How Wireless Energy From Space Could Power Everything | Ali Hajimiri | TED

譯者: 麗玲 辛 審譯者: Yanyan Hong

Energy and data are the major currencies of our lives today.

電力和數據是現代生活的 主要流通貨幣。

Over the last couple of decades,

在過去幾十年中，

we've seen data going from being wired to becoming wireless.

我們見證了數據從有線變成無線，

And this has helped democratize access to information.

讓大眾都能取得資訊。

Can we do the same thing with energy?

我們也能讓電力變成無線嗎?

Can we send energy when we want,

我們可以在需要的時候傳輸能量，

where we want and as much as we want

往想要的地方、傳送指定的數量，

and in the process, eliminate the last wire?

且在此過程中不用到電線？

If we could do this, the possibilities would be endless.

如果我們能做到這一點， 那麼，將有無限可能性。

From Earth to space.

從地球到太空。

I'd like to tell you about our dream of wireless energy transfer today.

今天，我想談談無線供電的夢想。

It starts with something we are all familiar with -- waves.

從我們都熟悉的東西講起，波。

So waves are very essential to our lives.

波在生活中十分重要。

You can hear this talk because of acoustic waves.

你能聽到這個演講，是因為有聲波。

You can see this talk

你可以看到這個演講，

because of a certain kind of electromagnetic waves, called light.

因為有一種電磁波，叫做光。

And the odds are, if you're watching it on the internet,

很有可能，你是在網路上看這個演講，

you're using some sort of wireless connectivity

那麼，你就在使用一種無線連接，

that relies on wireless and RF waves.

利用無線射頻波。

If you have two waves that have the same frequency

如果有兩個波，具有相同頻率，

and are going up and down

上下振盪，

and they come together at some point in space,

在空間的某個點聚集，

they will add and make a wave that's twice the height

它們會疊加，形成兩倍振幅的波，

but carries four times the energy.

但攜帶四倍的能量。

Now, if the same two waves come together at some other place in space,

如果同樣的兩個波在其他的點相會，

but one is running half a period late,

但其中一個慢了半個周期，

they cancel

它們會相互抵消，

and you get very little energy, practically no energy.

能量就變得非常少，幾乎沒有能量。

This is the basis for a process that has been known for a long time.

這是一個廣為人知的現象背後的原理，

It's called interference.

稱為「干涉」。

The idea here is that if you go and sit at the edge of a pond

想像一下，你坐在池塘邊，

and take both hands and put them in the water

兩隻手放到水裏，

and move them up and down, each hand makes a wave.

上下擺動，每隻手產生一個波。

But because of the interaction of these waves,

由於這些波的相互作用，

there will be some directions where you get more energy

有些方向產生的能量多一些，

and there are some directions that you will get less.

有些方向產生的少一些。

Can we make it go only in one direction?

那，我們可以讓能量 只朝一個方向前進嗎？

Well, you need more hands.

嗯，我們需要更多的手，

And they have to go perfectly synchronized.

而且得完全同步。

But if you do that,

但如果這樣做，

what happens is that most of your energy starts traveling straight down.

大部分能量會直接向前傳播。

Now, this is a remarkable thing

這可不得了，

because if you think about each one of those little hands,

因為，仔細想想每一隻小手，

每一個小能量來源

each one of those little sources,

they would send energy all over the place.

會將能量傳送到四面八方。

But when they work together,

但當它們共同作用，

the result is that the energy is going mostly in one direction.

結果是能量朝一個主要方向前進。

Now, if the timing was the reason for this happening,

假設時間控制是這個現象的主因，

maybe we can play with it.

我們可以做個實驗。

Maybe we can mess with it and see what happens.

我們把時間點改一下， 看看會發生什麼情況。

So what if each one of these sources

如果每一個能源點

goes a little bit after the one next to it?

跟旁邊的點稍微有些時間差呢？

So in that case,

這樣的話，

what happens is that these waves start going in different directions,

這些波開始朝不同的方向傳播，

and you can change that direction

僅憑控制時間， 就可以改變能量傳播方向。

purely by controlling timing and nothing else.

Now, this makes it possible to change this direction

不需任何機械運動， 就能改變方向。

without any mechanical movement.

So it can be almost instantaneous.

幾乎是瞬間發生。

You can go even further.

甚至可以更進一步。

You can think about creating a magnifying glass.

想像做一個放大鏡。

A focusing system,

對焦系統，

where you can actually send the energy,

在這個系統中，你可以實際傳送能量，

most of it, close to 90 percent of it, in one focal point.

大部分能量（近九成），到某個焦點。

But again, since you're controlling the timing,

但同樣，控制了時間差，

you can create different focal points, and you can send it to them.

你就可以設立不同的焦點， 並向它們傳送能量。

And this is the basis for wireless energy transfer.

