ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John La Grou - Inventor
John La Grou, a long-time electronics inventor, audio designer and entrepreneur, wants to save lives (and energy) with a new, smarter type of electrical outlet.

Why you should listen

John La Grou is a patent holder and research engineer on Safeplug, a new brand of electrical fault circuit interrupters. The Safeplug technology, which combines microprocessors in power outlets and RFID tags in electrical plugs, might just represent the next generation in residential and commercial electrical delivery. Besides conserving massive amounts of energy, Safeplug promises to save lives and prevent injuries by making the electrical systems in our homes "smart."

La Grou is also CEO of Millennia Group, an audio design and manufacturing company that produces audio components held as the gold standard among professional musicians and producers.

More profile about the speaker
John La Grou | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

John La Grou: A plug for smart power outlets

John La Grou conecta tomadas elétricas inteligentes

Filmed:
658,261 views

John La Grou revela uma engenhosa nova tecnologia que irá elevar a inteligência por trás das tomadas elétricas em nossas casas, usando microprocessadores e etiquetas RFID. A invenção, o Safeplug, promete prevenir acidentes fatais como incêndios domésticos - e a economizar energia.
- Inventor
John La Grou, a long-time electronics inventor, audio designer and entrepreneur, wants to save lives (and energy) with a new, smarter type of electrical outlet. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:18
This is a world-changing invention.
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Essa é uma invenção revolucionária.
00:21
The smoke alarm has saved perhaps hundreds of thousands
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O alarme de fumaça talvez tenha salvo centenas de milhares
00:24
of lives, worldwide.
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de vidas, ao redor do mundo.
00:26
But smoke alarms don't prevent fires.
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Mas esses alarmes não previnem incêndios.
00:30
Every year in the USA, over 20,000 are killed or injured
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Todos os anos, nos EUA, mais de 20 mil morrem ou se ferem
00:33
with 350,000 home fires.
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em 350 mil incêndios domésticos.
00:35
And one of the main causes of all these fires is electricity.
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E uma das principais causas desses incêndios é a eletricidade.
00:39
What if we could prevent electrical fires
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E se nós pudéssemos prevenir incêndios elétricos
00:42
before they start?
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antes que eles começassem?
00:44
Well, a couple of friends and I figured out how to do this.
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Bem, alguns amigos e eu descobrimos uma forma de fazer isso.
00:47
So how does electricity ignite residential fires?
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Então, como a eletricidade dá ignição a incêndios domésticos?
00:51
Well it turns out that the main causes
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Bem, acontece que as principais causas são
00:53
are faulty and misused appliances and electrical wiring.
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aparelhos defeituosos ou mal utilizados e fiação elétrica.
00:56
Our invention had to address all of these issues.
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Nossa invenção tinha que prever todas essas questões.
01:00
So what about circuit breakers?
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Então, por que não interruptores?
01:02
Well, Thomas Edison invented the circuit breaker in 1879.
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Bem, Thomas Edison inventou o interruptor em 1879.
01:06
This is 130-year-old technology,
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É uma tecnologia de 130 anos.
01:09
and this is a problem, because over 80 percent
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E isso é um problema, porque mais de 80%
01:12
of all home electrical fires
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de todos os incêndios domésticos
01:14
start below the safety threshold of circuit breakers.
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começam abaixo do ponto de segurança do interruptor.
01:17
Hmmm ...
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Hmmm...
01:19
So we considered all of this. And we realized
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Então nós consideramos isso. E percebemos
01:21
that electrical appliances
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que os aparelhos elétricos
01:23
must be able to communicate directly
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devem ser capazes de se comunicar diretamente
01:25
with the power receptacle itself.
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com a própria fonte de energia.
01:27
Any electrical device -- an appliance, an extension cord, whatever --
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Qualquer aparelho elétrico, eletrodomésitico, extensão, o que seja
01:31
must be able to tell the power outlet,
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devem ser capazes de dizer à tomada:
01:33
"Hey, power outlet,
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"Ei, tomada,
01:35
I'm drawing too much current. Shut me off now, before I start a fire."
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estou usando muita corrente. Me desligue já, antes que comece um incêndio"
01:39
And the power outlet needs to be smart enough to do it.
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E a tomada deve ser inteligente o bastante para fazer isso.
01:43
So here is what we did. We put a 10-cent digital transponder,
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Então aqui está o que fizemos. Nós colocamos um receptor digital de 10 centavos,
01:48
a data tag, in the appliance plug.
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uma etiqueta de dados, no plug do eletrodoméstico.
01:51
And we put an inexpensive, wireless data reader inside the receptacle
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E colocamos um leitor wireless e de baixo custo dentro da tomada
01:55
so they could communicate.
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para que eles possam se comunicar.
01:57
Now, every home electrical system
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Agora, todo sistema elétrico da casa
01:59
becomes an intelligent network.
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se torna uma rede inteligente.
02:02
The appliance's safe operating parameters
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Asssim, os parâmetros de segurança do eletrodoméstico
02:04
are embedded into its plug.
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são inseridos em seu plug.
02:07
If too much current is flowing,
