The incredible potential of flexible, soft robots | Giada Gerboni

213,514 views ・ 2018-07-05

TED


请双击下面的英文字幕来播放视频。

翻译人员: Yan Gao 校对人员: Bighead Ge
00:13
So, robots.
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说到机器人。
00:15
Robots can be programmed
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机器人可被编程进行
00:16
to do the same task millions of times with minimal error,
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数百万次的重复任务,而几乎不出错,
00:20
something very difficult for us, right?
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这对我们来说很难做到,对吧?
00:23
And it can be very impressive to watch them at work.
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工作中的机器人很迷人。
00:26
Look at them.
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看看它们。
00:27
I could watch them for hours.
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我可以盯着看几个小时。
00:30
No?
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没有这种感觉吗?
00:31
What is less impressive
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不那么迷人的是,
00:33
is that if you take these robots out of the factories,
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如果这些机器人离开工厂,
00:36
where the environments are not perfectly known and measured like here,
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进入一个不同的环境,不像 在工厂这样进行过精确的了解和测量,
00:41
to do even a simple task which doesn't require much precision,
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去完成一项不需要什么 精度的简单任务,
00:45
this is what can happen.
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结果可能是这样的——
00:46
I mean, opening a door, you don't require much precision.
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我是说,就开个门, 不用考虑什么精度。
00:49
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
00:50
Or a small error in the measurements,
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或者测量数据里有个小误差,
00:53
he misses the valve, and that's it --
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它错过了阀门,就这样了——
00:55
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
00:56
with no way of recovering, most of the time.
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多数情况下,根本无法恢复。
00:59
So why is that?
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这是为什么呢?
01:01
Well, for many years,
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多年来,
01:03
robots have been designed to emphasize speed and precision,
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机器人的设计一直 在强调速度和精度,
01:06
and this translates into a very specific architecture.
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这已经演变成了 一种非常特定的构架。
01:09
If you take a robot arm,
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如果观察一个机器臂,
01:10
it's a very well-defined set of rigid links
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它是一组精准设计的刚性连杆,
01:13
and motors, what we call actuators,
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还有马达,也叫致动器,
01:15
they move the links about the joints.
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马达让连杆绕着关节移动。
01:17
In this robotic structure,
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在这种机器人结构中,
01:18
you have to perfectly measure your environment,
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你必须完美地测量工作环境,
01:20
so what is around,
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了解周围环境里有什么,
01:22
and you have to perfectly program every movement
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还要对机器关节的每一个运动
01:25
of the robot joints,
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完美地编程,
01:27
because a small error can generate a very large fault,
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因为一个小误差就会 产生非常大的故障,
01:30
so you can damage something or you can get your robot damaged
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会损坏别的东西,或者 如果别的东西比机器人硬,
01:33
if something is harder.
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就会损坏你的机器人。
01:36
So let's talk about them a moment.
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那么我们来说说这些机器人。
01:38
And don't think about the brains of these robots
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不要去想这些机器人的大脑,
01:41
or how carefully we program them,
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也不要想我们对它们的 编程有多仔细,
01:44
but rather look at their bodies.
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仅仅观察一下它们的身体。
01:46
There is obviously something wrong with it,
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其中显然存在一些问题,
01:49
because what makes a robot precise and strong
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因为使机器人精确并强壮的东西,
01:52
also makes them ridiculously dangerous and ineffective in the real world,
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同时也让它们在现实世界中 变得极度危险且低效,
01:57
because their body cannot deform
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因为它们的身体不能变形,
也不能更好地适应 与真实环境的交互。
01:59
or better adjust to the interaction with the real world.
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02:03
So think about the opposite approach,
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那么,不妨设想一种 截然相反的方式,
02:06
being softer than anything else around you.
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让它比周围的所有东西都软。
02:09
Well, maybe you think that you're not really able to do anything if you're soft,
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也许你觉得,如果它很柔软 就什么都干不了,
02:14
probably.
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这似乎有点道理。
02:16
Well, nature teaches us the opposite.
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但大自然的说法则相反。
例如,在海底,
02:19
For example, at the bottom of the ocean,
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数千磅的静水压下,
02:21
under thousands of pounds of hydrostatic pressure,
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02:23
a completely soft animal
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一只周身柔软的动物
02:25
can move and interact with a much stiffer object than him.
