My underwater robot | David Lang

譯者: Kuan Hsien Lee 審譯者: Yuexin Gao

(Aquatic noises)

(水中發出的聲音)

So this video was taken

這段影片

at Aquarius undersea laboratory

是在水瓶座海底實驗室所拍攝的

four miles off the coast of Key Largo,

實驗室離基拉戈海岸有四英里

about 60 feet below the surface.

大約在海面下60英尺

NASA uses this extreme environment

美國太空總署利用這種極端環境

to train astronauts and aquanauts,

來訓練宇航員及深水操作員

and last year, they invited us along for the ride.

去年，他們邀請我們一起來一探究竟

All the footage was taken from our open ROV,

所有鏡頭皆由我們的開放式的 ROV 所拍攝

which is a robot that we built in our garage.

它是我們在車庫做出來的一個機器人

So ROV stands for Remote Operated Vehicle,

而 ROV 是遠程遙控機器人的首字母縮寫

which in our case means our little robot

在這裡就是指我們的小型水下機器人

sends live video

將現場的影片

across that ultra-thin tether

透過極細的繩子

back to the computer topside.

傳送到船上的電腦

It's open source, meaning we publish

來源是公開的，也就是說我們會

and share all of our design files

發布並共享所有我們設計的檔案

and all of our code online,

以及網路上的密碼

allowing anyone to modify

讓所有人都能修改

or improve or change the design.

改善或改變這個設計

It's built with mostly off-the-shelf parts

大部分影片都是現成的

and costs about 1,000 times cheaper

而且成本大概比詹姆斯·卡麥隆

than the ROVs James Cameron used

用來探勘鐵達尼號的ROV

to explore the Titanic.

還便宜 1000 倍

So ROVs aren't new.

其實 ROV 不是一項新發明

They've been around for decades.

它們已經存在幾十年了

Scientists use ROVs to explore the oceans.

科學家利用 ROV 來探索海底世界

Oil and gas companies use them for exploration

石油天然氣公司也用它們來探測

and construction.

及設廠

What we've built isn't unique.

我們所做的並不特別

It's how we've built it that's really unique.

我們如何製作的才是重點

So I want to give you a quick story of how it got started.

所以我想跟大家很快地說明一下 一切是如何開始的

So a few years ago, my friend Eric and I

幾年前，我和我朋友艾瑞克

decided we wanted to explore this underwater cave

決定要一起探索這個位在

in the foothills of the Sierras.

內華達山麓的水下洞穴

We had heard this story about lost gold

我們聽到有關遺失的金子故事

from a Gold Rush-era robbery, and we wanted to go up there.

發生在掏金時代的搶案中，我們想要去那

Unfortunately, we didn't have any money

可惜，我們沒有錢

and we didn't have any tools to do it.

也沒有任何工具去做這件事

So Eric had an initial design idea for a robot,

所以Eric想了個點子，是關於機器人的初步設計

but we didn't have all the parts figured out,

但我們沒有解決所有的問題

so we did what anybody would do in our situation:

所以我們做了在這個情況下，大家都會做的事

we asked the Internet for help.

我們在網路上尋求幫助

More specifically, we created this website,

更特別的是，我們製作了這個網站

openROV.com, and shared our intentions and our plans

openROV.com 並分享我們的目的與計劃

For the first few months, it was just Eric and I

一開始的幾個月，只有 Eric 跟我

talking back to each other on the forums,

在論壇上互相討論

but pretty soon, we started to get feedback

但很快的，我們開始收到回應

from makers and hobbyists,

來自於製造業者及愛好者

and then actually professional ocean engineers

然後是真正專業的海洋工程師

who had some suggestions for what we should do.

對於我們該做的事給了些建議

We kept working on it. We learned a lot.

我們持續努力，我們學到很多

We kept prototyping, and eventually,

我們堅持製作原型，然後最終

we decided we wanted to go to the cave. We were ready.

我們決定去那個洞，我們準備好了

So about that time, our little expedition became quite a story,

所以那時我們的探險變成了特別的故事

and it got picked up in The New York Times.

並且被紐約時報報導

And we were pretty much just overwhelmed

我們幾乎被這樣一群人給淹沒了

with interest from people who wanted a kit

他們對這個開放式的ROV的工具組很感興趣

that they could build this open ROV themselves.

這樣他們就可以自己製造ROV

So we decided to put the project on Kickstarter,

所以我們決定把這個計畫放到Kickstarter

and when we did,

而當我們這麼做時

we raised our funding goal in about two hours,

大約在兩小前內我們募到了目標金額

and all of a sudden, had this money to make these kits.

突然之間有了錢去生產這些裝備

But then we had to learn how to make them.

但我們必須去學習如何製造

I mean, we had to learn small batch manufacturing.

我指的是，我們必須學習小量的生產

So we quickly learned that our garage

我們很快的發現到我們的車庫

was not big enough to hold our growing operation.

不足以支撐我們擴增的營運

But we were able to do it, we got all the kits made,

但我們有辦法做到，我們製造出這些設備

thanks a lot to TechShop, which was a big help to us,

非常感謝Techshop，幫了我們很多

and we shipped these kits all over the world

然後我們將這些裝備送至世界各地

just before Christmas of last year,

就在去年聖誕節前

so it was just a few months ago.

也就是幾個月前

But we're already starting to get video

我們已經開始收到

and photos back from all over the world,

從世界各地拍攝的影片和圖片

including this shot from under the ice in Antarctica.

包括這張從南極洲冰下所拍攝的影像

We've also learned the penguins love robots.

我們還發現企鵝喜歡機器人

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

So we're still publishing all the designs online,

所以我們持續在網路上公佈這些設計

encouraging anyone to build these themselves.

鼓勵所有人自己打造機器人

That's the only way that we could have done this.

這是我們可以完成的唯一方法

By being open source, we've created

借由開放式資源，我們已經建立了

this distributed R&D network,

這個分散式的研究與設計網路

and we're moving faster than any venture-backed counterpart.

我們的進展比其他 有投資金支持的競爭者還要快

But the actual robot is really only half the story.

但機器人只是故事的其中一半

The real potential, the long term potential,

真正的潛力，真正長期的潛力

is with this community of DIY ocean explorers

是這個DIY的海洋探索社群

that are forming all over the globe.

遍布世界各地

What can we discover

我們能發現什麼事物

when there's thousands of these devices

當有成千上萬的裝備

roaming the seas?

漂流在海洋中時?

So you're probably all wondering: the cave.

所以你大概會猜想：那個洞穴中

Did you find the gold?

有找到金子嗎？

Well, we didn't find any gold,

我們沒看到半點金子

but we decided that what we found was much more valuable.

但是我們覺得我們因此而發現的東西 比金子更有價值

It was the glimpse into a potential future

即一窺海洋探索

for ocean exploration.

潛在的未來

It's something that's not limited to the James Camerons of the world,

這不再是只有詹姆斯·卡麥隆可觸及的領域

but something that we're all participating in.

而是大眾都可參與其中的事情

It's an underwater world

這是一個水底世界

we're all exploring together.

我們一同去探索

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）