Meet the nano-nauts: Smart dust swarms for planetary exploration(Forwarded)

Royal Astronomical Society
London, U.K.

Issued by RAS Press Officers:

Robert Massey
Tel: +44 (0)20 7734 4582
AND
Anita Heward
Tel: +44 (0)1483 420 904

NATIONAL ASTRONOMY MEETING PRESS ROOM (16 - 20 APRIL ONLY):
Tel: +44 (0)1772 892 613
+44 (0)1772 892 475
+44 (0)1772 892 477

RAS Web site:
http://www.ras.org.uk/

RAS National Astronomy Meeting web site:
http://nam2007.uclan.ac.uk

CONTACT:

Prof. John Barker
Nanoelectronics Research Centre
Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow G12 8LT, Scotland
Tel: +44 (0)141 330 5221

PRESS INFORMATION NOTE: RAS PN 07/24 (NAM20)

EMBARGOED FOR 00:01 BST, WEDNESDAY, 18 APRIL 2007

MEET THE NANO-NAUTS: SMART DUST SWARMS FOR PLANETARY EXPLORATION

Engineers at the University of Glasgow are designing a new breed of
planetary explorers: tiny, shape-shifting devices that can be carried on
the wind like dust particles but are also smart enough to communicate, fly
in formation and take scientific measurements.

Smart dust particles consist of a computer chip, about a millimetre in
dimension, surrounded by a polymer sheath that can be made to wrinkle or
smooth out by applying a small voltage. Roughening the surface of the
polymer means the drag on the smart dust particle increases and it floats
higher in the air; conversely, smoothing out the surface causes the
particle to sink. Simulations show that by switching between rough and
smooth modes, the smart dust particles can gradually hop towards a target,
even in swirling winds.

Dr John Barker, who will be describing possible applications of smart dust
at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Preston on 18th April said, "The
concept of using smart dust swarms for planetary exploration has been
talked about for some time, but this is the first time anyone has looked
at how it could actually be achieved. Computer chips of the size and
sophistication needed to make a smart dust particle now exist and we are
looking through the range of polymers available to find one that matches
our requirements for high deformation using minimal voltages."

Smart dust particles would use wireless networking to communicate with
each other and form swarms. Dr Barker explains, "We envisage that most of
the particles can only talk to their nearest neighbours but a few can
communicate at much longer distances. In our simulations we've shown that
a swarm of 50 smart dust particles can organise themselves into a star
formation, even in turbulent wind. The ability to fly in formation means
that the smart dust could form a phased array. It would then be possible
to process information between the distributed computer chips and
collectively beam a signal back to an orbiting spacecraft."

In order for the smart dust to be useful in planetary exploration, they
would need to carry sensors. With current technology, chemical sensors
tend to be rather large for the sand-grain sized particles that could be
carried by the thin Martian atmosphere. However, the atmosphere of Venus
is much denser and could carry smart sensors up to a few centimetres in
size. Dr Barker said, "Scientific studies could theoretically be carried
out on Venus using the technology we have now. However, miniaturisation
is coming on rapidly. By 2020, we should have chips that have components
which are just a few nanometres across, which means our smart particles
would behave more like macro-molecules diffusing through an atmosphere
rather than dust grains."

The group at Glasgow thinks it will be some years before smart dust is
ready to launched into space. Dr Barker said, "We are still at an early
stage, working on simulations and components. We have a lot of obstacles
to overcome before we are even ready to physically test our designs.
However, the potential applications of smart dust for space exploration
are very exciting. Our first close-up studies of extra-solar planets
could come from a smart dust swarm delivered to another solar system by
ion-drive."

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information on work on smart dust at the University of Glasgow
see
http://userweb.elec.gla.ac.uk/j/jbarker/sd.html

The Smart dust project

Smart dust was developed by Kris Pister, Joe Kahn, Bernhard Boser at the
University of Berkley, California, between 1998 and 2001 with the aim of
demonstrating a complete sensor/communication system that can be
integrated into a cubic millimeter package. Glasgow University is a member
of a large consortium dealing with a practical variant called Smart
Specks:
http://www.specknet.org/about/

IMAGES

Images and stills from animations showing smart dust swarms on Mars are
available at
http://userweb.elec.gla.ac.uk/j/jbarker/sd.html

On a sunny day (Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:54:32 GMT) it happened Andrew Yee
wrote in
:

Engineers at the University of Glasgow are designing a new breed of
planetary explorers: tiny, shape-shifting devices that can be carried on
the wind like dust particles but are also smart enough to communicate, fly
in formation and take scientific measurements.

All very well, but no clue I can find on those sites what POWERS it?

"Jan Panteltje" wrote in message ...
On a sunny day (Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:54:32 GMT) it happened Andrew Yee
wrote in
:

Engineers at the University of Glasgow are designing a new breed of
planetary explorers: tiny, shape-shifting devices that can be carried on
the wind like dust particles but are also smart enough to communicate, fly
in formation and take scientific measurements.

All very well, but no clue I can find on those sites what POWERS it?

Von Neumann's machines from the "Dreamtime", starring Timo Nieminen,
will be next.
http://aboriginalart.com.au/culture/dreamtime.html