ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Saul Griffith - Inventor
Inventor Saul Griffith looks for elegant ways to make real things, from low-cost eyeglasses to a kite that tows boats. His latest projects include open-source inventions and elegant new ways to generate power.

Why you should listen

Innovator and inventor Saul Griffith has a uniquely open approach to problem solving. Whether he's devising a way to slash the cost of prescription eyeglasses or teaching science through cartoons, Griffith makes things and then shares his ideas with the world.

A proponent of open-source information, he established Instructables , an open website showing how to make an array of incredible objects. He is the co-founder of numerous companies including Squid Labs, Low Cost Eyeglasses, Potenco and Makani Power, where he is President and Chief Scientist. His companies have invented a myriad of new devices and materials, such as a "smart" rope that senses its load, or a machine for making low-cost eyeglass lenses through a process inspired by a water droplet. He is a columnist at Make magazine and co-writes How Toons! He's fascinated with materials that assemble themselves, and with taking advantage of those properties to make things quickly and cheaply.

More profile about the speaker
Saul Griffith | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Saul Griffith: High-altitude wind energy from kites!

索格里芬斯视风筝为未来的可再生能源

Filmed:
724,502 views

在这个简要的演讲里,索格里芬斯揭示了他的发明,以及他的新公司马卡倪能源所开发的:巨大的可以提供惊人的干净和可再生能源的风筝涡轮。
- Inventor
Inventor Saul Griffith looks for elegant ways to make real things, from low-cost eyeglasses to a kite that tows boats. His latest projects include open-source inventions and elegant new ways to generate power. Full bio

