles. We connected it to a high-voltage source, and we placed it near a transparent piece of rubber that was prestretched onto a plastic frame. When we switched on the voltage, the rubber deformed, and just like our biceps flexes our arm, the rubber flexed the plastic frame. It looks like magic. The needles don't even touch the rubber.
大約十年前, 當我在奧地利攻讀博士學位時, 我和我的同事重新發現了 一篇人造肌肉的文章, 可能是最早刊出的這類文章, 出版年是 1880 年。 「電力如何造成誘電性身體的 形狀和大小改變」, 作者是德國物理學家威廉倫琴。 大部分的人聽過他, 是因為他發現了 X 光。 我們遵循他的指示, 用了一對針頭。 將針頭連結到高電壓的電源, 把它放置在透明橡膠的旁邊, 它已先被拉伸並固定在塑膠框上。 當我們打開電源, 橡膠就變形了, 就像我們手臂上的 二頭肌收縮屈曲, 橡膠會讓塑膠框收縮。 很像魔術。針頭甚至 還沒有接觸到橡膠。
Now, having two such needles is not a practical way of operating artificial muscles, but this amazing experiment got me hooked on the topic. I wanted to create new ways to build artificial muscles that would work well for real-world applications. For the next years, I worked on a number of different technologies that all showed promise, but they all had remaining challenges that are hard to overcome.
用兩根這種針頭來操作人造肌肉, 並不是很實際的方法, 但這次很不可思議的實驗, 讓我迷上了這個主題。 我想要創造出新的方法, 來打造人造肌肉, 且能夠應用到真實世界上。 接下來的數年間, 我嘗試了數種不同的技術, 全都看來有希望, 但也都有一些難以克服的困難。
In 2015, when I started my own lab at CU Boulder, I wanted to try an entirely new idea. I wanted to combine the high speed and efficiency of electrically driven actuators with the versatility of soft, fluidic actuators. Therefore, I thought, maybe I can try using really old science in a new way. The diagram you see here shows an effect called Maxwell stress. When you take two metal plates and place them in a container filled with oil, and then switch on a voltage, the Maxwell stress forces the oil up in between the two plates, and that's what you see here.
2015 年, 我在科羅拉多大學波德分校 有了自己的實驗室, 我想要嘗試一個全新的點子。 我想要把電力驅動促動器的 高速度和高效率 和軟性流體促動器的 多功能性結合。 因此,我心想, 也許我可以嘗試用新的方法 來使用非常舊的科學。 這張圖上所呈現的 是所謂的馬克士威應力張量。 拿兩片金屬板, 把它們放在一個裝滿油的容器中, 接著開啟電壓, 馬克士威應力張量就會迫使油 向上跑到兩片板子中間, 像圖上這樣子。
So the key idea was, can we use this effect to push around oil contained in soft stretchy structures? And indeed, this worked surprisingly well, quite honestly, much better than I expected. Together with my outstanding team of students, we used this idea as a starting point to develop a new technology called HASEL artificial muscles. HASELs are gentle enough to pick up a raspberry without damaging it. They can expand and contract like real muscle. And they can be operated faster than the real thing. They can also be scaled up to deliver large forces. Here you see them lifting a gallon filled with water. They can be used to drive a robotic arm, and they can even self-sense their position. HASELs can be used for very precise movement, but they can also deliver very fluidic, muscle-like movement and bursts of power to shoot up a ball into the air. When submerged in oil, HASEL artificial muscles can be made invisible.
