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CLAYTRONICS
CLAYTRONICS
M.SRIKRISHNASWATHI M.HEMALATHA III/IV CSE III/IV CSE Email:[email protected] Email:[email protected]
TIRUMALA ENGINEERING COLLEGE
Abstract:Today, computing engages a user’s
senses of sight and hearing through video
and audio devices whose effects the user
must integrate in his or her mind. Suppose
that electronic media could offer users an
active form of original information that
would fully integrate sight and sound and
add the sense of touch for the user
experience.
Suppose that the person using
information could interact physically with
it. This is the concept of claytronics, which
is also known as programmable matter.
Through this medium, users would engage
with information in realistic, 3-dimensional
forms represented in the immediacy of the
user’s personal space Claytronics
technology combines nano-robotics and
large-scale computing to create synthetic
reality, a revolutionary 3-dimensional
display of information. The vision behind
this research is to provide users with
tangible forms of electronic information
that express the appearance in actions of
original sources. 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.
Introduction:
Claytronics is nothing but making a
machine intelligent. The idea is simple:
make basic computers housed in tiny
spheres that can connect to each other and
rearrange themselves, which is similar to
Modular- Robotics.Modular self-
reconfiguring robotic systems or self-
reconfigurable modular robots are
autonomous kinematic machines with
variable morphology which helps them to
change their own shape deliberately by
rearranging the connectivity of their parts.
Catoms:
With claytronics, millions of tiny individual
devices -- "claytronic atoms" or "catoms" --
would assemble into macro-scale objects,
connecting and disconnecting as they move.
Each catom is less than a millimetre in
diameter.
With billions you could make almost any
object you wanted.Catoms are described as
being similar in nature to a nano-machine,
but with greater power and complexity.
While microscopic individually, they bond
and work together on a larger scale. Catoms
can change their density, energy levels,
state of being, and other characteristics
using thought alone. These catoms are
designed to form much larger scale
machines or mechanisms. Also known as
"programmable matter", the catoms will be
sub-millimetre computers that will
eventually have the ability to move around,
communicate with each others, change
colour, 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.
Programmable matter:
Any physical substance whose properties
(or apparent properties) can be adjusted
precisely and repeatedly through electrical
or optical stimulation may be referred to as
programmable matter. Programmable
matter is an ensemble of material that
contains sufficient local computation,
actuation, storage, energy, sensing and
communication, which can be programmed
to form different dynamic shapes and
configurations.Catoms will be so small that
electric forces will be more important than
gravity so they’re using helium filled cubes
to test how catoms will work when gravity
is no longer the dominate
force.Programmers have to create a system
where catoms can communicate wirelessly
over relatively long ranges and with little
power. In a single cubic meter, there could
be a billion catoms.
That means a billion computers trying to
talk to each other and move themselves to
form a shape. It’s a daunting task but it’s
helped by a great concept known as
“fungibility” anything which is fungible,
not only is twice as many twice as useful,
its half as many is half as useful. Right now,
computers are not fungible. With
programmable matter, they would be. That
same cubic meter of a billion catoms is
essentially a network of a billion
computers.That’s a lot of computational
power – more than enough to organize it
into different shapes. And if the computer
was separated into sections, the overall
computing power would still be the
same.Programmable matter and fungible
computers will allow you to “pour out” as
much computer as you need to solve a
problem. The amount of computational
strength you need would be matched by a
physical quantity in the real world.
Claytronics Hardware:
In hardware, Claytronics has already made
centimetre sized cylindrical catoms that
have basic features. They can latch together
and recognize when they are latched, and
they can be moved using electrostatic
forces.Through hardware engineering
projects, researchers 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 millimetre in size which is highly
challenging task and involves the concepts
that cross the frontiers of computer science,
modular robotics and systems
nanotechnology.
At the current stage of design, claytronics
hardware operates from macro-scale
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-millimetre scale modules and to
elucidate crucial effects of the physical and
electrical forces that affect nano-scale
robots.
Millimetre Scale Catoms:
Realizing high-resolution applications that
Claytronics offers millimetre-scale catoms
that are electrostatically actuated and self
contained are proposed. The millimetre
scale catom consists of a tube and a High
voltage CMOS die attached inside the tube.
