So, robots. Robots can be programmed to do the same task millions of times with minimal error,
机器人。能够编写程序，以最少出错的次数让机器人完成数百万次相同的任务，
something very difficult for us, right? And it can be very impressive to watch them at work.
但对我们人类来说相当困难，对吧？看它们工作，可能令人印象很深刻。
Look at them. I could watch them for hours. No?
看它们。我可以连看几个小时。不是吗？
What is less impressive is that if you take these robots out of the factories,
不太令人印象深刻的是，如果这些机器人到了工厂外，
where the environments are not perfectly known and measured like here,
和这里全然已知和测量过的环境不一样，
to do even a simple task which doesn't require much precision, this is what can happen.
即使做个简单、无须太精密的任务，可能会这样。
I mean, opening a door, you don't require much precision.
我是说，开一扇门无须太精密。
Or a small error in the measurements, he misses the valve, and that's it -- with no way of recovering, most of the time.
或者测量中的一个小错误，使它错过了阀门，就这样，完了。大多数时候没有办法恢复。
So why is that? Well, for many years, robots have been designed to emphasize speed and precision,
为什么呢？多年来，机器人的设计强调速度和精密度，
and this translates into a very specific architecture.
转化成为非常具体的架构。
If you take a robot arm, it's a very well-defined set of rigid links and motors, what we call actuators, they move the links about the joints.
如果拿一只机器手臂，用的是一套很明确的刚性链接和被称为执行器的机电，移动关节周围的链接。
In this robotic structure, you have to perfectly measure your environment, so what is around,
在这个机器人结构里，周围的环境必须被完美地测量，也就是周围有什么，
and you have to perfectly program every movement of the robot joints,
你也必须完美地编写每个机器人关节动作的指令，
because a small error can generate a very large fault,
因为一个小错误可能会导致非常大的错误，
so you can damage something or you can get your robot damaged if something is harder.
可能损毁东西；或者，如果那东西比较硬，就会损毁机器人。
So let's talk about them a moment.
让我们来谈一会儿。
And don't think about the brains of these robots or how carefully we program them, but rather look at their bodies.
不要考虑这些机器人的脑或它的程序写得多仔细，而是看它们的身体。
There is obviously something wrong with it,
身体显然有点不对劲，
because what makes a robot precise and strong also makes them ridiculously dangerous and ineffective in the real world,
因为使机器人精确和强大的因素，也使它们在现实世界中危险和没效率，
because their body cannot deform or better adjust to the interaction with the real world.
因为它们的身体不能变形，也无法更适应与真实世界的相互作用。
So think about the opposite approach, being softer than anything else around you.
因此反向思考，比周围的其他事物更柔软。
Well, maybe you think that you're not really able to do anything if you're soft, probably.
也许你认为柔软就办不了事。或许吧。
Well, nature teaches us the opposite.
然而，大自然告诉我们的恰恰相反。
For example, at the bottom of the ocean, under thousands of pounds of hydrostatic pressure,
例如，在海底，在数千磅的静水压力下，
a completely soft animal can move and interact with a much stiffer object than him.
完全柔软的动物能移动，也能与比它硬的物体相互作用。
He walks by carrying around this coconut shell thanks to the flexibility of his tentacles, which serve as both his feet and hands.
它带着这个椰子壳走来走去，它的触手灵活，既是脚，也是手。
And apparently, an octopus can also open a jar. It's pretty impressive, right?
很显然，章鱼能开罐。令人印象深刻，对吧？
But clearly, this is not enabled just by the brain of this animal, but also by his body,
但显然，它办得到不仅由于脑，也由于身体，
and it's a clear example, maybe the clearest example, of embodied intelligence,
这是个明显，也许最明显展现智能的例子，
which is a kind of intelligence that all living organisms have. We all have that.
一种生物具有的智能。我们都有。
Our body, its shape, material and structure, plays a fundamental role during a physical task,
我们的身体、形状、材质和结构，在做动作时起至关重要的作用；
because we can conform to our environment so we can succeed in a large variety of situations without much planning or calculations ahead.
因为我们符合环境，因此能在各种情况下成功，无需提前计划或计算。
So why don't we put some of this embodied intelligence into our robotic machines,
那为什么不把这些展现的身体智能放入机器人，
to release them from relying on excessive work on computation and sensing?
