Josh Giegel: Super speed, magnetic levitation and the vision behind the hyperloop | TED

譯者: Wilde Luo 審譯者: Helen Chang

Imagine you're planning a trip up the coast,

請想像一下您正在計劃去海邊旅行，

but instead of driving,

但是並不是自己開車去，

you decide to hop into a vehicle shaped like a giant aluminum can.

您決定跳進某種交通工具裏面， 它的外形像一個巨大的鋁罐。

Your heart pounds as you strap yourself in.

當您繫好安全帶，您的心臟砰砰直跳。

The air is stagnant.

空氣凝滯了。

Beads of sweat are pooling on your brow as you prepare to launch.

當您準備出發時 您的眉頭上冒出了汗珠。

The vehicle starts to move.

這種交通工具開始行駛了。

Before you know it, you're going 500 miles per hour.

當您回過神來的時候，您已經在以 每小時 800 公里的速度行駛。

You hope that the people in control know what they're doing.

您祈禱相關的工作人員能夠 為此神智清醒地工作。

Turns out that's just your average airplane experience.

最後，這只不過是您普通的乘機體驗。

And 118 years ago,

118 年前，

before the Wright brothers' first flight,

萊特兄弟的首次飛行之前，

the thought of humans flying was inconceivable -- crazy, even.

「人類能飛行」的想法是難以置信的， 甚至充滿瘋狂。

Yet today, we get into a plane, 30,000 feet above the ground,

然而今天，我們進入飛機， 離地面 9 千米，

and think nothing of it.

卻習以為常。

A year after the Wright brothers' historic first flight,

在萊特兄弟劃時代的 首次飛行的一年之後，

another inventor, an American physicist called Robert Goddard,

另一名發明家， 美國物理學家 Robert Goddard，

proposed an entirely new form of transportation:

提出了一種全新的交通方式：

the vactrain.

真空管道高速列車。

He envisioned a high-speed mass transit system

他設想了一種高速的大眾運輸系統，

where people would travel on the ground,

人們在地面上，

with little to no air resistance,

幾乎沒有空氣阻力地

inside of a tube.

在管道裏面旅行，

And today, these are some of the earliest renderings

如今，這些就是對我們稱之為 「超迴路列車（hyperloop）」的

of what we call a hyperloop.

一些最初描述。

So for those of you unfamiliar with the hyperloop,

對那些不熟悉超迴路列車的觀眾來說，

this is the chance we get to geek out together a bit.

這次講演是我們熱衷於此的一個機會。

So hyperloop is a transit system that has a vehicle called a pod

超迴路列車是一種運輸系統，

它包含一個叫做客艙 （pod）的交通工具，

inside of a tube about the same size as a subway tunnel,

在一個與地鐵隧道 相同大小的管道裏面行駛。

where we suck most, but not all of the air out of it,

我們抽走管道中的大部分空氣，

making it the equivalent of flying at about 200,000 feet of altitude.

這與在 6 萬米高空飛行的環境相同。

This allows us to glide at airline speeds,

這樣就允許我們以飛機的速度滑行，

without turbulence,

不受高空中氣流波動的影響。

for a fraction of the energy consumption,

並且消耗的能量很少，

about one tenth, to be precise, of an aircraft.

是飛機的十分之一。

And that's important,

這很重要，

because we, as humans, have an innate need for speed.

因為我們作為人類， 對速度有一種天生的需求。

But this obsession with speed and volume is destroying the planet around us.

但是這種對速度和容量的癡迷 正在摧毀我們的地球。

In fact, in the United States,

事實上，在美國，

the transportation industry is the single largest contributor

交通運輸業是溫室氣體排放的 最大源頭。

to greenhouse gas emissions.

A hyperloop system can begin to change this trend

超迴路列車系統能夠在2030年之前

before the end of the decade,

改變這種趨勢：

by transforming short-haul journeys and commutes

通過它，數小時的短途旅行和通勤

from hours to minutes.

只需要數分鐘。

Our system is inspiring a new category of companies

我們的系統正鼓舞著 一種全新類型的公司，

dedicated to bringing this to life.

它們致力於讓這個系統成為現實。

But it's going to take more than just vision.

但是，我們需要的遠不只是設想。

History's full of ideas that have flopped and flourished,

歷史中誕生過無數的想法， 有的失敗，有的成功，

and this one’s just too important for us not to get right.

但是目前這個設想實在太過重要， 容不得我們失誤。

So I am an engineer,

我是一名工程師，

and I am insatiably curious and always love a good problem.

我總是充滿好奇心， 並且喜歡面對挑戰。

So in 2013, when Elon Musk released the "Hyperloop Alpha" white paper,

在 2013 年，當 Elon Musk 發佈了 「Hyperloop Alpha」白皮書，

of course, I was going to give it a read.