關鍵的想法是, 我們能否在軟性、 可伸縮的結構中, 利用這種效應來推動油? 的確可以,結果非常成功, 老實說,比我預期的還要好很多。 我和我一群出色的學生 用這個想法當作起始點, 來開發一種新技術, 叫做 HASEL 人造肌肉。 HASEL 很溫柔, 可以完好地拿起覆盆子, 不會損傷它。 它們可以像真實肌肉 一樣延展和收縮。 且它們動作的速度 會比真實肌肉快。 也可以把它們再強化, 來發出很大的力量。 在這裡可以看見 它們舉起一加侖的水。 它們可以用來驅動機械手臂, 它們甚至可以感覺到自己的位置。 HASEL 可以用來 做非常精準的動作, 但它們也能做出非常流暢、 類似肌肉的動作, 還能爆發出力量,將球丟向空中。 浸入油裡面之後, 就看不見 HASEL 人造肌肉了。
So how do HASEL artificial muscles work? You might be surprised. They're based on very inexpensive, easily available materials. You can even try, and I recommend it, the main principle at home. Take a few Ziploc bags and fill them with olive oil. Try to push out air bubbles as much as you can. Now take a glass plate and place it on one side of the bag. When you press down, you see the bag contract. Now the amount of contraction is easy to control. When you take a small weight, you get a small contraction. With a medium weight, we get a medium contraction. And with a large weight, you get a large contraction. Now for HASELs, the only change is to replace the force of your hand or the weight with an electrical force. HASEL stands for "hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic actuators." Here you see a geometry called Peano-HASEL actuators, one of many possible designs. Again, you take a flexible polymer such as our Ziploc bag, you fill it with an insulating liquid, such as olive oil, and now, instead of the glass plate, you place an electrical conductor on one side of the pouch. To create something that looks more like a muscle fiber, you can connect a few pouches together and attached a weight on one side. Next, we apply voltage. Now, the electric field starts acting on the liquid. It displaces the liquid, and it forces the muscle to contract. Here you see a completed Peano-HASEL actuator and how it expands and contracts when voltage is applied. Viewed from the side, you can really see those pouches take a more cylindrical shape, such as we saw with the Ziploc bags. We can also place a few such muscle fibers next to each other to create something that looks even more like a muscle that also contracts and expands in cross section. These HASELs here are lifting a weight that's about 200 times heavier than their own weight. Here you see one of our newest designs, called quadrant donut HASELs and how they expand and contract. They can be operated incredibly fast, reaching superhuman speeds. They are even powerful enough to jump off the ground.
所以,HASEL 人造肌肉怎麼運作? 你們可能會很驚訝。 它們所使用的材料 一點也不貴,且很容易取得。 我建議你們可以在家 試試主要的原理。 拿幾個密封塑膠袋,裝滿橄欖油。 盡可能把氣泡擠出去。 拿一個玻璃盤子, 放在袋子的一側。 向下壓時,你會看到袋子收縮。 收縮的大小很容易控制。 用輕的重量去壓, 就會產生些微的收縮。 用中等的重量去壓, 就會產生中等的收縮。 用重的重量去壓, 就會產生極大的收縮。 HASEL 唯一的差別 就是用電力來取代 手的力量或是重量。 HASEL 是「透過水壓來擴大的 自我治癒靜電促動器」的縮寫。 各位看到的這個幾何形狀叫做 皮亞諾-HASEL 促動器, 是許多可能的設計之一。 同樣的,可以用柔韌的聚合物, 比如密封塑膠袋, 裝滿絕緣的液體,比如橄欖油, 這次,不用玻璃盤, 改用電導體,放在袋子的一側。 創造出看起來像是 肌肉纖維的東西, 可以把幾個袋子連接在一起, 在一端加上重量。 接著,加上電壓。 電場現在開始影響到液體。 它會移開液體, 並會強迫肌肉收縮。 各位在這裡看到的是完成的 皮亞諾-HASEL 促動器, 以及在加上電壓之後 它會如何延展和收縮。 從側面看, 可以看到這些袋子的形狀 變成比較像是圓柱狀, 像剛才看到的密封塑膠袋一樣。 我們也可以把幾條 肌肉纖維排在一起, 創造出更像肌肉的東西, 能夠在橫斷面上收縮和延展。 這些 HASEL 所舉起的重量, 比它們自身的重量還要重兩百倍。 這是我們的最新設計之一, 叫做四分之一甜甜圈 HASEL, 它們在延展和收縮。 它們可以動得非常快速, 達到超人的速度。 它們甚至強到可以跳離地面。
(Laughter)
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Overall, HASELs show promise to become the first technology that matches or exceeds the performance of biological muscle while being compatible with large-scale manufacturing. This is also a very young technology. We are just getting started. We have many ideas how to drastically improve performance, using new materials and new designs to reach a level of performance beyond biological muscle and also beyond traditional rigid electric motors. Moving towards more complex designs of HASEL for bio-inspired robotics, here you see our artificial scorpion that can use its tail to hunt prey, in this case, a rubber balloon.
