02-05-2011, 03:33 PM
[attachment=13254]
Abstract
"Claytronics" is an emerging field of engineering concerning reconfigurable Nanoscale
robots ('claytronic atoms', or catoms) designed to form much larger scale machines or
mechanisms. Also known as "programmable matter", the catoms will be sub-millimeter
computers that will eventually have the ability to move around, communicate with each
others, change color, and electrostatically connect to other catoms to form different shapes.
The forms made up of catoms could morph into nearly any object, even replicas of human
beings for virtual meetings.
With Claytronics we are talking of intelligent material. How can a material be intelligent?
By being made up of particle-sized machines. At Carnegie Mellon, with support from Intel,
the project is called Claytronics. The idea is simple: make basic computers housed in tiny
spheres that can connect to each other and rearrange themselves. It’s the same concept as
we saw with Modular Robotics, only on a smaller scale. Each particle, called a Claytronics
atom or Catom, is less than a millimeter in diameter. With billions you could make almost any object you wanted.
Introduction
This project combines modular robotics, systems nanotechnology and computer science to
create the dynamic, 3-Dimensional display of electronic information known as Claytronics.
The main goal is to give tangible, interactive forms to information so that a user's senses
will experience digital environments as though they are indistinguishable from reality.
Claytronics is taking place across a rapidly advancing frontier. This technology will help to
drive breathtaking advances in the design and engineering of computing and hardware
systems.
Our research team focuses on two main projects:
· Creating the basic modular building block of Claytronics known as the claytronic
atom or Catom, and
· Designing and writing robust and reliable software programs that will manage the
shaping of ensembles of millions of catoms into dynamic, 3-Dimensional forms.
Realizing the vision of Claytronics through the self-assembly of millions of catoms into
synthetic reality will have a profound effect on the experience of users of electronic
information.
Development of this powerful form of information display represents a partnership between
the School of Computer Sciences of Carnegie Mellon University and Intel Corporation at its
Pittsburgh Laboratory. As an integral part of our philosophy, the Claytronics Project seeks
the contributions of scholars and researchers worldwide who are dedicating their efforts to
the diverse scientific and engineering studies related to this rich field of nanotechnology
and computer science.
The Role of Moore’s Law
This promise of claytronic technology has become possible because of the ever increasing
speeds of computer processing predicted in Moore's Law (the number of transistors that can
be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has increased exponentially, doubling
approximately every two years).
Claytronics Vs Nanotechnology
Forget Nanotechnology, Think Claytronics
Videoconferencing is like visiting someone in prison. You talk through a glass wall, but you
can't deal with each other in a meaningful way.
With Claytronics you could fax over an exact copy of your body, which will sit in that
conference room thousands of miles away, mimicking your moves in real time and speaking
with your voice.
Claytronics experts are designing a kind of programmable clay that can morph into a
working 3-D replica of any person or object, based on information transmitted from
anywhere in the world. The clay would be made out of millions of tiny microprocessors
called catoms (for "claytronic atoms"), each less than a millimeter wide. The catoms would
bond electro-statically and be molded into different shapes when instructed by software.
Think of Claytronics as a more workable version of nanotechnology, which in its most
advanced form promises to do the same thing but requires billions of self-assembling
robots.
Processors are getting ever smaller, and at the submilli-meter level, they could
communicate and move around independently, thanks to electrostatic forces. This makes
the possibility of Claytronics even greater.
Intel and Carnegie Mellon joined forces in 2005 to cosponsor a project with a team of 25
robotics researchers and computer scientists. Their first breakthrough came when they
developed software that can root out bugs in a system where millions of processors are
working together.
The researchers say they will have a hardware prototype of submillimeter electrostatic
modules in five years and will be able to fax complex 3-D models --anything from
engagement rings to sports cars -- by 2017.
These are the fundamental building blocks for a new world of processing. Intel can see the
potential.
That potential could change the world. Who needs a TV when you can watch a live-scale
replica of Super Bowl LXX being fought out by claytronic football players on your coffee
table? Why would a firefighter run into a burning building when he can send a claytronic
version of himself? It's computing in 3-D in everyday life.
ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 2017
1. SHAPE-SHIFTING: Millions of tiny processors called catoms could turn, say, a
laptop into a cell phone. Here's how.
2. Electrostatic forces bind catoms together in laptop form. Some act as antennas,
picking up Wi-Fi.
3. The software tells each Catom where to go. Catoms are spherical and roll around one
another.
4. The catoms arrive in the shape of a cell phone. Antenna catoms are now picking up
3G signals.
Claytronics Hardware
Through hardware engineering projects, researchers in the Carnegie Mellon-Intel
Claytronics Project investigate the effects of scale on micro-electro-mechanical systems and
model concepts for manufacturable, Nanoscale modular robots capable of self-assembly.
Catoms created from this research to populate claytronic ensembles will be less than a
millimeter in size, and the challenge in designing and manufacturing them draws the CMUIntel
Research team into a scale of engineering where have never been built. The team of
research scientists, engineers, technicians and students who design these devices are testing
concepts that cross the frontiers of computer science, modular robotics and systems
nanotechnology.
The team of research scientists, engineers, technicians and graduate and undergraduate
students assembled at Carnegie Mellon and in the Pittsburgh Intel Lab to design these
devices is testing the performance of concepts beyond boundaries commonly believed to
prevent the engineering of such a small scale, self-actuating module that combines in huge
numbers to create cooperative patterns of work.
At the current stage of design, Claytronics hardware operates from macroscale designs with
devices that are much larger than the tiny modular robots that set the goals of this
engineering research. Such devices are designed to test concepts for sub-millimeter scale
modules and to elucidate crucial effects of the physical and electrical forces that affect
Nanoscale robots.
Types of Catoms
· Planar catoms: Test the concept of motion without moving parts and the design of
force effectors that create cooperative motion within ensembles of modular robots.
· Electrostatic latches: Model a new system of binding and releasing the connection
between modular robots, a connection that creates motion and transfers power and
data while employing a small factor of a powerful force.
· Stochastic Catoms: Integrate random motion with global objectives communicated in
simple computer language to form predetermined patterns, using a natural force to
actuate a simple device, one that cooperates with other small helium catoms to fulfill
a set of unique instructions.
Abstract
"Claytronics" is an emerging field of engineering concerning reconfigurable Nanoscale
robots ('claytronic atoms', or catoms) designed to form much larger scale machines or
mechanisms. Also known as "programmable matter", the catoms will be sub-millimeter
computers that will eventually have the ability to move around, communicate with each
others, change color, and electrostatically connect to other catoms to form different shapes.
The forms made up of catoms could morph into nearly any object, even replicas of human
beings for virtual meetings.
With Claytronics we are talking of intelligent material. How can a material be intelligent?
By being made up of particle-sized machines. At Carnegie Mellon, with support from Intel,
the project is called Claytronics. The idea is simple: make basic computers housed in tiny
spheres that can connect to each other and rearrange themselves. It’s the same concept as
we saw with Modular Robotics, only on a smaller scale. Each particle, called a Claytronics
atom or Catom, is less than a millimeter in diameter. With billions you could make almost any object you wanted.
Introduction
This project combines modular robotics, systems nanotechnology and computer science to
create the dynamic, 3-Dimensional display of electronic information known as Claytronics.
The main goal is to give tangible, interactive forms to information so that a user's senses
will experience digital environments as though they are indistinguishable from reality.
Claytronics is taking place across a rapidly advancing frontier. This technology will help to
drive breathtaking advances in the design and engineering of computing and hardware
systems.
Our research team focuses on two main projects:
· Creating the basic modular building block of Claytronics known as the claytronic
atom or Catom, and
· Designing and writing robust and reliable software programs that will manage the
shaping of ensembles of millions of catoms into dynamic, 3-Dimensional forms.
Realizing the vision of Claytronics through the self-assembly of millions of catoms into
synthetic reality will have a profound effect on the experience of users of electronic
information.
Development of this powerful form of information display represents a partnership between
the School of Computer Sciences of Carnegie Mellon University and Intel Corporation at its
Pittsburgh Laboratory. As an integral part of our philosophy, the Claytronics Project seeks
the contributions of scholars and researchers worldwide who are dedicating their efforts to
the diverse scientific and engineering studies related to this rich field of nanotechnology
and computer science.