让它们摆脱过度依赖计算和感知的工作呢？
Well, to do that, we can follow the strategy of nature,
为了做到这一点，我们可以遵循自然的战略；
because with evolution, she's done a pretty good job in designing machines for environment interaction.
因为演化过程中的机器与环境的交互作用设计得非常好。
And it's easy to notice that nature uses soft material frequently and stiff material sparingly.
注意到大自然常用软质的材料，很少用坚硬的材料，这很容易。
And this is what is done in this new field of robotics, which is called "soft robotics,"
这就是在“软式机器人”这个新的机器人技术领域里做的，
in which the main objective is not to make super-precise machines, because we've already got them,
主要的目标不是制造超精密的机器，因为我们已经有了；
but to make robots able to face unexpected situations in the real world, so able to go out there.
而是要让机器人能够面对现实世界中的意外情况，能够走出去。
And what makes a robot soft is first of all its compliant body,
要让机器人柔软，先要让的它的身体柔顺，
which is made of materials or structures that can undergo very large deformations, so no more rigid links,
用可承受大变形的材料或结构构成，不用刚性的连接。
and secondly, to move them, we use what we call distributed actuation,
其次，用分布式驱动来移动它们，
so we have to control continuously the shape of this very deformable body,
必须不断地控制这种变形身体的形状，
which has the effect of having a lot of links and joints, but we don't have any stiff structure at all.
这种变形身体有很多连接和关节的效果，但没有任何僵硬的结构。

So you can imagine that building a soft robot is a very different process than stiff robotics,
可以想象打造软式机器人是个非常不一样的过程，
where you have links, gears, screws that you must combine in a very defined way.
不是用链接、齿轮、螺丝的僵硬机器人，必须以一种非常明确的方式结合。
In soft robots, you just build your actuator from scratch most of the time,
做软式机器人大多时候只需从头开始建造执行器，
but you shape your flexible material to the form that responds to a certain input.
但是将柔性的材料塑造成会回应特定输入的形式。
For example, here, you can just deform a structure doing a fairly complex shape if you think about doing the same with rigid links and joints,
比如说在这里，如果用刚性的链接和关节，结构将会相当复杂；
and here, what you use is just one input, such as air pressure.
而（软式结构）这里只需一个输入，例如气压。
OK, but let's see some cool examples of soft robots.
让我们看一些软式机器人的酷例子。
Here is a little cute guy developed at Harvard University,
这里有个哈佛大学开发的可爱的小伙子，
and he walks thanks to waves of pressure applied along its body,
由身体上施加的压力波而行走；
and thanks to the flexibility, he can also sneak under a low bridge, keep walking,
并且灵活到可以在低矮的桥下潜行，一直走，
and then keep walking a little bit different afterwards.
一直走，然后有些不同。
And it's a very preliminary prototype, but they also built a more robust version with power on board
这是个极为初步的原型，还有个配有电源板的进阶版，
that can actually be sent out in the world and face real-world interactions like a car passing it over it ... and keep working. It's cute.
能实际在现实世界面对面交流，例如汽车开过它的身旁，它继续向前走。它真可爱。
Or a robotic fish, which swims like a real fish does in water
还有机器鱼，像真鱼一样游在水中，
simply because it has a soft tail with distributed actuation using still air pressure.
只因它有柔软的尾巴，用静止空气压来分布式驱动它。
That was from MIT, and of course, we have a robotic octopus.
那是麻省理工学院做的，当然，我们还有机器章鱼。
This was actually one of the first projects developed in this new field of soft robots.
实际上这是软式机器人这新领域开发的第一批项目之一。
Here, you see the artificial tentacle,
这里看得到人造的触手，
but they actually built an entire machine with several tentacles they could just throw in the water,
实际上他们造了带有几只触手的整个机器，可以把它扔进水中，
and you see that it can kind of go around and do submarine exploration in a different way than rigid robots would do.
它可以四处走动，以不同于硬式机器人的方式在水里探索。
But this is very important for delicate environments, such as coral reefs.
但这对珊瑚礁等微妙环境非常重要。
Let's go back to the ground. Here, you see the view from a growing robot developed by my colleagues in Stanford.
