X-Message-Number: 10600 Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 11:44:09 -0700 From: Hara Ra <> Subject: Fwd: Re: Cryonet Message #10564 - nanoassembly An interesting post from extropians list: >Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 22:42:53 -0230 >From: Bernard Hughes <> >X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win95; I) >To: >Subject: Re: Cryonet Message #10564 - nanoassembly >Sender: >Reply-To: > > > >Hara Ra wrote: > >> [1] Lego Toy Problem >> >> Yes. A very good way to attempt this is to use Lego blocks. (Seriously!) >> Lego is developing a series of toys which can interface with the PC (about >> $200, available this fall). For the moment these devices will be physically >> too feeble to pick up the Lego blocks and push them together, and the >> sensor technology is also very crude. If you did have adequate actuators >> and sensors (I can see it now, hydraulically driven Lego-Bots!), consider >> the design of a Lego-Assembler, which given a suitable PC, and a suitable >> supply of Lego blocks, is capable of assembling a copy of itself. >> >> The point of such a 'toy problem' (groan) is to reveal the higher level >> conceptual difficulties of doing such a thing and to reveal the detailed >> problems of actually doing it. (like, how do you sense the difference from >> a Lego block and a sugar cube?) >> >> The next Lego problem is to eliminate the major non-Lego components, >> especially the PC. Most solutions to this problem (in principle!) involve >> combining a standard set of components, a general purpose assembler, and a >> data tape whose structure as a media is simple. The data tape is read and >> the assembler executes the instructions. It builds the duplicate assembler, >> and then duplicates the tape. >> > > Sounds pretty ambitious for a first attempt. It seems to me a macro scale >assembler would be very useful, even if it used some complex components like >computer chips. So long as it could assemble copies of itself, and useful large >articles like chairs, tables or houses from durable components it could be >useful. And it would be really useful if it could dissasemble the components >and build new products from them. For those of us who live in variable >climates, a house that was small and snug in the winter, and large and airy in >the summer would be worth having. > > Perhaps you don't need to worry too much about sugar cubes if you don't >actually use Lego blocks. Make your building components distinct enough from >casual matter to be easy to identify. Bar codes spring to mind. So long as you >work in a contained space, you only need to check at the entrance and exit to >the workspace. > > I've been thinking about this problem for a while, but it seems too complex >for one person to tackle. > > Bernard > O--------------------------------O | Hara Ra <> | | Box 8334 Santa Cruz, CA 95061 | | | | Man, Debug Thyself | | - Graffiti at People's | | Computer Company - 1976 | O--------------------------------O Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=10600