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

00:22
If you're at all like me,
0
4000
1000
如果你像我一样,
00:23
this is what you do with the sunny晴朗 summer夏季 weekends周末 in San Francisco弗朗西斯科:
1
5000
3000
那这就是你会在旧金山夏天的每个周末所干的事:
00:26
you build建立 experimental试验 kite-powered风筝供电 hydrofoils水翼
2
8000
3000
你会建造实验性的风筝动力水翼船
00:29
capable of more than 30 knots.
3
11000
2000
时速在30海里以上。
00:31
And you realize实现 that there is incredible难以置信 power功率 in the wind,
4
13000
3000
随后你就会认识到蕴藏在风里的不可思议的能量,
00:34
and it can do amazing惊人 things.
5
16000
2000
而且它可以用于很奇妙的事情上。
00:36
And one day, a vessel船只 not unlike不像 this
6
18000
2000
有一天,一艘和这个像似的船型
00:38
will probably大概 break打破 the world世界 speed速度 record记录.
7
20000
2000
将可能会打破世界速度记录。
00:40
But kites风筝 aren't just toys玩具 like this.
8
22000
3000
但是风筝并不仅仅是像这样的玩具。
00:43
Kites风筝: I'm going to give you a brief简要 history历史,
9
25000
2000
关于风筝,我会给你们一个简要的历史,
00:45
and tell you about the magnificent华丽的 future未来
10
27000
2000
以及告诉你们神奇的未来
00:47
of every一切 child's孩子的 favorite喜爱 plaything玩物.
11
29000
3000
这都是小孩最喜欢的风筝的事情。
00:50
So, kites风筝 are more than a thousand years年份 old,
12
32000
2000
那么,风筝已经有1000多年的历史,
00:52
and the Chinese中文 used them for military军事 applications应用,
13
34000
3000
中国用他们作为过军队装备,
00:55
and even for lifting吊装 men男人.
14
37000
1000
甚至是载人的。
00:56
So they knew知道 at that stage阶段 they could carry携带 large weights权重.
15
38000
3000
所以他们在那个时候就知道了风筝可以承载较大重量。
00:59
I'm not sure why there is a hole in this particular特定 man.
16
41000
2000
我不确定为什么那个人身上有个洞。
01:01
(Laughter笑声)
17
43000
2000
01:03
In 1827, a fellow同伴 called George乔治 Pocock波科克
18
45000
3000
在1827年,一个叫做乔治朴考克的家伙
01:06
actually其实 pioneered首创 the use of kites风筝 for towing拖带 buggies越野车
19
48000
3000
实际上先锋般的用风筝来牵动车辆
01:09
in races比赛 against反对 horse carriages车厢 across横过 the English英语 countryside农村.
20
51000
5000
这样来和马匹做横跨英国的比赛。
01:14
Then of course课程, at the dawn黎明 of aviation航空,
21
56000
2000
随后,理所当然的,在航空时代即将到来之际,
01:16
all of the great inventors发明家 of the time --
22
58000
2000
那个时代所有的伟大发明家们--
01:18
like Hargreaves哈格里夫斯, like Langley兰利,
23
60000
2000
像哈格里夫斯,像兰利,
01:20
even Alexander亚历山大 Graham格雷厄姆 Bell, inventor发明者 of the telephone电话, who was flying飞行 this kite风筝 --
24
62000
3000
甚至是亚历山大格雷厄姆贝尔,电话的发明着,都会像这样放风筝--
01:23
were doing so in the pursuit追求 of aviation航空.
25
65000
3000
这样做是为了追求航空能力。
01:26
Then these two fellows研究员 came来了 along沿,
26
68000
2000
然后这两个家伙出现了,
01:28
and they were flying飞行 kites风筝 to develop发展 the control控制 systems系统
27
70000
3000
他们在风筝上开发了制动系统
01:31
that would ultimately最终 enable启用 powered动力 human人的 flight飞行.
28
73000
3000
那样会最终让人类的飞行梦想成真。
01:34
So this is of course课程 Orville奥维 and Wilbur威尔伯 Wright赖特,
29
76000
3000
这当然是恩奎斯特和莱特兄弟,
01:37
and the Wright赖特 Flyer传单.
30
79000
2000
以及莱特飞行器。
01:39
And their experiments实验 with kites风筝 led to this
31
81000
2000
他们对风筝的实验引发了这个
01:41
momentous重大 occasion场合, where we powered动力 up and took off for the
32
83000
3000
重要时刻,那就是我们可以从起飞到降落
01:44
first-ever史无前例的 12-second human人的 flight飞行.
33
86000
4000
第一个12秒的人类飞行。
01:48
And that was fantastic奇妙 for the future未来 of commercial广告 aviation航空.
34
90000
4000
而且那是一个美妙的商业航空的未来。
01:52
But unfortunately不幸, it relegated降级 kites风筝 once一旦 again to be considered考虑 children's儿童 toys玩具.
35
94000
4000
但是不幸的是,风筝再一次被低估为儿童的玩具。
01:56
That was until直到 the 1970s, where we had the last energy能源 crisis危机.
36
98000
4000
直到19世纪70年代,当我们上一次经济危机的时候。
02:00
And a fabulous极好 man called Miles万里 Loyd劳埃德
37
102000
2000
一个叫做迈尔斯劳埃德的神话般的人
02:02
who lives生活 on the outskirts郊区 of San Francisco弗朗西斯科,
38
104000
2000
他住在旧金山的郊区。
02:04
wrote this seminal paper that was completely全然 ignored忽视
39
106000
3000
写了这样一篇完全被遗忘的论文,
02:07
in the Journal日志 of Energy能源
40
109000
1000
能量之旅,
02:08
about how to use basically基本上 an airplane飞机 on a piece of string
41
110000
4000
这是关于怎样用一根绳子去操控飞机
02:12
to generate生成 enormous巨大 amounts of electricity电力.
42
114000
3000
来产生超乎强大的电力。
02:15
The real真实 key observation意见 he made制作 is that
43
117000
2000
他做到的最关键的观察是
02:17
a free-flying自由飞行 wing翅膀 can sweep through通过 more sky天空 and generate生成 more power功率
44
119000
4000
一个自由飞行翼可以扫过更多的天空和创造更多的能量
02:21
in a unit单元 of time than a fixed-wing固定翼 turbine涡轮.
45
123000
4000
这是在一定的时间内和固定翼涡轮相比。
02:25
So turbines涡轮机 grew成长. And they can now span跨度 up to three hundred feet at the hub枢纽 height高度,
46
127000
4000
所以涡轮那时在不断的被开发。现在他们可以跨越跨度长达三百英尺的枢纽高度,
02:29
but they can't really go a lot higher更高,
47
131000
2000
但是他们确实在也不能比那再高了,
02:31
and more height高度 is where the more wind is, and more power功率 --
48
133000
3000
不过更高的地方有更多的风,以及更多的能量 --
02:34
as much as twice两次 as much.
49
136000
2000
两倍高的能量。
02:36
So cut to now. We still have an energy能源 crisis危机,
50
138000
3000
所以直到现在,我们仍然还有能量危机,
02:39
and now we have a climate气候 crisis危机 as well. You know,
51
141000
3000
现在我们还同时有环境危机,你知道的。
02:42
so humans人类 generate生成 about 12 trillion watts,
52
144000
3000
所以人类生产了大概十二万亿瓦特,
02:45