让我们回到地面。这里看得到斯坦福大学的同事正开发的机器人的图。
You see the camera fixed on top. And this robot is particular, because using air pressure,
相机固定在顶部。这机器人很特别，因为用气压，
it grows from the tip, while the rest of the body stays in firm contact with the environment.
它向上长，而身体的其余部分维持与环境的紧密接触。
And this is inspired by plants, not animals,
它的灵感来自于植物，而不是动物，
which grows via the material in a similar manner so it can face a pretty large variety of situations.
植物以类似的方式生长，因此能面对各式各样的状况。
But I'm a biomedical engineer, and perhaps the application I like the most is in the medical field,
我是生物医学工程师，我最喜欢医学领域的应用，
and it's very difficult to imagine a closer interaction with the human body than actually going inside the body,
难以想象还有更为紧密的与人体的相互作用，除非实际进入人体的内部，
for example, to perform a minimally invasive procedure. And here, robots can be very helpful with the surgeon,
例如，执行微创手术。在此机器人能对外科医师有很大帮助，
because they must enter the body using small holes and straight instruments,
因为医师们必须使用小孔和直的器械进入人体，
and these instruments must interact with very delicate structures in a very uncertain environment, and this must be done safely.
这些器械必须在很不确定的环境中与非常微妙的结构相互作用，且必须安全地进行。
Also bringing the camera inside the body,
将相机带入身体内部，
so bringing the eyes of the surgeon inside the surgical field can be very challenging if you use a rigid stick, like a classic endoscope.
将外科医师的眼睛带入手术区域，如果用像传统的内视镜之类的刚性棒可能极具挑战。
With my previous research group in Europe,
我与以前在欧洲的研究小组一起，
we developed this soft camera robot for surgery, which is very different from a classic endoscope,
开发这款手术用的软式照相机器人，与传统的内视镜很不同，
which can move thanks to the flexibility of the module that can bend in every direction and also elongate.
它能移动，这要归功于模块的灵活性，可以向各个方向弯曲或伸长。
And this was actually used by surgeons to see what they were doing with other instruments from different points of view,
实际上，外科医师用这种方法，从不同的角度观察其他仪器进行的操作，
without caring that much about what was touched around. And here you see the soft robot in action, and it just goes inside.
无须分心去在乎触及了什么。在这里看得到软式机器人在行动，它进入体内。
This is a body simulator, not a real human body. It goes around.
这是一具模拟的人体，不是真正的人体。它四处走动。
You have a light, because usually, you don't have too many lights inside your body. We hope.
这里有个灯，因为体内通常没亮光。最好没有。
But sometimes, a surgical procedure can even be done using a single needle,
但有时候，甚至可以用单针完成外科手术，
and in Stanford now, we are working on a very flexible needle,
我们现今在斯坦福大学研究一种非常灵活的针头，
kind of a very tiny soft robot which is mechanically designed to use the interaction with the tissues and steer around inside a solid organ.
它是一种非常小巧的软式机器人，被设计来与组织相互作用，在坚实的器官内转来转去。
This makes it possible to reach many different targets, such as tumors, deep inside a solid organ by using one single insertion point.
所以通过单个插入孔就能到达实体器官深处的肿瘤或许多不同目标。
And you can even steer around the structure that you want to avoid on the way to the target.
你甚至还可以绕过你想要在到达目标前避开的其他结构。
So clearly, this is a pretty exciting time for robotics.
显然对于机器人来说，这是个非常激动人心的时刻。
We have robots that have to deal with soft structures,
有了软式结构的机器人，
so this poses new and very challenging questions for the robotics community,
给机器人领域带来了新的、极具挑战性的问题，
and indeed, we are just starting to learn how to control, how to put sensors on these very flexible structures.
而我们实际上才刚刚开始学习如何控制，如何将传感器放在这些非常灵活的结构上。
But of course, we are not even close to what nature figured out in millions of years of evolution.
但是当然，我们离自然界数百万年间演变过程中的发现还远得很。
But one thing I know for sure: robots will be softer and safer, and they will be out there helping people. Thank you.
但有一点我很肯定：机器人会更柔软、更安全，它们能帮人的还多着呢。谢谢。