總的來說,HASEL 的前景看好, 很可能成為第一種能夠 匹敵或超越生物肌肉表現的技術, 且它還可以大規模生產。 這種技術還很新,我們才剛起步。 我們有很多如何 大幅改善性能的點子, 包括用新材料以及新設計, 來達到更高的性能, 超越生物肌肉,也超越 傳統的剛性電動馬達。 接著是更複雜的設計,靈感來自 生物的機器人學所用的 HASEL, 這個是我們的人造蝎子, 能用尾巴來捕食獵物, 這裡的獵物是橡皮氣球。
(Laughter)
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Going back to our initial inspiration, the versatility of octopus arms and elephant trunks, we are now able to build soft continuum actuators that come closer and closer to the capabilities of the real thing.
回到我們初始的靈感, 章魚手臂的變化性 以及大象的鼻子, 現在,我們能夠打造出 軟性連續促動器, 越來越接近真實肌肉的能力。
I am most excited about the practical applications of HASEL artificial muscles. They'll enable soft robotic devices that can improve the quality of life. Soft robotics will enable a new generation of more lifelike prosthetics for people who have lost parts of their bodies. Here you see some HASELs in my lab, early testing, driving a prosthetic finger.
最讓我感到興奮的是 HASEL 人造肌肉的實際應用。 有了它,就可以做出 能夠改善生活品質的 軟性機器人裝置。 軟性機器人學讓更逼真的 新世代義肢成為可能, 能用來協助失去某些身體部位的人。 這是我實驗室中的 HASEL, 早期的測試,驅動的是義肢手指。
One day, we may even merge our bodies with robotic parts. I know that sounds very scary at first. But when I think about my grandparents and the way they become more dependent on others to perform simple everyday tasks such as using the restroom alone, they often feel like they're becoming a burden. With soft robotics, we will be able to enhance and restore agility and dexterity, and thereby help older people maintain autonomy for longer parts of their lives. Maybe we can call that "robotics for antiaging" or even a next stage of human evolution. Unlike their traditional rigid counterparts, soft life-like robots will safely operate near people and help us at home.
將來,我們甚至可以 將我們的身體和機器部位結合。 我知道一開始聽起來是挺可怕的。 但,當我想到我的祖父母, 想到他們變得越來越依賴其他人, 即使簡單的日常小事也要別人幫忙, 比如他們無法獨自上廁所, 他們總覺得自己成為別人的負擔。 有了軟性機器人學, 我們將可以強化和恢復 敏捷度和靈巧度, 這麼一來,就可以協助老人 在人生中保有更長時間的自主能力。 也許我們可以稱之為 「抗老化機器人學」, 或甚至人類演化的下一階段。 和傳統僵硬的機器人不同, 軟性逼真的機器人能夠 在人類周圍安全地運作, 並在家中協助人類。
Soft robotics is a very young field. We're just getting started. I hope that many young people from many different backgrounds join us on this exciting journey and help shape the future of robotics by introducing new concepts inspired by nature. If we do this right, we can improve the quality of life for all of us.
軟性機器人學還是個很新的領域。 我們才剛起步。 我希望許多不同背景的年輕人 能加入這趟讓人興奮的旅程, 利用來自大自然的靈感, 帶入新觀念,協助塑造 機器人學的未來。 如果我們能把這件事做對, 就能改善生活的品質,造福眾人。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)