The tubes are fabricated as double-layer
planar structures in 2D using standard
photolithography. The difference in thermal
stress created in the layers during the
fabrication processes causes the 2D
structures to bend into 3D tubes upon
release from the substrate. The tubes have
electrodes for power transfer and actuation
on the perimeter. The high voltage CMOS
die is fabricated separately and is manually
wire bonded to the tube before release. The
chip includes an AC-DC converter, a
storage capacitor, a simple logic unit, and
output buffers.
The catom moves on a power grid (the
stator) that contains rails which carry high
voltage AC signals. Through capacitive
coupling, an AC signal is generated on the
coupling electrodes of the tube, which is
then converted to DC power by the chip.
The powered chip then generates voltage on
the actuation electrodes sequentially,
creating electric fields that push the tube
forward.
Cubes:
A lattice-style modular robot, the 22-cubic-
centimeter Cube, provides a base of
actuation for the electrostatic latch (which
is the binding designed to build a matrix).
The design of a cube, which resembles a
box with starbursts flowering from six
sides, emphasizes several performance
criteria: accurate and fast engagement,
facile release and firm, strong adhesion
while Cube latches clasps one module to
another.
Its geometry enables reliable coupling of
modules, a strong binding electrostatic
force and close spacing of modules within
an ensemble to create structural stability.
The Cube extends and contracts six
electrostatic latching devices on stem
assemblies. By this mechanism, the latches
of a Cube integrate with latches on adjacent
Cubes for construction of larger shapes. The
capacitive couple, which forms the
electrostatic latch, provides within an
ensemble of Cubes not only adhesion and
structural stability but also the transmission
of power and communication.This micro-
electro-mechanical device thus presents a
model for a type of robotic self-assembly of
complex structures at both macro and micro
scales.
Powering Catoms with
Magnetic Resonant
Coupling:
As a potential means for providing power to
catoms without using electrical connections
wireless power transfer via magnetic
resonant coupling in a system with a large
source coil and either one or two small
receivers are used. Resonance between
source and load coils is achieved with
lumped capacitors terminating the coils.
Planar Catoms:
The self-actuating, cylinder-shaped planar
catom tests concepts of motion, power
distribution, data transfer and
communication that will be eventually
incorporated into ensembles of nano-scale
robots. It provides a test bed for the
architecture of micro-electro-mechanical
systems for self-actuation in modular
robotic devices.
The planar catom is approximately 45 times
larger in diameter than the millimetre scale
catom for which its work is a bigger-than-
life prototype. It operates on a two-
dimensional plane in small groups of two to
seven modules
On a whole 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 fulfil a set of
unique instructions.Cubes employ
electrostatic latches to demonstrate the
functionality of a device that could be used
in a system of lattice-style self-assembly at
both the macro and nano-scale.Giant
Helium Catoms provide a larger-than-life,
lighter-than-air platform to explore the
relation of forces when electrostatics has a
greater effect than gravity on a robotic
device, an effect simulated with a modular
robot designed for self-construction of
macro-scale structures.
Software Research:
In a domain of research defined by many of
the greatest challenges facing computer
scientists and robotic engineers today,
perhaps none is greater than the creation of
algorithms and programming language to
organize the actions of millions of sub-
millimetre scale catoms in a claytronics
ensemble. So it is necessary to develop
complete structure of software resources for
the creation and operation of the densely
distributed network of robotic nodes in a
claytronic matrix. A notable characteristic
of a claytronic matrix is its huge
concentration of computational power
within a small space. For example, an
ensemble of catoms with a physical volume
of one cubic meter could contain 1 billion
catoms. Computing in parallel, these tiny
robots would provide unprecedented
computing capacity within a space not
much larger than a standard packing
container. Because of its vast number of
individual computing nodes, the matrix
invites comparison with the worldwide
reservoir of computing resources connected
through the Internet, a medium that not only
distributes data around the globe but also
enables nodes on the network to share work
from remote locations.
Conclusion:
The big question is when will claytronics
be available? This Technology will change
the world when it is ready,but manufactures
of 3D printers have nothing to fear in the
short term from programmable matter
References:
1.Carnegie Mellon University official
site:www.cs.cmu.edu.
2.www.wikipedia.com.
Other information from:
www.google.co.in
3.Images from: images.google.co.in and
www.cs.cmu.edu