我當然要看一看。

It sketched out an idea with an open invitation

它描述一個想法， 公開邀請所有人

for anyone to take it from a concept and design it to reality.

把這個概念通過設計變成現實。

We decided to not only make it tangible

我們決心不僅要讓它變成現實，

but make it safe, sustainable and economically viable.

而且要讓它安全、可持續 並且在經濟上可行。

And we were so convinced that we could make it work

我們如此相信我們能夠做到這件事，

that I quit my job to build it.

我甚至辭去工作來打造它。

I thought I was being optimistic.

我覺得我當時很樂觀。

My wife, on the other hand, thought I was completely delusional.

然而，我的妻子覺得我只是在妄想。

Either way, we heard over and over

無論如何，我們一遍遍地聽到別人說

that building a functional hyperloop was unrealistic.

建造一個正常運轉的 超迴路列車是不現實的。

But for each "no" we heard,

但是對於我們聽到的每一個「不可能」，

we dove deeper and deeper into the science and the engineering

我們在科學和工程上 越來越深入地鑽研，

and showed that it was in fact possible,

最終證明了它實際上是可行的，

but it was going to be no easy feat for us to build something that had never existed.

但要建造從未有過的東西並不容易。

So our early prototypes

所以我們早期的原型機

started with the traditional concept that maglev uses,

是從傳統的磁懸浮列車的原理出發的，

that is, where the track controls the vehicle.

也就是說，由軌道來控制機車。

But something about that just wasn't quite right

但是這對於超迴路列車系統

for a hyperloop system.

並不太適用。

So for months,

所以我花了好幾個月來探索 如何讓我們的系統與未來相適應。

I had been noodling on how to make our system future-proof.

And while I was on a bike ride in the mountains above Los Angeles,

當我在洛杉磯旁邊的山裏騎行時，

I came around a bend.

我到了一個拐彎的地方。

A 1933 Ford Roadster followed by a Tesla Model S passed me.

一輛 1933 年 Ford Roadster 超過了我， 後面還跟著一輛 Tesla Model S。

Those two cars are light-years different in technology,

這兩輛車在工業技術上天差地別，

yet they drive on the same passive road.

但是它們行駛在 同樣一條普通的道路上。

And there it was.

要點就在這裏。

Smart vehicle, dumb road.

智慧的交通工具，普通的道路。

Or in the case of a hyperloop,

而對於超迴路列車而言，

smart pod, dumb tube.

智慧的客艙，普通的管道。

So technology has made it possible

所以技術已經讓車輛模塊化、 可升級，並且與未來相適應，

that a car can be modular, upgradeable and future-proof,

while the road stays pretty much the same.

而道路則基本保持不變。

So for a hyperloop, our tube is passive and simple, like the road,

對於超迴路列車，我們的管道是 普通而簡單的，就像道路一樣，

but our modular pods can evolve as technology advances,

但是我們的模塊化客艙能夠 隨着技術進步而不斷升級，

just like the automobile.

就像汽車一樣。

So we now had our vision.

於是我們有了願景。

The next thing we had to do is assemble the team.

我們接下來要做的事是組建團隊。

So we've all seen a "Mission Impossible" movie in this room,

這個房間中的我們都看過 電影《不可能的任務》，

and there's always a scene in those movies

這些電影中總會有一個場景，

where someone lays out a task or plan calmly.

某個人冷靜地安排一個任務或者計劃，

But what they lay out is completely and totally insane.

然而這個安排其實瘋狂至極。

So for a hyperloop,

所以對於超迴路列車，

our mission that we've chosen to accept

我們選擇接受的任務是

is to build the world's largest vacuum structures,

建造世界上最大的真空結構，

devise new passive magnetic guideways,

發明新的被動磁導軌，

create pods capable of withstanding a space environment,

創造能夠耐受太空環境的客艙，

powered by next-generation batteries

使用新一代電池供電，

while levitating using state-of-the-art magnetic levitation,

使用最先進的磁懸浮技術 使客艙懸浮，

while quietly accelerating,

在安靜地加速的時候，

using the world's most efficient linear electric motor.

使用世界上最高效的綫性馬達。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Everyone turns to the engineer.

大家紛紛向工程師求助。

I have to make that possible,

我必須要實現它，

or we have to make that possible.

或者說，我們必須要實現它。

Luckily for us,

幸好

we have more than just one of those engineers,

我們當中這樣的工程師 不止一個而是數百個，

we have a few hundred that have designed reusable rockets, spaceships,

曾經設計過可重複使用的火箭、

太空飛船、無人駕駛飛行器、

autonomous aircraft, electric vehicles, AI systems

電動汽車、人工智慧系統，

and loads of other cool things.