這就是無線電力傳輸的原理。

It's as if you have an army of ants

就好比你有一支螞蟻大軍，

牠們會完全同步工作。

that are working in perfect synchronization.

And each one of them contributes a little bit of energy.

每隻螞蟻都貢獻了一點能量。

But as a whole, they send it to the right place.

作為總體，牠們將能量 傳送到該去的地方。

Now,

在這裡，

obviously here, timing is everything, like life and comedy.

很顯然，時機是關鍵， 就像生活和喜劇。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So we’ve taken this concept,

我們利用這個概念，

and we've built these electronic chips, integrated circuits,

製作晶片，積體電路，

that each one of them generates a little bit of power.

每個晶片都產生一點點能量。

But again, as a group, they are designed to work in perfect synchronization

同樣地，作為團隊，它們能同步工作，

and drive these little antennas that transmit the energy.

驅動這些傳輸能量的小天線。

Now this army of ants, or army of antennas,

這支螞蟻大軍，或者說天線大軍，

is working together to create those focal points of energy.

共同努力，設立這些能量焦點。

接下來，我將為大家展示

And what I will show you next

is some examples of how that actually operates.

實際運作方式的例子。

So what you have here, for example,

例如，

is a generator unit that's sending power wirelessly to the two receivers.

這裡有個發電機組， 向兩個接收器無線發送能量。

And here the point is to see how well-defined these focal points are.

這裡的重點是看看這些焦點有多明確。

That LED panel basically is receiving that power and showing it.

LED 面板接收到電源， 並顯示出來。

So you can see energy is going only where it needs to go and nowhere else.

你可以看到，電力只流向 該去的地方，沒有去別的地方。

You can take this and put one of these generators

你可以拿這個裝置， 將其中一個發電機組

on the ceiling of your conference room or your living room

安裝在會議室天花板上或者客廳裏，

and transmit energy to various devices that need energy.

向各種需要能量的設備傳輸電力。

Now this generator on the ceiling is going to power a light bulb.

天花板上的發電機會為燈泡供電。

Now, as we move the light bulb,

當我們移動燈泡時，

what happens is that you see

你會看到

that there's no energy in the new location,

新位置沒有電，

but the system finds it, tracks it

但系統找到它，追蹤它，

and sends it to the new location.

並將電力送到新位置。

And you can see that it dynamically tracks it back and forth.

你可以看到系統動態地來回追蹤。

You can use this to send energy to one light bulb

你可以透過這個功能為一個燈泡供電，

or to the next one or to both of them at the same time.

或供電給另一個燈泡、 也許同時兩個燈泡。

Now you can use something like this, for example, to power a drone.

藉此，你也可以為無人機供電。

This is a battery-less drone

這是一款無電池無人機，

that's being purely powered by that generator

完全由發電機提供動力，

facing up from the bottom.

由地面向上傳輸。

And it can also use the same tracking approach to track the drone.

它也用相同的追踪方法 來追踪無人機。

So now that we know that we can send energy wirelessly,

現在我們確定，可以無線傳輸電力，

the question is, how far can we go?

問題是，我們還能怎麼做？

Really, how far can we go?

說真的，我們還能怎麼做？

Could we put photovoltaics in space,

我們能把太陽光電系統放在太空中嗎？

solar panels in space,

把太陽能板放到太空，

and collect the energy and send that wirelessly to Earth?

收集能量，無線傳回地球？

This is not a new idea.

這不是什麼新想法。

The first time it was mentioned,

首次提及是在

it was in a short science-fiction story by Isaac Asimov from 1941.

艾薩克·阿西莫夫（Isaac Asimov） 1941 年的一篇短篇科幻故事。

And what I love about this story is that

我喜歡這個故事，

it's about a self-conscious robot.

因為故事主角是個 有自我意識的機器人。

And the humans describing this idea to the self-conscious robot,

人類向這個有自我意識的 機器人描述這個想法，

after which the robot says,

機器人接著說，

"Do you expect me to believe such a far-fetched, crazy notion?

「你以為我會相信 這種牽強、瘋狂的想法嗎？

What do you take me for?"

你當我是什麼？」

The first question almost always asked is that,

第一個人們想問的問題幾乎都是，

“Why do you want to put your solar panels in space?

「為什麼要把太陽能電板放到太空中？

Why don’t you put them up in the desert and be done with it?” Right?

直接放到沙漠裡，不就好了？」

A few reasons.

有幾個原因。

First is that in space you get about eight times more energy

首先，在太空中， 可以多獲取大約八倍的能量，

because you don't have day and night,

因為沒有晝夜，

you don't have clouds, you don't have seasons,

沒有雲層，沒有季節，

and you don't have the atmospheric absorption.

沒有大氣吸收。

Also, now that you have this ability to send energy where you want

此外，有了這個能力，

就能在必要時刻動態地傳輸能量，

and when you want dynamically,

you can imagine that you have dispatchable power.

