nanotechnology and nano robot materialization

1. LC
Modular robotics

2. What is a robot
A stand-alone hybrid computer system that performs physical and computational activities.
Robots are designed for many purposes. In manufacturing, they are used for welding,
riveting, scraping and painting. They are also deployed for demolition, fire and bomb fighting,
nuclear site inspection, industrial cleaning, laboratory use, medical surgery, agriculture,
forestry, office mail delivery as well as a myriad of other tasks. Increasingly, more artificial
intelligence is being added.
Analog and Digital
Robots use analog sensors for recognizing real-world objects and digital computers for their
direction. Analog to digital converters convert temperature, motion, pressure, sound and
images into binary code for the robot's computer. The computer directs the physical actions of
the arms and joints by pulsing their motors.
Huey, Dewey and Louie Named after Donald Duck's famous nephews, robots at
this Wayne, Michigan plant apply sealant to prevent possible water leakage into the
car. Huey (top) seals the drip rails while Dewey (right) seals the interior weld
seams. Louie is outside of the view of this picture.
(Image courtesy of Ford Motor Company.)

3. What happens when you have many similar robots working together
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4. The idea behind interaction in the Bubbles project is
about emergent behavior. There isn’t a control
algorithm behind what it does; it operates by a few very
simple rules. How the bubbles interact with humans
over the course of an evening is impossible to
predict. If there were a only a few interactions it is
not very interesting but as you have more and more the
behavior gets much more complex, yet the system does
not. The behavior becomes synergistic. The idea is to
use numerous discrete sensors and actuators which
provide control through very specific response. The
important point is that each individual actuator is
controlled by a decentralized controller at a local
level. This model of decentralized identification and
control is based on neural networks simplifying the
implementation of the control. Simplified
implementation based of decentralization shows great
promise in having two outstanding benefits; both in
terms of the robustness of the system and the
economic feasibility. Both of these issues were
paramount in the Bubbles project as it was
unsupervised and open to the general public.
Traditionally architects and engineers have created
spaces through static geometries that foster or
dictate the activity that is supposed to take place
there. The quality of space has been traditionally
thought of as being predetermined. People then have
always been expected more or less to adapt to the
spaces provided them. If a building could adapt to our
desires however, it would also shape our experiences.
If our experiences are shaped through interactive
environments we have a new design set to respond to.
To what extent architects choose to dictate static
experiences as oppose to respond and create unknown
experiences is an area of potentially great importance.

8. •movie
•Movie (bar)

9. Discrete design in architecture
Opening Windows for Optimized Thermal Conditions
Windows and Thermostat Understanding Respective Actions
and Operating Co-operatively

10. The end of mechanics
•Controlling and Tailoring Sound Produced by
Engineered Structures
Mit: Student project:
junko nagakura

11. Edge monkeys
Stephen Gage and Will Thorn described a new type of robotic fleet that, in the future, ‘would be
to patrol building facades, regulating energy usage and indoor conditions. Basic duties include
closing unattended windows, checking thermostats, and adjusting blinds. But the machines
would also “gesture meaningfully to internal occupants” when building users “are clearly
wasting energy,” and they are described as “intrinsically delightful and funny.”’

12. The Reconfigurable House
is built by Usman Haque and Adam Somlai-Fischer and is currently located n Tokyo, Japan
until March 2008 as part of NTT ICC 10th anniversary celebrations.
The Reconfigurable House is an environment constructed from thousands of low tech
components that can be “rewired” by visitors. The project is a critique of ubiquitous computing
“smart homes”, which are based on the idea that technology should be invisible to prevent DIY.
Smart homes actually aren’t very smart simply because they are pre-wired according to
algorithms and decisions made by designers of the systems, rather than the people who
occupy the houses.
In contrast to such homes, which are not able to adapt structurally over time, the many sensors
and actuators of Reconfigurable House can be reconnected endlessly as people change their
minds so that the House can take on completely new behaviors.
see video here

13. Self Constructing Chair
Max Dean, Raffaello D’Andrea, and Matt Donovan have created a chair that has the ability to
deconstruct and reconstruct itself. The robot chair can fall apart spontaneously, and then drag
itself across the floor and reassemble.
see video here

14. movie
Simplified implementation based of decentralization shows great
promise in having two outstanding benefits; both in terms of the
robustness of the system and the economic feasibility. Both of
these issues were paramount in the Bubbles project as it was
unsupervised and open to the general public.

15. Xerox Parc - Self-Assembling Lattice Reconfiguration Robot
Researchers at Xerox Parc have designed a
reconfigurable robotic system based on the
rhombic dodecahedron. While no working
models of this system have been created
(that we know of) the possibility of what
could be done with this system is immense.
Self similar modules have the ability to
rotate around each other based on
prescribed rules.

