The Cambrian explosion is a historical event that occurred 530 million years ago and refers to the phenomenon of complex new species of organisms that did not exist before that time appearing in the fossil record in a relatively short period of time. Almost all of the remaining animal phyla may have appeared during this period, and it is possible that diversity increased dramatically. Paleontologist Andrew Parker has proposed the theory that one factor in the Cambrian explosion was that "organisms first had eyes, from which they developed vision, making it easier for them to find mates for reproduction and to prey on them."
Professor Yutaka Matsuo of the University of Tokyo likens this to the Cambrian Explosion of AI, saying that just as humans can process data received from image sensors (retina) in the visual cortex, machines have begun to have "eyes" through the evolution of machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence will evolve explosively just like life. Let us further extend Professor Matsuo's idea to the motion required in physical space.
The energy transition and the industrial revolution are inseparable. The human-centered industial revolution, known in Japan as Society 5.0, must occur simultaneously with carbon neutrality. In the first, second, and third industrial revolutions, humans have extended their muscles as steam engines, their blood vessels as electrical networks, and their nerves as computer and information networks respectively, enabling them to harness the power of machines. In Society 5.0, all of this will need to be enabled by decarbonized electricity.
As shown in the network diagram in Figure 1, factories before the second industrial revolution were similar to living organisms powered by a single muscle cell, namely steam engine. In order to mass-produce automobiles, Henry Ford started a productivity revolution in factories by utilizing electric motors, which were becoming increasingly popular at the time, to distribute them and optimally arrange conveyor belts and other mechanical transmission. The electric motors were able to take advantage of the fact that their performance did not deteriorate even when downsized. The factory shown in Figure 1 (right) is a multicellular complex organism with multiple muscle cells. The electrification of factories also led to the spread of electricity, which in turn led to the spread of automobiles downstream of factories and the beginning of the era of mass consumption of petroleum.
Figure 1: Electrification and Multicellularity of Factories by Henry Ford
In the network diagram shown in Figure 1, the rigid physical network was downsized and a flexible electrical network was introduced into the factory in its place. This can be likened to an organism, in which blood vessels send oxygen and nutrients to muscle cells [1].
In that a single engine mechanically drives four wheels, the current car, like the factory before the second industrial revolution, is similar to an ancient single-celled organism with only one muscle cell. If we introduce into it, collectively, a dispersed arrangement of blood vessels (electrical networks), nerves (visual perception and computers for automatic driving), and multiple muscle cells (inverters and electric motors), we can create mobility suitable for different environments, like the Cambrian explosion in the history of life (Fig. 2). Multiple muscle cells are linked by nerves and move in a coordinated manner, making it possible to achieve any kind of complex movement.
Figure 2: The Cambrian Explosion of Electro-Mobility X
The machine created here can no longer be called a car, so the author calls it " Electro-Mobility X". The " Electro-Mobility X" will move outside the factory and support people by moving around autonomously and greatly improving the productivity of a society in a phase of population adjustment.
Let us also consider the infrastructure that will support the Cambrian explosion of Electro-Mobility X. The performance of CPUs/GPUs, which receive sensor information from visual sensors and roadside infrastructure necessary for self-driving, and plan and realize optimal operations, is still evolving according to Moore's law, and Level 4 self-driving is expected to be realized in a few more years.
The first electrification of the car was made possible by the improved performance of the battery, and the energy stored in the battery for a certain time and distance enables the operation of Mobility X. The battery is like the glycogen in Mobility X, so as its performance improves, it will eventually be able to operate for longer periods of time without feeding. However, battery performance is not yet sufficiently high, so there is a certain rationale for proceeding from the electrification of small Electro-Mobility X.
The portable battery called Mobile Power Pack (MPP), which is standardized for electric bikes, is beginning to be widely used for many small mobility devices [2]. MPP has the following advantages from the viewpoint of mobility and power grid.
- They can be used as a power source for all types of small mobility X, considering that multiple batteries can be installed in the same way as dry cell batteries.
- A depleted battery can be quickly replaced with a fully charged battery at a recharging station, eliminating the need to wait for a recharge. The energy source can be taken in as easily as a Japanese omusubi (rice ball).
- Since the utilization rate of mobility vehicles is not very high, the battery's utilization rate will also decrease if a battery is built into the vehicle. However, if the batteries are interchangeable, the battery utilization rate can be improved, and society as a whole can make effective use of the few batteries that are available.
- Battery charging stations can also serve as a base for energy management, such as recharging when there is a surplus of supply and demand from renewable energy sources, and can also contribute to resilience by making it possible to support the local power supply for a certain period of time in times of emergency.
The author has already envisioned an infrastructure called MESH (Machine-learning Energy System Holistic), which integrates digital infrastructure and power grids in a mesh-like structure [3], and MPP will be an important component of MESH by taking advantage of these features.
Figure 3. MESH [3]
References
[2] Honda Mobile Power Pack e:
[3] Hiroshi Okamoto, "TEPCO Power Grid's initiative to homeostatic regulation of a cyber-physical social system: MESH to spread the Industrial Revolution like wildfire across the globe.", EnergyCentral.com, November 2023.