Utility fog
Supercategory: Mobile robotic device
Supercategory: Cellular shape shifting tangible systems
Utility fog is a concept devised by John (Josh) Storrs Hall.
Consult wikipedia for a basic introduction. With some corrections needed (2025-02-03).
Utility fog "foglets" are microbots (and bigger) not nanobots.
They are based on atomically precise nanotechnology but the are not nanobots themselves.
Utility fog is not supposed to be a completely homogeneous systems.
For one thing there are larger compute and control nodes proposed that
genrally are supposed to try to stay out of the way.
(wiki-TODO: This page could benefit from some positive visual illustratuions.)
Contents
[hide]Level of difficulty
Utility fog is not the easiest product to create.
It's not a product to expect early on as one of the first products.
Well it depends on the taken pathway of bootstrapping towards gem-gum-tec.
The mechanical part of the utility fog system design might be comparable in complexity to
some of the more advanced mechanical metamaterials.
But it comes with the additional complexities like:
- implementation of power and data transmission
- programming of material emulations like fluid dynamics emulation
Delineation
Not universal assemblers.
Utility fog must not be confused with the concept of universal assemblers.
They may superficially look similar because they both can feature legged mobility.
Utility fog is not designed to replicate or even do mechanosynthesis.
Not microcomponent maintenance microbots.
When it does recompose microcomponents it's not utility fog but microcomponent maintenance microbots
(which lack the wits for emulation of fluid dynamics and have fewer (eight) shorter and sturdier linking appendages.
A specialized nanofactory will normally work faster than them but can't do live maintenance.
General purpose -vs- special purpose
In many cases it may be better to choose products that use gemstone based metamaterials with less general purpose capabilities.
- Usage of specialized matrials can impove on safety. See: This can increase safety.
- More specialized products may be available sooner than fully fledged utility fog.
- For high performance applications specialized metamaterials will always perform better.
Just like computers are not filled with solely with magic compurtonium – closest real thing perhaps FPGAs
abvanced systems will not be filled with magic smart-matter – closest (eventually)real thing utility fog.
Design considerations
Utility fog is basically an extended form of emulated elasticity.
Differences are more longer legs instead of view short linkages and
most importantly much more data processing power and means for communication.
In metals the ductility stems from the metallic bonding combined with step dislocations (leave to wikipedia).
Though not trivial there is a countable set of types of dislocations. (TODO: To investigate: find them and make an overview).
Introducing artificial dislocations in a systematic way into utility fog may be one possible starting point to approach the problem.
Modes (Terms from J. Storrs Halls book "Nanofuture")
In many cases one will just have a batch of utility fog with wich one can play around with (e.g. smart modelling clay)
one can safely handle it like any other unknown non volatile substance.
But with enough fog one can turn the situation inside out.
One can immerse oneself – useful for entertainemnts purpouses, may pose some risks.
Depending on how far one dares to go one can choose from the naive or fog mode.
These modes being explained below.
Naive mode – fog undeployed at flooe and walls
The units fill the floor densely and rise up to form some ********* when requested
or (threat szenario) does **** *** when some malicious computer virus took control.
Fog mode – full volume immersion
The units fills a whole space and immerses all present humans and animals.
A bubble around the head of breathing life forms is proposed. Seems slightly scary. Not?
It seems not too unlikely that software bugs can kill people in several horrible ways.
It's yet unclear how transparent a strictly periodic undistorted utility fog crystal will be. If it's sufficiently transparent then whenever fluid dynamic activity is performed interesting optical distortions may occur.
Transmission of the image one would see without the fog of the image that is present outside the fogs surface to an holographic display inside the bubbles seems very SciFi. Holographic means much more data than a simple 2D video signal as today's tech. Broadband communication through a dynamically moving near homogenous "microbot crystal" For a truly holographic display (not just 3D) thorough control of the wave field in the visible light spectrum is needed both in sensing and generating.
Some far spaced inhomogenities are the necessary ping-pong ball sized control computers. If the rest of the utility fog turns out to be transparent those computers may hide themselves with the light wave field control mentioned before making it essentially an invisibility cloak.
Risk of malicious deception by full volume immersion
Virtual things (only visible or touchable too) that are stored and shared are still real in a new kind of sense but malicious parties could try to make many people believe things that are truly not real (for political, promotional, monetary or other reasons) which is a real problem. By bow (2025) this already has some names like gaslighting, fakenews, and deepfakes. Just taken to the inistinuishale from reality extreme level by utility fog.
