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