Molecular Nanotechnology: Giant Amoebas Invade Cities Appearing from seemingly nowhere, huge amorphous blobs
congeal on skyscrapers and bridges... eating the structures, ripping
them apart beam by beam, from the top down in some bizarre slow motion
choreography, stacking the construction materials in neat piles around
their consumed victims. Soon, whole buildings are razed to the ground,
surrounded by their own components.
Has science unleashed some uncontrollable mutant,
destined to devour our cities and infrastructure? Is this a motion
picture? Yes, but a movie run backwards.
Seen from the beginning (in forward time), trucks arrive
at a hole in the ground dumping structural materials to the side. A
few special trucks appear loaded with solid rectangular cargo Suddenly
these featureless cargoes become animated, break into individual cubes
and "pour" themselves off the flatbeds to the ground by sliding over
and around each other. Now a chunky blob, the mass raises itself from
legs made of its own cubes, while cubes at the top slide over the
bottom
cubes, then down the leading edge to.make more legs as back legs
withdraw into the mass. The monstrosity "walks" over by two other off
loaded blobs. The blobs congeal into a larger mass then heads for a
pile of steel I-Beams.
From inside the creature, stubby arms appear, sliding
over the cubes' flat surfaces, heading towards the steel. Great
numbers of beams are hoisted from the ground and elevated to the top
of the mass as other arms slide down for more. Then, the whole monster
morphs and pours down the hole with the beams. From the ground, one by
one, beams appear vertically in a symmetrical pattern and other beams
are attached crosswise by arms with whining torque wretches.
What is going on? What are these things? They are
Fractal Shape Shifting Robots. You are witnessing the birth of an age
called "Digital Matter," where units of matter are controlled
discreetly, like computers treat bits of information.
The New Unlimited Machine
A simple can opener or a complex asphalt paver are both
single purpose machines. Ask them to clean your floor, or build a
radio tower and they "stare" back blankly. A computer is different. It
is a multi purpose machine-- one machine that can do unlimited tasks
by changing software... but only in the world of bits and information.
Fractal Robots are programmable machines that can do unlimited tasks
in the physical world, the world of matter. Load the right software
and the same "machines" can take out the garbage, paint your car, or
construct an office building, and later, wash that building's windows.
Fractal Shape Shifting Robots look like "Rubic's Cubes" that can
"slide" over
each other on command, changing and moving in any overall shape
desired for a particular task. A "Tool Kit" of mobile, programmable
arms for manipulating beams and construction material as well as
welders, cutters, power wrenches etc. can attach themselves where
needed on any cube surface. They work in large masses and cubes appear
identical to each other. From a distance they may resemble an
industrious amoeba as they construct... without traditional human
labor, 24 hours a day, in any weather. These cubes communicate with
each other and share power through simple internal induction coils (or
surface contacts in some models), have batteries, a small computer and
various kinds of internal magnetic and electric inductive motors
(depending on size) used to travel over other cubes. Construction
cubes are big, but utilize smaller cubes to slide into "tight spots"
as needed.
Self sustaining systems and self-assembly of large and
smaller cubes is a goal that could drop cost dramatically and enable
successive generations of robots exhibiting greater industrial
utility. When sufficiently miniaturized (below 0.1mm) and fabricated
using photolithography and E-Beam methods, the machines may exceed
human manual dexterity and could then be programmed to assemble
complex fractal aggregates that maintain the photolithographic and
E-Beam equipment needed for smaller generations-- perhaps to the
molecular scale... Nanotechnology.
Interestingly, the more cubes in a mass the more
computers communicating with each other enabling "smarter" behavior.
When not engaged otherwise, a million cubes could be contracted out
from any location utilizing the internet, as a very powerful massively
parallel supercomputer.
Basic concept of a fractal robot
The bricks are like Lego bricks in that they snap
together to make a new shape. The bricks have interior motors that
allows them to slide around under computer manipulation and create new
shapes similar to the way kids build toy houses or toy bridges. This
gives us 'Digital Control of Matter'. To make the machine 'fractal',
special bricks have half size plates on one face that allow half size
bricks to join. These in turn can have quarter size plates to attach
quarter size bricks and so on like the diminishing branches of a tree,
until we get to microscopic bricks.
The smaller the bricks, the finer the control we have
over this 'digital matter'. Large bricks are electromechanical robotic
devices, but as they diminish in size they will be fabricated using
micro-machining and chip manufacturing techniques. Below 100 microns,
they can use electrostatic motors until we get down to cubes of nano
dimensions where the individual atoms become too big. At these scales,
as our knowledge of surface chemistry improves, the robotic cubes will
be able to interface directly with molecules opening up new avenues
for exploring the manufacture of nanotechnology devices.