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可以移动比它硬得多的物体, 并与之相互作用。
02:29
He walks by carrying around this coconut shell
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它带着这个椰子壳到处走,
02:32
thanks to the flexibility of his tentacles,
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就因为触角是柔软的,
02:35
which serve as both his feet and hands.
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触角既是脚也是手。
02:38
And apparently, an octopus can also open a jar.
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显然,章鱼还能打开罐子。
02:43
It's pretty impressive, right?
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很神奇,对吧?
02:47
But clearly, this is not enabled just by the brain of this animal,
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但是,这样的行为不仅仅是由 这种动物的大脑实现的,
02:52
but also by his body,
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也是由它的身体实现的,
02:54
and it's a clear example, maybe the clearest example,
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这是一个明显的例子, 也许是最明显的例子,
02:58
of embodied intelligence,
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体现了嵌入式智能,
03:00
which is a kind of intelligence that all living organisms have.
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这是所有生物都有的一种智能。
03:03
We all have that.
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我们也都有。
03:05
Our body, its shape, material and structure,
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我们的身体,它的 形状、质地和结构,
是躯体活动的基础,
03:09
plays a fundamental role during a physical task,
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03:12
because we can conform to our environment
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我们能主动适应环境,
03:17
so we can succeed in a large variety of situations
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所以能在各种各样的 状况下完成任务,
03:20
without much planning or calculations ahead.
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而不必事先做很多计划或计算。
03:23
So why don't we put some of this embodied intelligence
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那么为什么不把某些嵌入式智能
03:26
into our robotic machines,
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应用到机器人中,
03:27
to release them from relying on excessive work
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让它们摆脱对计算和感知的
03:30
on computation and sensing?
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过度依赖呢?
03:33
Well, to do that, we can follow the strategy of nature,
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要实现这一点, 我们可以遵循自然法则,
03:35
because with evolution, she's done a pretty good job
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因为大自然已经通过进化 设计出了非常好的
03:38
in designing machines for environment interaction.
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与环境相互作用的机体。
03:42
And it's easy to notice that nature uses soft material frequently
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很容易注意到,大自然 经常使用柔软的材料,
03:47
and stiff material sparingly.
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而很少使用坚硬的材料。
03:49
And this is what is done in this new field of robotics,
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这就是这个新领域, 或机器人领域所实现的,
03:53
which is called "soft robotics,"
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叫做“柔性机器人学”,
03:55
in which the main objective is not to make super-precise machines,
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它的主要目的不是制造超精密机器,
03:59
because we've already got them,
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因为我们已经有这种机器了,
04:01
but to make robots able to face unexpected situations in the real world,
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而是要让机器人能够面对 真实环境中的意外情况,
04:06
so able to go out there.
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从而能够进入真实环境。
04:08
And what makes a robot soft is first of all its compliant body,
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机器人之所以柔软, 首先是因为它的柔性躯干,
04:11
which is made of materials or structures that can undergo very large deformations,
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它由可以承受很大变形的 材料或结构制成,
04:17
so no more rigid links,
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不再用刚性的连杆,
04:19
and secondly, to move them, we use what we call distributed actuation,
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其次,为了让它们移动, 我们使用分布式驱动,
04:22
so we have to control continuously the shape of this very deformable body,
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我们必须持续控制这个 非常易变形的躯干的形状,
04:27
which has the effect of having a lot of links and joints,
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它的效果就像 有很多个连杆和关节,
但却根本没有任何刚性结构。
04:31
but we don't have any stiff structure at all.
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04:33
So you can imagine that building a soft robot is a very different process
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可以想象,造一个 柔性机器人的过程
与构造刚性机器人非常不同,
04:37
than stiff robotics, where you have links, gears, screws
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后者需要用特定方法 去组装连杆、齿轮和螺钉。
04:40
that you must combine in a very defined way.
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04:42
In soft robots, you just build your actuator from scratch
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而对于软体机器人, 大多数情况下,
只需要从头构建致动器,
04:46
most of the time,
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04:47
but you shape your flexible material
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将柔性材料塑造成
04:50
to the form that responds to a certain input.
