绘制建筑能源效率图的新工具

    Architects, engineers and building supervisors will soon be able to quickly collect information that once took weeks to measure and process.
    建筑师、工程师和建筑监理人员将很快能够迅速收集曾经需要数周时间来测量和处理的信息。

    Scientists have developed a device to gather information about building interiors – the design and exact measurements of a building. The scientists are with the University of California, Berkeley. Their invention connects to a backpack that can be carried on a person's back.
    科学家们已经开发出一种装置来收集建筑物内部包括布局和精确尺寸在内的有关信息。这些科学家来自加州大学伯克利分校。他们的发明物连到了一个可以背的背包上。

    The device requires only one pass through a building to create a three-dimensional, or 3D, model of the structure. In other words, the model shows an object's height, width and depth. The device also is able to collect other valuable information related to the building's energy usage.
    该装置只需要穿过一次建筑物就能创建出该建筑的三维结构模型。换句话说,该模型能够展示出物体的高度、宽度和深度。该装置还能收集有关该建筑能源消耗的有用信息。

    An older building may need a new, more efficient heating and cooling system. Experts say the first thing you need to know is the exact shape of all rooms in the building. You have to consider the size and position of heating and cooling equipment, windows and doors. Another consideration is the placement of electrical outlets – the areas where electrically-operated equipment can be connected to the power supply.
    一栋较旧的建筑可能需要安装一套新的更有效的供热和降温系统。专家们表示,要做的第一件事就是知道该建筑所有房间的确切形状。你必须考虑到供热和降温系统以及门窗的尺寸和位置。另外一项需要考虑的是电源插座的布局,也就是电器设备取电的位置。

    Annie Marston is with Baumann Consulting, the business that developed the new device. She says that instead of using a team of experts with laptop computers and other devices, it will soon be possible to send only one person with a space-age backpack.
    安妮·马斯顿(Annie Marston)就职于鲍曼咨询,该公司开发了这款新设备。她说,以后不再需要需要配备笔记本电脑和其它设备的专家团队,可能很快就只需要派出一位背着这款先进背包的员工。

    "The backpack is something you can wear, which has all the sensors on the back, which can then walk through a building and detect the geometry, the lights, the plug load, and once you take it out, you can create a 3D model which can show an IR (infrared) image of each of the walls and look at the thermal capacity of the building, and then it can be transferred into an energy model, and the energy model could be run and look at how the energy is dispersed within the building, and that's when we start looking at saving measures and things like that."
    她说,“这是一种可穿戴的背包,所有传感器都安装在背包背面,它可以在穿过建筑物的同时测量出几何形状、光源、插座。你能利用它创建出能够显示墙壁红外图像的三维模型,并查看该建筑的热容量,然后把这些导入能量模型,运行这个能量模型就能查出能量在该建筑内如何分布。这样我们就能开始寻找节能措施等等。”

    Weather experts use a scientific instrument called a barometer to measure pressure in Earth's atmosphere. But the device uses a barometer to estimate height. Instruments called magnetometers act as 3D compasses. They gather information about metallic structures.
    气象学家利用一种名为气压计的科学仪器来测量地球的大气压力。但是该装置利用气压计来测量高度。磁强传感器设备被用作3D罗盘,它们可以收集金属结构信息。

    The University of California scientists say they can create a virtual map with an accuracy of plus or minus 10 centimeters. They say the device uses a mathematical problem to add surfaces to the walls and floors. This can be used for architectural design or to run tests on energy usage.
    加州大学的科学家表示,他们可以创建出精度在正负10厘米的虚拟地图。他们说该装置采用了一个数学办法给墙壁和地板添加曲面,这可以用于建筑设计或测试能源消耗。

    Annie Marston says the device may be very useful to energy testers and engineers but also to builders and the construction industry.
    安妮·马斯顿说该装置对能源测试人员和工程师可能非常有用,对制造商和建筑业也非常有用。

    "When they are building a new construction, it will be great to have a model of the ducts and the pipes before the walls are closed up, so in later years you know where everything is," she says.
    她说,“当他们在建造一栋新建筑时,在墙体封闭前就拥有管道模型非常有用。这样多年后你就知道它们都在什么位置。”

    Researchers say they are now working to lower the weight of the backpack from 15 to about 10 kilograms. But the price of the device is about $20,000. Researchers predict the device will be available for loan at a much lower price.
    研究人员表示他们目前正致力于将该背包的重量从15公斤降低到10公斤。但是该设备的价格在2万美元左右。研究人员预计该设备能以更低的价格租到。

    I'm Jonathan Evans.
    我是乔纳森·埃文斯(Jonathan Evans)。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利,未经授权请勿转载,违者必究!)