16. Digital clay
•Reproducing
•healing
•self-maintenance
Movie
Movie
Cornel university
Computational
Synthesis Lab (CCSL)
Modification - - organization
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17. Xerox parc – modular robotics
•Polypod and polybot
http://www2.parc.com/spl/projects/modrobots/chain/index.html
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18. Digital clay
Roboticists at Xerox Parc in Palo Alto have created modular intelligent robotic system.
This system however does not use actuators but instead relies on users manipulating
objects. These modules have the ability to sense each other and know if their are other
objects around them. They use magnets to connect to each other.
Xerox park
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19. Acm-r5
The Hirose Fukushima Robotics Lab created the acm-r5 based on the mechanics behind
snakes. Powered by a lithium-ion battery, the ACM-R5 is a radio-controlled amphibious
robot designed to move like its real world counterpart. It can slither or swim underwater
for 30 minutes on a full charge. Inside, you’ll find an intricate sensor system
(attitude/torque), small-sized camera, and a 32bit micro controller. While this robot
seems more like a single object based robot it is made up of self-similar parts that work
together to accomplish changing geometrical demands.
Video Links found here and here.
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20. M-TRAN (Modular Transformer)
self-reconfigurable modular robot that has been developed by AIST and
Tokyo-Tech since 1998.
Movie
website
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21. Superbot
Researchers at the Polymorphic Robotics laboratory have designed and manufactured a modular
robot called the SuperBot. SuperBot is a modular robot that consists of many reconfigurable
modules that can demonstrate multifunction and reconfiguration for running, climbing, structuring,
and many other activities in real environments.
See more info here
See video here, here and here
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22. DRL Reconfigurable Modules
Researchers at the Dartmouth Robotics Laboratory have developed a module capable of
reconfiguring at a large scale. This self-reconfiguring robot consists of a set of identical modules
that can dynamically and autonomously reconfigure in a variety of shapes, to best fit the terrain,
environment, and task.
To see more info click here.
Video link here.
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23. Cmu waalbots
Researchers at CMU Robotics Lab have created gravity defying robots called Waalbots. The tiny
hairs on a gecko’s feet, called setae, enable it to stick to surfaces. This is due to an intermolecular
attraction between the setae and the surface, known as Van der Waals forces. A team at the
NanoRobotics Lab, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), has used a dry elastomer adhesive that
mimics setae and enables a robot to climb walls and ceilings. However the CMU Waalbot has far
greater sticking power because its fibers are twice as adhesive as the setae of geckoes.
link http://nanolab.me.cmu.edu/projects/waalbots/tri-leg.shtml
video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF5ZU3lb4rA
http://nanoarchitecture.net/article/biomimetic-dry-adhesives
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24. Bio-robots Mini-wegs
Three spoked appendages, called “wheel-legs”, combine the speed and simplicity of wheels with
the high mobility of legs. The robot can surmount obstacles significantly greater than the radius of
the wheel-legs - a difficult feat for wheeled vehicles.
To surmount obstacles of much greater relative magnitude, a version of the robot, dubbed
Jumping Mini-Whegs™, has been developed. It can surmount obstacles of 2-3 body lengths high,
such as a stair. Based on abstracted biological principles, this small robot combines simplicity,
robustness and reliability to provide a desirable combination of speed, mobility and versatility.
see website here
see video here and here
IA

25. IST swarm bots
Researchers at the IST have developed a network of self-organizing and self-assembling robots.
This system composed of a number of simple, insect-like robots, built out of relatively cheap
components, capable of self-assembling and self-organizing to adapt to environments. This novel
approach finds its theoretical roots in recent studies in swarm intelligence, that is, in studies of the
self-organising and self-assembling capabilities shown by social insects and other animal
societies.
more information here
video link here, here and here
IA

26. DRL Networked Mobile Robots
Researchers at the Darmouth Robotics Laboratory have developed a network of mobile robots
capable of communicating with each other to accomplish different states. They have created a
number of algorithms that can organize and reorganize the mobile robots.
See link here
see video here and here
IA

27. Modular Robots
Modular robots can form, re-form and move
as required. A table structure breaks up into
four stools, which start walking over to their
new locations.
Yvan Bourquin
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne
IA

28. Shape planning
Researchers at Xerox Parc in Palo Alto have made a number of very interesting
simulations for how objects could reconfigure to create new shapes. These are very
useful showing the number of moves and relative time required to reconfigure swarms of
objects.
See video here and here.
IA

29. Shape planning
Tronic Studio has recently completed an ad for General Electric entitles “Building
Dreams”. This video uses a motif of building objects and environments out of self similar
parts . A viewer moves through an entire landscape that builds itself out of these parts.
see video here
IA

30. Meta-Morphic Architecture
Miles Kemp
video
The main idea behind this project was to develop a series of self-similar nested shapes that
have the ability to be reprogrammed by the user post-production to accommodate changing
demands. To accomplish this task in architectural terms he developed an entire palette of
robots (materials, interactivity, and mechanical) that come together at specific instances to
achieve a desired geometry.
The scale of the module was extremely important. With technology getting smaller and
smaller (nano scale) this project envisioned that these objects would be the size of a
fingernail and have the ability to change location. Self similar modules could make new
physical connections and move around each other based on connections of self-similar parts.