or 12 terawatts太瓦, from fossil化石 fuels燃料.
53
147000
2000
或12兆瓦,从化石燃料中。
02:47
And Al Gore血块 has spoken to why we need to hit击中 one of these targets目标,
54
149000
4000
然后戈尔已经讲解了我们为什么要达到这些目标,
02:51
and in reality现实 what that means手段 is in the next下一个 30 to 40 years年份,
55
153000
4000
以及在今后的30到40年里那到底意味着什么,
02:55
we have to make 10 trillion watts or more of new clean清洁 energy能源 somehow不知何故.
56
157000
6000
我们必须制造10亿瓦特或者更多的干净能源,不管怎么样都要。
03:01
Wind is the second-largest第二大 renewable可再生 resource资源 after solar太阳能:
57
163000
4000
风能是在太阳能之后的第二大可再生能源:
03:05
3600 terawatts太瓦, more than enough足够 to supply供应 humanity人性 200 times over.
58
167000
4000
3600兆瓦特,足以维持比现在多200倍的人。
03:09
The majority多数 of it is in the higher更高 altitudes高度, above以上 300 feet,
59
171000
4000
大多数风能是在高海拔,300英尺以上,
03:13
where we don't have a technology技术 as yet然而 to get there.
60
175000
4000
我们现有的科技还无法到达那个高度。
03:17
So this is the dawn黎明 of the new age年龄 of kites风筝.
61
179000
2000
这样就到了风筝新舞台开始的时候。
03:19
This is our test测试 site现场 on Maui毛伊岛, flying飞行 across横过 the sky天空.
62
181000
4000
这是我们在茂宜岛上的一个测试点,在空中翱翔着。
03:23
I'm now going to show显示 you
63
185000
2000
我现在将要为你们展示
03:25
the first autonomous自主性 generation of power功率
64
187000
3000
第一自主发电机
03:28
by every一切 child's孩子的 favorite喜爱 plaything玩物.
65
190000
3000
由所有小孩最爱的玩具所提供。
03:31
As you can tell, you need to be a robot机器人 to fly this thing for thousands数千 of hours小时.
66
193000
4000
你可以想象,你需要一个机器人来几千小时的放飞这个东西。
03:35
It makes品牌 you a little nauseous恶心.
67
197000
2000
这可能让你有点眩晕。
03:37
And here we're actually其实 generating发电 about 10 kilowatts千瓦 --
68
199000
2000
而且这样我们实际上可以生产大概10千瓦--
03:39
so, enough足够 to power功率 probably大概 five United联合的 States状态 households --
69
201000
3000
所以,足够维持5个美国家庭用电--
03:42
with a kite风筝 not much larger than this piano钢琴.
70
204000
3000
就用一个不大于钢琴大小的风筝。
03:45
And the real真实 significant重大 thing here
71
207000
2000
不过最有意义的事情是
03:47
is we're developing发展 the control控制 systems系统,
72
209000
2000
我们正在开发控制系统,
03:49
as did the Wright赖特 brothers兄弟, that would enable启用 sustained持续, long-duration长时间 flight飞行.
73
211000
5000
就像莱特兄弟那样,这样会提供可持续,长时间的飞行。
03:54
And it doesn't hurt伤害 to do it in a location位置 like this either.
74
216000
5000
而也不会去破坏像这样的环境。
03:59
So this is the equivalent当量 for a kite风筝 flier传单 of peeing撒尿 in the snow --
75
221000
3000
这样的话,这样放风筝就像在雪地里撒尿一样。
04:02
that's tracing追踪 your name名称 in the sky天空.
76
224000
2000
这是在天空中画上你的名字。
04:04
And this is where we're actually其实 going.
77
226000
2000
这也是我们将要做的事。
04:06
So we're beyond the 12-second steps脚步.
78
228000
2000
我们将会翱翔在12秒之上。
04:08
And we're working加工 towards megawatt-scale兆瓦级 machines
79
230000
2000
我们正着手建造着兆瓦级机发电机
04:10
that fly at 2000 feet and generate生成 tons of clean清洁 electricity电力.
80
232000
4000
这会在2000英尺的高度飞翔,以及产生大量的电力。
04:14
So you ask, how big are those machines?
81
236000
2000
那么你会问到,这些机器有多大呢?
04:16
Well, this paper plane平面 would be maybe a -- oop接力!
82
238000
3000
好的,这个纸飞机大概会是,哟!
04:19
That would be enough足够 to power功率 your cell细胞 phone电话.
83
241000
3000
这个大概有足够的能量去提供你手机所需的动力。
04:22
Your Cessna塞斯纳 would be 230 killowattskillowatts.
84
244000
3000
你们的塞斯纳就会是230千瓦。
04:25
If you'd loan贷款 me your Gulfstream湾流, I'll rip安息 its wings翅膀 off and generate生成 you a megawatt兆瓦.
85
247000
4000
如果你能把湾流喷射机借我,我会把它的翅膀折掉,然后为你生产一千瓦特。
04:29
If you give me a 747, I'll make six megawatts兆瓦,
86
251000
3000
如果你有一个747,我可以生产6万千瓦,
04:32
which哪一个 is more than the largest最大 wind turbines涡轮机 today今天.
87
254000
3000
这比今天最大的涡流翼所生产的还要多。
04:35
And the Spruce云杉 Goose would be a 15-megawatt-megawatt wing翅膀.
88
257000
3000
史普鲁斯之鹅的翼大概是15万千瓦。
04:38
So that is audacious胆大, you say. I agree同意.
89
260000
3000
所以这是十分大胆的构想,你会说道。我同意。
04:41
But audacious胆大 is what has happened发生 many许多 times before in history历史.
90
263000
3000
但是着这样的大胆构想在我们的历史上重复了无数次了。
04:44
This is a refrigerator冰箱 factory,
91
266000
2000
这是一个电冰箱工厂,
04:46
churning翻腾 out airplanes飞机 for World世界 War战争 IIII.
92
268000
3000
在二战时生产飞机。
04:49
Prior to World世界 War战争 IIII, they were making制造 1000 planes飞机 a year.
93
271000
3000
在二战之前,他们每年生产1000架飞机。
04:52
By 1945, they were making制造 100,000.
94
274000
3000
在1945年,他们生产100000架。
04:55
With this factory and 100,000 planes飞机 a year,
95
277000
2000
像这样年产100000架飞机的工厂,
04:57
we could make all of America's美国 electricity电力 in about 10 years年份.
96
279000
4000
我们可以生产维持美国10年的电力。
05:01
So really this is a story故事 about the audacious胆大 plans计划 of young年轻 people
97
283000
3000
所以,真的,这是一个关于年轻人的大胆计划
05:04
with these dreams. There are many许多 of us.
98
286000
2000
有着这些梦想的。我们其中有很多。
05:06
I am lucky幸运 enough足够 to work with 30 of them.
99
288000
2000
我很幸运的能和他们中的30个在一起工作。
05:08
And I think we need to support支持 all of the dreams
100
290000
2000
我想我们必须支持所有的梦想
05:10
of the kids孩子 out there doing these crazy things.
101
292000
3000
孩子们的梦想,让他们去做一些疯狂的事情。
05:13
Thank you.
102
295000
1000
谢谢。
05:14
(Applause掌声)
103
296000
5000
掌声
Translated by Halei Liu
Reviewed by Tony Yet

