Utility fog

Utility fog (coined by Dr. John Storrs Hall in 1989[1][2]) is a hypothetical collection of tiny robots that can replicate a physical structure.[3][4][5][6] As such, it is a form of self-reconfiguring modular robotics.

Visualization of foglet with arms retracted and extended
Diagram of a 100-micrometer foglet

Conception

Hall thought of it as a nanotechnological replacement for car seatbelts. The robots would be microscopic, with extending arms reaching in several different directions, and could perform three-dimensional lattice reconfiguration. Grabbers at the ends of the arms would allow the robots (or foglets) to mechanically link to one another and share both information and energy, enabling them to act as a continuous substance with mechanical and optical properties that could be varied over a wide range. Each foglet would have substantial computing power, and would be able to communicate with its neighbors.

In the original application as a replacement for seatbelts, the swarm of robots would be widely spread out, and the arms loose, allowing air flow between them. In the event of a collision the arms would lock into their current position, as if the air around the passengers had abruptly frozen solid. The result would be to spread any impact over the entire surface of the passenger's body.

While the foglets would be micro-scale, construction of the foglets would require full molecular nanotechnology. Hall suggests that each bot may be in the shape of a dodecahedron with twelve arms extending outwards. Each arm would have four degrees of freedom. The foglets' bodies would be made of aluminum oxide rather than combustible diamond to avoid creating a fuel air explosive.[6]

Hall and his correspondents soon realized that utility fog could be manufactured en masse to occupy the entire atmosphere of a planet and replace any physical instrumentality necessary to human life. By foglets exerting concerted force an object or human could be carried from location to location. Virtual buildings could be constructed and dismantled within moments, enabling the replacement of existing cities and roads with farms and gardens. While molecular nanotech might also replace the need for biological bodies, utility fog would remain a useful peripheral with which to perform physical engineering and maintenance tasks. Thus, utility fog also came to be known as "the machine of the future".[7]

gollark: It's lyqyd's nsh, as far as I can tell.
gollark: It just does nonsense and downloads another program.
gollark: I'll inspect the code actually.
gollark: Don't do it.
gollark: I mean, in theory you could send messages on "secure" channels or whatever.

See also

References
  1. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/sci.nanotech/seatbelt%7Csort:date/sci.nanotech/BNTjXYVhOns/WWodKB8TEj8J sci.nanotech, 1989
  2. John Storrs Hall, "Utility Fog: A Universal Physical Substance," in Vision-21: Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in the Era of Cyberspace, G. A. Landis, ed., NASA Publication CP-10129, pp. 115-126 (1993)
  3. Utility Fog: The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of, Dr. J. Storrs Hall, July 5, 2001, KurzweilAI
  4. What I want to be when I grow up, is a cloud, J. Storrs Hall, July 6, 2001, KurzweilAI
  5. On Certain Aspects of Utility Fog by Dr. J. Storrs Hall
  6. LEGOs (TM) to the Stars The Assembler, Volume 4, Number 3 Third Quarter, 1996, Tihamer Toth-Fejel
  7. J. Storrs Hall (2008). "Utility Fog: the machine of the future". Nanotechnol. Perceptions. 4 (1): 15–22.
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