14-07-2012, 04:22 PM
Utility Fog
O815331033-Utility-Fog (2).pptx (Size: 2.35 MB / Downloads: 31)
Introduction:
Utility fog is a term suggested by Dr. John Storrs Hall to describe a hypothetical collection of tiny robots together performing a certain function.
It has a body about the size of a human cell and 12 arms sticking out in all directions.
It can simulate to the same precision
as measured by the human senses
most of the physical properties.
Modes of operations
There are two modes of operation.
In native mode individual foglets move into different positions and perform certain mechanical operations depending on what object it is forming.
In fog mode, the foglets do not move,
but act more like pixels on a television
screen - they pixelate.
Design : How to build a Fog?
Most currently proposed nanotechnological designs are based on carbon. For a foglet however, aluminum oxide is used.
Each Foglet has twelve arms, arranged as the faces of a dodecahedron. The arms telescope rather than having joints. The arms swivel on a universal joint at the base, and the gripper at the end cart rotate about the arm’s axis.
The gripper is a hexagonal structure with three fingers, mounted on alternating faces of the hexagon. Two Foglets grasp hands in an interleaved six-finger grip. Since the fingers are designed to match the end of the other arm, this provides a relatively rigid connection.
Communication and Control
Using a RISC design allows a single processor to control a 100 kHz arm; using auxiliary controllers will let it do all 12 easily.
A problem face here is heat dissipation.
As long as the computers can go into a standby mode when the Fog is standing still this is quite workable.
If the Fog were configured as a store-and-forward network it would be very inefficient. Instead virtual circuits using optical repeaters can be implemented.
O815331033-Utility-Fog (2).pptx (Size: 2.35 MB / Downloads: 31)
Introduction:
Utility fog is a term suggested by Dr. John Storrs Hall to describe a hypothetical collection of tiny robots together performing a certain function.
It has a body about the size of a human cell and 12 arms sticking out in all directions.
It can simulate to the same precision
as measured by the human senses
most of the physical properties.
Modes of operations
There are two modes of operation.
In native mode individual foglets move into different positions and perform certain mechanical operations depending on what object it is forming.
In fog mode, the foglets do not move,
but act more like pixels on a television
screen - they pixelate.
Design : How to build a Fog?
Most currently proposed nanotechnological designs are based on carbon. For a foglet however, aluminum oxide is used.
Each Foglet has twelve arms, arranged as the faces of a dodecahedron. The arms telescope rather than having joints. The arms swivel on a universal joint at the base, and the gripper at the end cart rotate about the arm’s axis.
The gripper is a hexagonal structure with three fingers, mounted on alternating faces of the hexagon. Two Foglets grasp hands in an interleaved six-finger grip. Since the fingers are designed to match the end of the other arm, this provides a relatively rigid connection.
Communication and Control
Using a RISC design allows a single processor to control a 100 kHz arm; using auxiliary controllers will let it do all 12 easily.
A problem face here is heat dissipation.
As long as the computers can go into a standby mode when the Fog is standing still this is quite workable.
If the Fog were configured as a store-and-forward network it would be very inefficient. Instead virtual circuits using optical repeaters can be implemented.