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Saul Griffith - Inventor
Inventor Saul Griffith looks for elegant ways to make real things, from low-cost eyeglasses to a kite that tows boats. His latest projects include open-source inventions and elegant new ways to generate power.

Why you should listen

Innovator and inventor Saul Griffith has a uniquely open approach to problem solving. Whether he's devising a way to slash the cost of prescription eyeglasses or teaching science through cartoons, Griffith makes things and then shares his ideas with the world.

A proponent of open-source information, he established Instructables , an open website showing how to make an array of incredible objects. He is the co-founder of numerous companies including Squid Labs, Low Cost Eyeglasses, Potenco and Makani Power, where he is President and Chief Scientist. His companies have invented a myriad of new devices and materials, such as a "smart" rope that senses its load, or a machine for making low-cost eyeglass lenses through a process inspired by a water droplet. He is a columnist at Make magazine and co-writes How Toons! He's fascinated with materials that assemble themselves, and with taking advantage of those properties to make things quickly and cheaply.

More profile about the speaker
Saul Griffith | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

This site was created in May 2015 and the last update was on January 12, 2020. It will no longer be updated.

We are currently creating a new site called "eng.lish.video" and would be grateful if you could access it.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to write comments in your language on the contact form.

Privacy Policy

Developer's Blog

Buy Me A Coffee