Presenting, Fractal Shape Shifting Robots, Programmable
"Digital Matter" For the last year, British engineer Joe Michael has
been demonstrating 12-inch wide prototype robotic "cubes". They work,
and are built with "off the shelf" components and a screwdriver. This
same basic cube
design can be scaled up to meter size for construction use, or scaled
down in generations exhibiting greater industrial value and may be
termed as macro (hold in your hand) sized "nanorobot" prototypes,
possessing AND performing many of the desirable features of mature
nanomachines (as described in Drexler's, Engines of Creation,
Unbounding the Future).
Michael is head of *Robotic Construction International.
Dallas based *Zyvex Corporation was the first nanotechnology company
with the specific goal of developing the Molecular Assembler (a device
that can build with individual atoms and led to self replicating
machinery and consumer goods). Zyvex is taking what is generally known
as a "Bottom Up" approach to developing an assembler, building
components with
atoms and molecules and are some 5 -10 years away from the first
"breakthrough." The advantage of Michael's "Top-Down" approach is that
useful products can be developed from existing prototypes in less than
two years. Consider Michael's next technology demonstration under
development right now: Two large Plexiglas aquariums are set parallel
to each other, 24 inches apart (this is an arbitrary number and could
be 24 feet). Towards the top of the first aquarium, a hole is drilled
and fitted with a tube leading to a hole in the second aquarium. Now
both are connected. On the floor of the first aquarium, several feet
from the top-- sits a large group of three inch cubes, arranged in a
neat pyramid. Some of the cubes have stubby, electrically powered
grippers, held on the cube's featureless surface by internal
electromagnets. Surrounding the cubes is a box frame made of model
I-Beams that snap together at the ends. This skeletal box of I-beams
is representational of construction elements used for assembling a toy
train bridge trestle, or the structural members of a skyscraper.
On command, the "pyramid" begins to move over its bottom
cubes towards one corner of the box. The overall shape changes as
cubes slide over each other, reaching up and snaps the top joint,
while cubes at the bottom do likewise. "Gripper" cubes slide with the
disassembled beams in tow, and release them on the aquarium floor. The
process is continued until all the beams are free.
Then, looking like that chunky amoeba, the mass of cubes
change shape dramatically, as they slide over and up each other
"crawling" towards the connecting tube above. The mass gets thinner as
it gets longer, heading north. The first few cubes reach the opening
and the outer line of traveling cubes shift motion 90 degrees and
start entering the tube.
After enough cubes have entered the tube to anchor a
hoist of the remaining mass, gripper cubes grab individual I-beams and
haul them to the top, then rotate the beams to enter the tube head
first and disappear. After the last beam, the remaining cubes are
hoisted by cubes at the top, and the whole mass disappears from the
first aquarium. In the second aquarium, a group appears from the tube
descending down the glass in a line to form an elevator for the mass.
Beams appear and rotate, then descend to a forming base
of cubes. Once all the cubes are out and down, the mass begins
reassembling the box, starting from the ground up. After the box of
beams is complete, the cubes retreat to the center and again, form a
pyramid.
This process can be repeated until the batteries drain,
or indefinitely if supplied with recharging induction coils in the
floor of the aquarium.
A structure normally requiring millions of dollars of
labor can be constructed with this equipment, working tirelessly-- 24
hours a day in any weather, attaching beams in parallel to finish a
job in a fraction of the normal require time-- then go on to build
again. The whole mass can literally "walk" to the next job site. This
is Robotic Construction International's first commercial application
of Fractal Robotic technology.
Other "large" cube applications include modifying the
technology for the installation of masonry or marble facades, windows,
wiring, air and plumbing. Emergency aircraft runways could be erected
by programming these robotic cubes to arrange themselves in flat
masses of plates. If cubes became damaged, they could be automatically
discarded and replaced by the other cubes Such temporary airstrips can
be carried on ship where they are "dumped" into the sea, and "walk"
themselves to land. Minefield clearing cubes could run about
autonomously keeping tack of location with satellite navigation,
brimming with sensors sniffing explosives, detecting magnetic fields,
using ground penetrating radar and even X-Ray and Gamma-Ray
spectrography (bombard the ground and see what bounces back).
Smaller cubes get interesting. A large number of tiny cubes,
possessing much computer power could be a great childrens toy,
morphing into letters, speaking to and teaching kids to read-- later,
picking up the kid's room and, if needed, walking the dog. How long
before cubes become tireless indispensable servants?
Like many inventions, all the parts were already "on the
shelf"-- it just took someone to put them together. The large 3' heavy
construction models (first commercial application) will be a "gentle"
introduction to the world of "Digital Matter." These things come with
"tool kits" including "stick on" arms to manipulate materials. When
cube assembly by other cubes drops price dramatically and the use of
older generation chip facilities start pumping out masses of
sub-millimeter generations, also assembled by other cubes... things
could get interesting. The engineering path is clear.
Remember the "bad guy" robot in Terminator-2... what's
the difference?
by Bill Spence