TED2013
Sanjay Dastoor: A skateboard, with a boost
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Imagine an electric vehicle that can get you to work -- or anywhere in a six-mile radius -- quickly, without traffic frustrations or gasoline. Now imagine you can pick it up and carry it with you. Yes, this souped-up skateboard could change the face of morning commutes.
Sanjay Dastoor - Roboticist
Sanjay Dastoor is the co-founder of Boosted Boards, a startup that aims to build the world's lightest electric vehicles. Full bio
Sanjay Dastoor is the co-founder of Boosted Boards, a startup that aims to build the world's lightest electric vehicles. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
Today I'm going to show you an electric vehicle
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that weighs less than a bicycle,
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that you can carry with you anywhere,
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that you can charge off a normal wall outlet in 15 minutes,
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and you can run it for 1,000 kilometers
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on about a dollar of electricity.
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But when I say the word electric vehicle,
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people think about vehicles. They think about cars
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and motorcycles and bicycles, and the vehicles that you use every day.
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But if you come about it from a different perspective,
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you can create some more interesting,
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more novel concepts.
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So we built something.
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I've got some of the pieces in my pocket here.
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So this is the motor.
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This motor has enough power to take you
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up the hills of San Francisco at about 20 miles per hour,
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about 30 kilometers an hour,
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and this battery, this battery right here
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has about six miles of range, or 10 kilometers,
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which is enough to cover about half of the car trips
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in the U.S. alone.
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But the best part about these components
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is that we bought them at a toy store.
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These are from remote control airplanes.
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And the performance of these things has gotten so good
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that if you think about vehicles a little bit differently,
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you can really change things.
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So today we're going to show you one example
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of how you can use this.
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Pay attention to not only how fun this thing is,
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but also how the portability that comes with this
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can totally change the way you interact with a city like San Francisco.
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(Music)
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[6 Mile Range] [Top Speed Near 20mph]
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[Uphill Climbing]
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[Regenerative Braking]
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(Applause)
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(Cheers)
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So we're going to show you what this thing can do.
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It's really maneuverable. You have a hand-held remote,
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so you can pretty easily control acceleration, braking,
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go in reverse if you like, also have braking.
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It's incredible just how light this thing is.
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I mean, this is something you can pick up and carry with you
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anywhere you go.
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So I'll leave you with one of the most compelling facts
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about this technology and these kinds of vehicles.
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This uses 20 times less energy
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for every mile or kilometer that you travel than a car,
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which means not only is this thing fast to charge
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and really cheap to build,
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but it also reduces the footprint of your energy use
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in terms of your transportation.
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So instead of looking at large amounts of energy needed
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for each person in this room to get around in a city,
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now you can look at much smaller amounts
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and more sustainable transportation.
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So next time you think about a vehicle,
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I hope, like us, you're thinking about something new.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sanjay Dastoor - RoboticistSanjay Dastoor is the co-founder of Boosted Boards, a startup that aims to build the world's lightest electric vehicles.
Why you should listen
Sanjay Dastoor met pals John Ulmen and Matthew Tran while studying engineering at Stanford University, where the three often found themselves talking about the need for a better way to get around campus. So they created one -- an electric longboard which they call Boosted Boards. The CEO of this Silicon Valley startup, which raised nearly a half million in crowdsourced funding through Kickstarter, Dastoor hopes to provide a new way to commute for those who live within a six-mile radius of work.
With his co-founders at Boosted, Dastoor participated in the Y Combinator and StartX incubator programs. He is finishing his PhD on bio-inspired robotics at Stanford, and he holds a MS from Stanford and a BS from UC Berkeley. He has also worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and SRI International.
Sanjay Dastoor | Speaker | TED.com