31. how the world is assembled from
ever smaller elements at each
relevant scale
Meta-Morphic Architecture
Miles Kemp
video

32. Bloodstream Robots
Two Israeli scientists may have created the catalyst for a medical revolution with their new
project: a tiny, 1-millimeter-diameter robot which is capable of crawling through human
veins and arteries. The bot can cling to vessel walls using small, powerful arms which
protrude from a hub in its center. Manned control is accomplished by using a magnetic
field outside of the body, and the robot is able to swim against the flow of blood, as well as
squeeze through a variety of arterial openings. Right now the doctors don’t know what the
medical applications might be, though they speculate that a large number of the bots
could be used to fight certain types of cancer.
Technion university, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/875277.html

33. Sandia Mini-Robots
At 1/4 cubic inch and weighing less than an ounce, it is possibly the smallest autonomous
untethered robot ever created. Powered by three watch batteries, it rides on track wheels
and consists of an 8K ROM processor, temperature sensor, and two motors that drive the
wheels. Enhancements being considered include a miniature camera, microphone,
communication device, and chemical micro-sensor.
See article here

34. Scale
How Small Can They Get? By 2020,
scientists at Rutgers University
believe that nano-sized robots will
be injected into the bloodstream and
administer a drug directly to an
infected cell. This robot has a
carbon nanotube body, a
biomolecular motor that propels it
and peptide limbs to orient itself.
For more information, see
http://bionano.rutgers.edu/Mavroidis_Final_Report.p
df.
…”Eventually, millions of microscopic
units will be used together to make
infinitely flexible machines, fit for any
task.
Future generations of robots are more
likely to be mutating machines, rather
than the single-function devices.”

35. Scale
It is well known that outer space, planetary, military and in-body medical missions and
interventions will benefit tremendously by decreasing considerably the size, weight and
cost of hardware and payloads. The development of biomolecular nano-components and
devices may be
the technological solution in this problem. These devices will be lightweight and hence
easy and cost-efficient to be launched or introduced into remote or difficult to reach
worlds. They will be designed to be self-replicating, a property that will help create
computing stations and
manufacturing sites on remote and inaccessible environment and in turn, develop a whole
nanoscale industry.
For more information, http://bionano.rutgers.edu/Mavroidis_Final_Report.pdf
FIGURE 1: A "nano-robot" flowing inside a FIGURE 2: The nanorobot attaches on the cell and
blood vessel, finds an infected cell. projects a drug to repair or destroy the infected cell.

36. USING BIO-NANO-DEVICES FOR SPACE COLONIZATION
Peering into the future, we can envision a world where life does not take place before our
eyes, yet at a level where the building blocks of life are interacting. This world of
nanotechnology will enable us to explore, venture, and inhabit places beyond our current
realms of reality. But to
reach this state of technology, we must begin with the basics. We must understand the
biological components that draw a parallel to current macro-robotics. With this knowledge
in hand we can continue forward and join these components into assemblies. Some of
these assemblies will
execute specific tasks, while others perform a number of different operations. Eventually
these bio-nano-robots will interact with one another, collaborating to build, repair, and
manipulate other objects in the nano-world. Once these nano-robots are shown to sustain
and create life, transporting them to far away planets will yield results not currently
possible.
For more information, http://bionano.rutgers.edu/Mavroidis_Final_Report.pdf

37. Nanocity

38. the ability to program our environment can have a profound effect on issues of
sustainability through energy efficiency and a reduction of raw waste

39. Helio Display
Project of OdescO – product design, computation, and fabrication
(Collaboration with io2 technology)

40. USING BIO-NANO-DEVICES FOR SPACE COLONIZATION
30-50 Years: Future missions to planets will be undertaken by bio-nanorobots,
in which they will survey and colonize the planets. Robots will be designed to
build and maintain the environment that they have created, which will one day be stable
for human colonization.
For more information, http://bionano.rutgers.edu/Mavroidis_Final_Report.pdf

41. USING BIO-NANO-DEVICES FOR SPACE COLONIZATION
The nano-robots will begin to colonize and build a new world, a world where we may one
day
thrive. Carrying out construction projects in hostile environments is a prime example of the
benefits of these machines. Self-replicating robots, utilizing local materials and local
energy will
assemble space habitats that can be completely constructed by remote control. Other
robots will be used not to colonize, but to maintain life by providing proper energy needed
to other systems or organic organisms. Nanometer size computers, actuators, and
sensors will allow robots to rebuild damaged parts of existing structures, such as walls,
transportation vessels, and even space suits. There will be a new world built from bio-
nano-robots that function on the nanometer scale, building and maintaining an
environment where they, and we, may one day live. Figure 6 shows a vision of an
established nano-industry on a planetary surface, composed of nano-computing stations,
nano-manipulators and other mechanical systems, and thus, providing the foundations
towards establishing colonies on uninhibited planets as well as searching for life forms on
other planets.
For more information, http://bionano.rutgers.edu/Mavroidis_Final_Report.pdf

42. Fox Lin
www.foxlin.com
robotecture
www.robotecture.com
email
mafox@foxlin.com
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