以及許許多多的很酷的東西。

And after building that system,

在建造出這個系統之後，

we created a test track in the desert outside of Las Vegas.

我們在拉斯維加斯外邊的沙漠裏 建了一條測試軌道。

We've operated the system over 500 times

我們讓這個系統運行了500次以上，

and had countless other tests on our subsystems.

並且在我們的子系統上 進行了無數次其他的測試。

But there was one test

但是成為超迴路列車技術的 決定性的瞬間的，

that was going to be the defining moment for hyperloop technology:

是這樣一次測試：

the first passengers in the vehicle.

列車上有了第一位乘客。

And we were going to do it with regular people

我們的測試中引入了普通人，

that didn't need years of training and experience

他們不需要多年的訓練和經驗

to set foot inside of a space capsule.

就能踏入太空艙。

So by October of 2020, we had run hundreds of tests,

到了 2020 年10月 我們已經運行了數百次測試，

some with these extremely handsome mannequins that you see here.

其中包括您看到的這些 帥氣的人體模型。

We had an independent safety auditor give us the green light,

獨立的安全審查員 批准了我們的測試，

but still, it was nerve-racking.

但是這仍然令我們十分緊張不安。

We were boldly going

我們大膽地進入了客艙，

where only these handsome mannequins had gone before.

在那之前，進入過這裏的 只有那些帥氣的人體模型。

And on November 8th, 2020, we made our first attempt.

在 2020 年 11 月 8 日， 我們進行了第一次嘗試。

So at our test site, my colleague Sara and I

在我們的測試場地， 我的同事 Sara 和我

climbed into that can-like vehicle suspended by magnetic levitation

爬進了那個像罐頭一樣的交通工具，

它在接近真空的環境中 使用磁懸浮技術懸浮著，

at a near-vacuum environment,

and the countdown began.

倒計時開始了。

In those 15 seconds,

在這 15 秒鐘內，

we showed the world that what was deemed ludicrous over 100 years ago

我們向世界展示了，100 多年前 被視為荒謬至極的事情

was in fact possible.

事實上是可以實現的。

That brief moment has opened so many doors for us.

那一個簡短的瞬間為我們 開啓了無數的可能性。

We've had conversations in the US, Europe, India, the Middle East,

我們已經和美國、歐洲、 印度和中東商談過

about building hyperloop systems in the next 10 years.

關於在未來 10 年建造 超迴路列車系統的事。

This is the start of a systemic change in the way we travel.

這是我們在出行方式上的 系統性的改變的開始。

Simply put,

簡單來說，

society has moved forward, as we've moved faster.

當我們快速飛馳， 社會也隨之進步。

The railroad ushered in the industrial revolution,

鐵路開創了工業革命，

the airplane forever changed the way we move.

飛機永遠地改變了我們出行的方式。

But today, we’re at an inflection point.

但是今天，我們處於一個轉折點。

Nations around the world are looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions,

世界上的各國都在尋找 減少碳排放的方法，

but at the same time,

但與此同時，

we need to get where we're going in minutes, not hours.

我們也需要在數分鐘之內 到達目的地，而不是數小時。

We also need to invest in infrastructure

我們也需要對基礎設施進行投資，

that can meet the needs of the 21st century, and beyond.

從而滿足 21 世紀的需要， 甚至更遠的未來。

And so my hope for a hyperloop system

我對超迴路列車系統的期望就是

is that it can transform the way that we live --

它能夠改變我們的生活方式——

we can live where we want to live, work where we want to work,

能夠在我們想要生活的地方生活， 在我們想要工作的地方工作，

我們能夠創造一個這樣的世界：

we can create a world in which your daughter,

您的女兒，在洛杉磯定居，

who lives in Los Angeles,

能夠去聖克魯斯衝浪之後 準點到家吃午飯；

can go surfing in Santa Cruz and be home in time for lunch.

A world in which 150 million people can live in Mumbai and travel to Pune,

1.5 億人能夠在孟買定居， 去浦納旅行，

the equivalent distance of Philadelphia to New York,

這段距離，等於從費城到紐約，

in 30 minutes, not four hours,

只需要30 分鐘，而不是 4 小時，

while saving 1.1 million tons of pollution each and every year.

並且每年節省 110 萬噸碳排放。

The last century started with two people riding on a plane,

上個世紀從兩個人乘坐飛機開始，

and it ended with millions of people flying all over the world.

以數百萬人乘坐飛機、 全球通行作為結束。

This decade started with two people riding on a hyperloop system,

這個世紀從兩個人 乘坐超迴路列車系統開始，

and my hope is that by the end of it, you'll ride one too.

並且我希望在這個世紀結束的時候， 您也能乘坐一輛。

Thank you.

謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（掌聲）