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Se muita corrente estiver fluindo,
02:09
the intelligent receptacle turns itself off,
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a tomada inteligente se auto desliga
02:11
and prevents another fire from starting.
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e previne que outro incêndio se inicie.
02:14
We call this technology EFCI,
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Nós chamamos essa tecnologia de ICFE,
02:16
Electrical Fault Circuit Interrupter.
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Interruptor de Circuito por Falha Elétrica
02:19
Okay, two more points. Every year in the USA,
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OK, dois pontos a mais. Todo ano nos EUA,
02:21
roughly 2,500 children
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aproximadamente 2.500 crianças
02:24
are admitted to emergency rooms for shock and burn injuries
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dão entrada em pronto-socorros devido a choques e queimaduras
02:27
related to electrical receptacles. And this is crazy.
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relacionadas a tomadas elétricas. E isso é loucura.
02:31
An intelligent receptacle prevents injuries
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Uma tomada inteligente previne as lesões
02:34
because the power is always off,
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porque a energia está sempre desligada,
02:36
until an intelligent plug is detected. Simple.
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até que detecte um plug inteligente. Simples assim.
02:40
Now, besides saving lives,
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Agora, além de salvar vidas,
02:42
perhaps the greatest benefit of intelligent power
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talvez o grande benefício da energia inteligente
02:44
is in its energy savings.
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esteja na economia de energia.
02:46
This invention will reduce global energy consumption
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Essa invenção irá reduzir o consumo global de energia
02:49
by allowing remote control and automation
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ao permitir o controle e automação remotas
02:52
of every outlet in every home and business.
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de todas as tomadas, tanto residencias quanto comerciais.
02:55
Now you can choose to reduce your home energy bill
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Agora você pode escolher entre reduzir sua conta de luz
02:58
by automatically cycling heavy loads
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ao automatizar o uso de grandes consumidores
03:00
like air conditioners and heaters.
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como ar-condicionado e aquecedores.
03:03
Hotels and businesses can shut down unused rooms
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Hotéis e outros negócios podem desligar quartos vazios
03:06
from a central location, or even a cell phone.
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de uma central ou mesmo de um telefone celular.
03:09
There are 10 billion electrical outlets
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Existem 10 bilhões de tomadas
03:12
in North America alone.
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somente na América do Norte.
03:14
The potential energy savings is very, very significant.
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O potencial de economia de energia é muito, muito significativo.
03:18
So far we've applied for 414 patent claims.
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Até agora nós solicitamos 414 registros de patente.
03:22
Of those, 186 have been granted:
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Dessas, 186 foram concedidas.
03:25
228 are in process.
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228 estão em processo.
03:27
And I'm pleased to announce that just three weeks ago
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E eu tenho o orgulho de anunciar que a apenas três semanas
03:30
we received our first international recognition,
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nós recebemos nosso primeiro prêmio internacional,
03:33
the 2009 CES Innovation Award.
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o "2009 CES Innovation Award"
03:37
So, to conclude,
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Então, concluindo,
03:39
intelligent power can, globally, save thousands of lives,
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energia inteligente pode, globalmente, salvar milhares de vidas,
03:43
prevent tens of thousands of injuries,
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prevenir dezenas de milhares de lesões,
03:45
and eliminate tens of billions of dollars in property damage
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e eliminar dezenas de bilhões de dólares em danos materiais,
03:49
every single year,
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todos os anos,
03:51
while significantly reducing global energy consumption.
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enquanto reduz significativamente o consumo global de energia.
03:54
In the spirit of this year's TED Conference,
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No espírito da TED deste ano
03:56
we think this is a powerful, world-changing invention.
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nós acreditamos que é uma poderosa invenção, para mudar o mundo.
03:59
And I'd like to thank Chris for this opportunity
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E gostaria de agradecer ao Chris por essa oportunidade
04:02
to unveil our technology with you, and soon the world.
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de revelar nossa tecnologia a vocês, e em breve ao mundo.
04:05
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
04:06
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Rodrigo Ferraz
Reviewed by Belucio Haibara

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John La Grou - Inventor
John La Grou, a long-time electronics inventor, audio designer and entrepreneur, wants to save lives (and energy) with a new, smarter type of electrical outlet.

Why you should listen

John La Grou is a patent holder and research engineer on Safeplug, a new brand of electrical fault circuit interrupters. The Safeplug technology, which combines microprocessors in power outlets and RFID tags in electrical plugs, might just represent the next generation in residential and commercial electrical delivery. Besides conserving massive amounts of energy, Safeplug promises to save lives and prevent injuries by making the electrical systems in our homes "smart."

La Grou is also CEO of Millennia Group, an audio design and manufacturing company that produces audio components held as the gold standard among professional musicians and producers.

More profile about the speaker
John La Grou | Speaker | TED.com

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