Surface smoothing
Utility fog will likely need to carry lots of microplatelets around to emulate a nicely flat surface otherewise its surfaces would be porcupined with not too blunt open linking appendages.
Security
Accidental intake
Inhalation or ingestion seems to be a serious risk.
If accidentally inhalated (beside the obvious issue of physical contact that may cause inflammation) utility fog will probably hinder breathing because it obstructs direct airflow and maybe further hinder breathing because it's not flowing fast enough. It depends on how responsive the fog is whether you feel it or not. Early versions will probably be distinctly palpable.
In case of a system error the proposed disconnection to tennis pingpong or marble sized balls is ok for outside the body but fatal in the lung. Ingested pieces that are deactivated that way (marble sized) may not pose much problems.
If out of any reason the surface hull is lost and fluidity turned off the utility fog basically truns into an iron maiden with an astronomical number of microscale needles - this situation doesn't sound too good - especially if there is eye contact. Though skin is likely fine as it's tick compared to the foflets armlenth and it rapidly regenerates.
For a bit more security for cases when the "funny" bubble around the head breaks down or doesn't lock on to a unusually looking pet animals head as not as such recognized one could implement:
- a minimal surface curvature (does not protect the eyes)
- a flow-in speed-limit for deep and slim crevices
- sensing of humid surfaces or localized airflow and automatic backoff
- avoid filling up spaces completey when not absolutely necessary
- Todo: estimate how much resistance to airflow utility fog with and without capping will pose.
- Todo: check maybe existing literature on the effects of diamond to human mucosal
Accidental environmental release
As with all AP products splinter prevention is an important issue.
The legs must not break under any normal circumstances (hammer attack, gun bullet) but insstead turn/flex away.
Small scale and microbot componenst made form superelastic gem-gum mechanical metamaterials makes extremely high robustness possible.
Only projectiles with the speed of space debris (~ LEO orbital speeds) will most certainly not be handlable without damage even with the best design. Cleanup?
If chunks must break of (e.g. due to high force shearing) they should be as big as possible.
See page: Intended breakage point fracture hierarchy.
Since utility fog is designed to be able to come apart at any interface at any time.
A hardware mechanism in every unit is reqired that prevents it from letting go at all or most of its (twelve) linking appendages at the same time
or else software bugs will very likely lead to massive spill of lots of units.
An irrecoverably escape fro the the machine phase.
Possible use cases
Usage of products made from special purpose AP gemstone based metamaterials instead something so general purpose as utility fog
has the advantage that one can be sure that it won't do any nasty stuff with you or your stuff.
- furniture – better to use special purpouse systems – the self limitation for safety topic from earlier section applies – Example: In any configuration of a bookshelf you want it to hold books. You may even want it normally to be disconnected from a microcomponent redistribution network and the internet but on the long run this may be unavoidable. I.e. an offline switch is kind of desirable. As of 2025 concerningly we already increasinly lose switch-off and offline-operability capability. Even with current non AP tech.
- terrain independent cloud like wheelchairs – much more specialized tools are much more likely – a fun curiosity maybe?
- crash-cushions – outside for unlucky pedestrians ~ soft grab and damp ~ no elastic bounce (which would doubling the impact)
- crash-cushions – inside as replacement for the current life saving but nose breaking airbags.
- malleable computer interface – to design your nice (or nasty) stuff
- classical robotic manipulations – well obviously
- telepresence – but AP suits and "muliseeshells" work just fine and are less overkill - in both cases full- semi- and virtual reality become mixed up thoroughly. Recognition signs (like recycling symbols on plastic products) might be a good idea - so that in most cases you know what you are dealing with.
- ...
Issues
Since AP products and today's non AP stuff will heavily mix,
often and regular complete retraction of macroscopic structures
(cars, object holding furniture, walls, rooms) probably won't be done all too often.
Rather only in times when one permanently change ones place of living.
Related
- Mobile microscale robotic device
- Specialised high perfomance materials: Gemstone based metamaterial
- The computronium concept
- claytronics
Utility fog foglets are supposed to be microscale so
they don't fall under nanobots Mobile nanoscale robotic devices
and Nanobot swarms but rather under microbots.
External references
- Wikipedia article: [1]
- Video: 2022-05-25 – Tim Ventura – J. Storrs Hall - Nanotech Utility Fog – 40m46s