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对特定输入做出响应的形式。
04:53
For example, here, you can just deform a structure
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例如让这个结构发生形变,
04:55
doing a fairly complex shape
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如果想用刚性连杆和关节,
需要相当复杂的形状去实现,
04:58
if you think about doing the same with rigid links and joints,
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05:01
and here, what you use is just one input,
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而这里使用的只是一个输入值,
05:03
such as air pressure.
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比如大气压。
05:05
OK, but let's see some cool examples of soft robots.
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好的,我们来看几个 很酷的柔性机器人吧。
05:09
Here is a little cute guy developed at Harvard University,
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这个是哈佛大学研发的 一个可爱的小家伙,
05:14
and he walks thanks to waves of pressure applied along its body,
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他靠着沿身体施加的压力波走路,
05:18
and thanks to the flexibility, he can also sneak under a low bridge,
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由于是柔性的, 他可以从矮桥下溜过,
05:22
keep walking,
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再继续走,
05:23
and then keep walking a little bit different afterwards.
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然后稍微变换姿势继续走。
05:27
And it's a very preliminary prototype,
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这是最初的原始模型,
05:29
but they also built a more robust version with power on board
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他们还构建了更强大的版本, 搭载了动力,
05:33
that can actually be sent out in the world and face real-world interactions
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该版本可以与外部真实的环境的互动,
05:38
like a car passing it over it ...
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比如一辆车在它身上碾过...
05:42
and keep working.
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还能继续工作呢。
05:44
It's cute.
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太可爱了。
05:45
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
05:46
Or a robotic fish, which swims like a real fish does in water
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还有机器鱼,它能像 真鱼一样在水中游动,
05:50
simply because it has a soft tail with distributed actuation
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因为它有一个柔软的尾巴,
05:53
using still air pressure.
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同样利用了气压进行分布式驱动。
05:55
That was from MIT,
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那是麻省理工学院的作品,
05:57
and of course, we have a robotic octopus.
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当然,还有机器章鱼。
06:00
This was actually one of the first projects
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它实际上是柔性机器人学
06:02
developed in this new field of soft robots.
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这一新领域开发的首批项目之一。
06:04
Here, you see the artificial tentacle,
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你看到的是人造触须,
其实整个机器都是用几根触须打造的,
06:06
but they actually built an entire machine with several tentacles
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把机器扔进水里,
06:11
they could just throw in the water,
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06:13
and you see that it can kind of go around and do submarine exploration
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可以看到它到处走, 探索海底世界,
06:17
in a different way than rigid robots would do.
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它的行为方式与硬机器人很不一样。
06:21
But this is very important for delicate environments, such as coral reefs.
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这对于珊瑚礁等脆弱的环境非常重要。
06:24
Let's go back to the ground.
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让我们回到陆地。
06:26
Here, you see the view
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你看到的这个画面是
06:27
from a growing robot developed by my colleagues in Stanford.
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我的斯坦福同事开发的 正在成长的机器人。
06:31
You see the camera fixed on top.
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相机固定在上面。
06:33
And this robot is particular,
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这个机器人很特别,
06:35
because using air pressure, it grows from the tip,
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因为利用气压,它从顶端生长,
06:37
while the rest of the body stays in firm contact with the environment.
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而身体的其他部分 与环境保持紧密接触。
06:41
And this is inspired by plants, not animals,
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这是受到植物的启发,不是动物,
06:44
which grows via the material in a similar manner
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它们以相似的方式 传过环境中的障碍不断生长,
06:47
so it can face a pretty large variety of situations.
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因此可以面对多种多样的情况。
06:51
But I'm a biomedical engineer,
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我是一名生物医学工程师,
06:52
and perhaps the application I like the most
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也许我最热衷的应用
是在医学领域,
06:55
is in the medical field,
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06:56
and it's very difficult to imagine a closer interaction with the human body
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我能想到的与人体近距离互动方式
07:01
than actually going inside the body,
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应该就是实际进入身体内部了,
07:03
for example, to perform a minimally invasive procedure.