可以想像成電力任你調度。

On top of that,

最重要的是，

it's an always-available power.

這是隨時可用的能量，

This can be used for a place, for example,

可以用於任何地點，例如，

let's say an island hit by a hurricane

假設一個島嶼遭受 颶風襲擊，因而斷電。

where there’s no power.

Or a city in war zone

或者位於戰區的某個城市，

where the power infrastructure is being constantly attacked.

電力基礎設施不斷受到攻擊。

You can think about using this to send power

你可以想像，利用這個系統來傳輸電力

to a remote village in sub-Saharan Africa

到撒哈拉以南非洲的某個偏遠村莊，

where there is no infrastructure for power transmission.

沒有電力傳輸基礎設施的地方。

And that way democratize the access to energy.

這樣，每個人都能取得能源。

Or send it somewhere above the Arctic circle.

也能把電力送到北極圈以北的地方。

So all of these things are great.

這些都是好事。

But the question is,

但問題是，

if it has been known for such a long time and it's such a great thing,

如果這個想法早已為人所知， 而且是件很棒的事，

why hasn't it been done so far?

為什麼到目前為止還沒有實現？

The main reason is that the way it has been envisioned before,

主要原因是之前在設想實行時，

they've been thinking about it as a big elephant.

一直認為這能源板會是龐然大物。

If you're thinking about putting big solar panels in space,

你得在太空中放置大型太陽能電板，

collecting the power, generating a lot of energy,

收集電力，產生大量能源，

and then putting it into a massive parabolic dish antenna

再把能源由一個巨大的 拋物面碟形天線

and sending it to a fixed location on Earth.

傳送回地球上的某個固定位置。

Sending things to space is expensive.

把物品送上太空很花錢的。

You pay dollars -- and that's plural -- per gram.

你得花錢，很多的錢， 以公克計的，

The other problem is that even if you could afford it,

另一個問題是，即便負擔得起，

assembly of something like this in space

在太空中組裝這麼大的東西

is still beyond the capabilities that we have today.

仍然超出了我們現有的能力。

So we came up with a very different approach

於是，我們想出一個別出心裁的方法，

where we took our generators

我們把發電機

and turned them into flexible, fabric-like structures.

變成了柔軟可折、織物狀的結構。

We are utilizing the amazing power of electronics,

我們利用了電子學、

integrated electronics and flexible electronics,

積體電路和柔性電路的驚人能力，

to make this very lightweight, flexible, fabric-like structures

製造出這種十分輕便、 靈活、類似織物的結構，

that you can roll and pack.

方便收捲。

And this allows you to have these satellites packed for launch

你可以打包收在衛星裏，以便發射，

and deployed in space,

之後再展開部署在太空中，

where each one of these units

每個單位

would be about several tens of meters on the side.

邊長大約有幾十公尺。

And then you can pack a whole bunch of them

你一次可以打包好幾個，

and create a constellation of them

排成好幾列的圖形，在太空中飛行，

that flies in space

and forms your power station to send green energy to Earth.

成為發電站，將綠能傳送到地球。

This will be flying in formation around the Earth.

它們會編隊繞地球飛行。

Obviously, this is not the size of the planet

顯然，畫面上不是地球的大小，

because we're talking about a kilometer across for the whole whole constellation

因為整組發電機的長度為一 公里，

and the planet is a little bit larger than a kilometer.

但畫面上，地球只比一公里大一些。

We've been developing, as a proof of concept,

作為概念證明，我們一直在開發

technology demonstrator,

技術展示原型，

and this is called Maple,

這稱為「楓葉」，

which demonstrates the power of flexible structures

它展示了柔性結構和電子電路的能力，

and electronic circuitry

to generate and transmit power in space.

可在太空中生產、傳輸電力。

We integrated that with two other technology demonstrators

我們結合另外兩個技術展示原型，

for deployable structures and photovoltaics

用於可展開結構和光伏發電，

that were developed by three teams,

由三個團隊共同開發， 由我和兩位同事領導。

led by myself and two of my colleagues.

And we integrated into a satellite that was launched recently.

我們將它們整合到一顆衛星裏， 最近發射升空。

And the purpose of this experiment

這個實驗的目的是

has been to demonstrate the power transfer,

展示電力傳輸， 太空中的無線電力傳輸。

wireless power transfer in space.

Now that brings me back to the promise of wireless energy transfer

這就回到我剛提的 無線能量傳輸的前景，

and what it could mean for us.

以及對我們的意義。

I believe this technology is too compelling to go away.

我認為這項科技太強大，不致消失。

And I believe it's bound to appear in our lives in one form or another.

我相信它注定會以某種形式 出現在我們的生活中。

And that is something to look forward to.

這是值得期待的事情。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）