The Role of Moore’s Law
This promise of claytronic technology has become possible because of the ever increasing
speeds of computer processing predicted in Moore's Law (the number of transistors that can
be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has increased exponentially, doubling
approximately every two years).
Claytronics Vs Nanotechnology
Forget Nanotechnology, Think Claytronics
Videoconferencing is like visiting someone in prison. You talk through a glass wall, but you
can't deal with each other in a meaningful way.
With Claytronics you could fax over an exact copy of your body, which will sit in that
conference room thousands of miles away, mimicking your moves in real time and speaking
with your voice.
Claytronics experts are designing a kind of programmable clay that can morph into a
working 3-D replica of any person or object, based on information transmitted from
anywhere in the world. The clay would be made out of millions of tiny microprocessors
called catoms (for "claytronic atoms"), each less than a millimeter wide. The catoms would
bond electro-statically and be molded into different shapes when instructed by software.
Think of Claytronics as a more workable version of nanotechnology, which in its most
advanced form promises to do the same thing but requires billions of self-assembling
robots.
Processors are getting ever smaller, and at the submilli-meter level, they could
communicate and move around independently, thanks to electrostatic forces. This makes
the possibility of Claytronics even greater.
Intel and Carnegie Mellon joined forces in 2005 to cosponsor a project with a team of 25
robotics researchers and computer scientists. Their first breakthrough came when they
developed software that can root out bugs in a system where millions of processors are
working together.
The researchers say they will have a hardware prototype of submillimeter electrostatic
modules in five years and will be able to fax complex 3-D models --anything from
engagement rings to sports cars -- by 2017.
These are the fundamental building blocks for a new world of processing. Intel can see the
potential.
That potential could change the world. Who needs a TV when you can watch a live-scale
replica of Super Bowl LXX being fought out by claytronic football players on your coffee
table? Why would a firefighter run into a burning building when he can send a claytronic
version of himself? It's computing in 3-D in everyday life.
ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 2017
1. SHAPE-SHIFTING: Millions of tiny processors called catoms could turn, say, a
laptop into a cell phone. Here's how.
2. Electrostatic forces bind catoms together in laptop form. Some act as antennas,
picking up Wi-Fi.
3. The software tells each Catom where to go. Catoms are spherical and roll around one
another.
4. The catoms arrive in the shape of a cell phone. Antenna catoms are now picking up
3G signals.
Claytronics Hardware
Through hardware engineering projects, researchers in the Carnegie Mellon-Intel
Claytronics Project investigate the effects of scale on micro-electro-mechanical systems and
model concepts for manufacturable, Nanoscale modular robots capable of self-assembly.
Catoms created from this research to populate claytronic ensembles will be less than a
millimeter in size, and the challenge in designing and manufacturing them draws the CMUIntel
Research team into a scale of engineering where have never been built. The team of
research scientists, engineers, technicians and students who design these devices are testing
concepts that cross the frontiers of computer science, modular robotics and systems
nanotechnology.
The team of research scientists, engineers, technicians and graduate and undergraduate
students assembled at Carnegie Mellon and in the Pittsburgh Intel Lab to design these
devices is testing the performance of concepts beyond boundaries commonly believed to
prevent the engineering of such a small scale, self-actuating module that combines in huge
numbers to create cooperative patterns of work.
At the current stage of design, Claytronics hardware operates from macroscale designs with
devices that are much larger than the tiny modular robots that set the goals of this
engineering research. Such devices are designed to test concepts for sub-millimeter scale
modules and to elucidate crucial effects of the physical and electrical forces that affect
Nanoscale robots.
Types of Catoms
· Planar catoms: Test the concept of motion without moving parts and the design of
force effectors that create cooperative motion within ensembles of modular robots.
· Electrostatic latches: Model a new system of binding and releasing the connection
between modular robots, a connection that creates motion and transfers power and
data while employing a small factor of a powerful force.
· Stochastic Catoms: Integrate random motion with global objectives communicated in
simple computer language to form predetermined patterns, using a natural force to
actuate a simple device, one that cooperates with other small helium catoms to fulfill
a set of unique instructions.