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例如微创手术。
07:06
And here, robots can be very helpful with the surgeon,
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在这方面,机器人对 外科医生的帮助很大,
07:10
because they must enter the body
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因为他们要进入人体 实施手术,就必须
07:12
using small holes and straight instruments,
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利用很小的开口和平直的器械,
07:14
and these instruments must interact with very delicate structures
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这些器械必须与 非常精细的结构相互作用,
07:18
in a very uncertain environment,
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在非常不确定的环境中,
07:20
and this must be done safely.
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并且必须保证安全。
07:22
Also bringing the camera inside the body,
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另外,要把相机带入体内,
07:24
so bringing the eyes of the surgeon inside the surgical field
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让医生看到手术区域内部,
07:27
can be very challenging if you use a rigid stick,
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如果用硬的器械, 比如传统的内窥镜,
07:30
like a classic endoscope.
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是非常有挑战性的。
07:32
With my previous research group in Europe,
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我曾与欧洲的研究小组一起,
07:35
we developed this soft camera robot for surgery,
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开发了这种手术用 自摄像柔性机器人,
07:37
which is very different from a classic endoscope,
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它与传统内窥镜非常不同,
07:41
which can move thanks to the flexibility of the module
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能利用组件的柔性来移动,
07:44
that can bend in every direction and also elongate.
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该组件可以向各个方向 弯曲,也可以伸长。
07:49
And this was actually used by surgeons to see what they were doing
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外科医生实际上已经 在用它从不同视角
07:52
with other instruments from different points of view,
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观察自己对其它器械的操作,
07:55
without caring that much about what was touched around.
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而不用太担心碰到周围的东西。
07:59
And here you see the soft robot in action,
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这里可以看到操作中的柔性机器人,
它就这么进去了。
08:03
and it just goes inside.
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08:05
This is a body simulator, not a real human body.
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这是人体模拟器, 不是真正的人体。
08:09
It goes around.
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它可以四处移动,
08:10
You have a light, because usually,
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还能提供光照,因为通常
身体里通常没什么光亮。
08:12
you don't have too many lights inside your body.
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08:15
We hope.
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最好别有。
08:16
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
08:19
But sometimes, a surgical procedure can even be done using a single needle,
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有时,外科手术甚至 只用一根针就能完成,
目前我们正在斯坦福研究 一种非常灵活的针,
08:24
and in Stanford now, we are working on a very flexible needle,
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08:28
kind of a very tiny soft robot
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是一种非常微小的柔性机器人,
08:30
which is mechanically designed to use the interaction with the tissues
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它的机械结构被设计成能够 利用与组织的相互作用,
08:34
and steer around inside a solid organ.
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在实体脏器内来回移动。
08:36
This makes it possible to reach many different targets, such as tumors,
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这让我们有可能到达 实体脏器内部深处的
08:40
deep inside a solid organ
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许多不同组织,例如肿瘤,
08:42
by using one single insertion point.
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而且只需要使用单个切入点。
08:44
And you can even steer around the structure that you want to avoid
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你甚至可以在通往目标组织的路线上
08:48
on the way to the target.
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绕过想要避开的结构。
08:51
So clearly, this is a pretty exciting time for robotics.
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显然,对于机器人技术来说, 这是一个非常激动人心的时刻。
08:54
We have robots that have to deal with soft structures,
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我们有了柔性结构的机器人,
08:57
so this poses new and very challenging questions
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这对机器人界提出了
新的、非常有挑战的问题,
09:00
for the robotics community,
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09:01
and indeed, we are just starting to learn how to control,
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事实上,我们刚刚开始 学习如何控制,
09:04
how to put sensors on these very flexible structures.
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如何在这些非常灵活的 结构上放置传感器。
09:07
But of course, we are not even close to what nature figured out
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当然,对于大自然在数百万年的 进化中创造的奇迹,
09:10
in millions of years of evolution.
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我们的发现根本不值一提。
09:12
But one thing I know for sure:
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但有一点我可以肯定:
09:14
robots will be softer and safer,
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机器人将变得更加柔软和安全,
09:17
and they will be out there helping people.
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它们将在现实生活中 为人类提供帮助。
09:20
Thank you.
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谢谢。
09:21
(Applause)
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(掌声)
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