Difference between revisions of "Mechadense's Wiki about Atomically Precise Manufacturing"

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__NOTOC__
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|style="background:#FFCCCC; color:#000000; width: 80%; text-align:center;" |  '''Language: en | [[Mechandense's Wiki über atomar präzise Herstellung| Sprache: de]]'''
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= The far term target =
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* '''[[General Introduction to atomically precise manufacturing|Intro:]]''' Here is a detailed introduction to atomically precise manufacturing as a whole.
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* [[The DAPMAT demo project]]
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= The far term goal =
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{{Template:Nanofactory introduction}}
 
{{Template:Nanofactory introduction}}
  
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The existence of a personal fabricator will have profound impact human society on a global scale.
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The existence of a personal fabricator will have profound impact human society on a global scale. <br>
 
The basis for such a personal fabricator - the '''atomically precise manufacturing (APM) technology''' - is beginning to be figured out today.
 
The basis for such a personal fabricator - the '''atomically precise manufacturing (APM) technology''' - is beginning to be figured out today.
  
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= Guided Tour =
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= Dodge the trapdoors =
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[[File:Assemblies-gears-srg-iii.gif |300px|thumb|right|Gear-train (cut open). Author: Mark Sims – '''Don't be fooled by the [[stroboscopic illusion in animations of diamondoid molecular machine elements]].''' The proposed average operation speeds in [[gem-gum factories]] are quite slow actually. Nowhere near the speed of sound.]]
  
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__NOTOC__
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First off: Let's get the major obstacles out of the way.
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Here forms a general introduction to atomically precise manufacturing.
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* '''There are no "nanobots" here!''' <br>Check the info pages "[[Prime distractions]]" and "[[No nanobots]]".
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The introductory tour is meant for a wide target audience ranging from newbie to expert and from young to old.
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* '''Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale?!''' (machinery like [[example crystolecules|this]])<br> It's well known, that there are several severe concerns regarding this idea. And for very good reasons.<br> Less known is, that all of those major concerns have been considered in quite some detail with rather surprising results. <br>Check out the main article discussing the concerns here: <br>[[Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale]]
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(Advanced readers should be able to quickly dive deeper via [[progressive disclosure]]).
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* '''No, macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale does not behave like jelly.''' <br>It's an arifact of simulations being run hundred thousand times faster than proposed speeds. Reasons for this and more details are on page: [[Misleading aspects in animations of diamondoid molecular machine elements]]
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* '''Yes, lifes nanomachinery (molecular biology) does NOT constitute a feasibility proof of the targeted kind of technology.''' <br>But it does not constitute an infeasibility proof either. For details see: "[[Nature does it differently]]". <br>What does provide the very high confidence in feasibility is low level [[exploratory engineering]] applied without compromises. <br>Additionally there are successful experimental demonstrations of manipulation of single atoms. Repeatable, precise, with strong covalent bonds, and at decently high temperatures ("decently high" meaning: no liquid helium involved). Plus there's a clear path how to speed this up to the necessary operations frequencies. Namely by scaling down the placement mechanisms.
 +
* '''No, making every structure permitted by physical law is NOT the goal here.''' Quite the contrary actually. What we want is to cheat and make it seem as if we could. It's even encoded in the name that this wiki uses to refer to the far term target. Specifically in the "gem" and "gum" parts in "gem-gum-tec". For details check out: "[[The defining traits of gem-gum-tec]]" and "[[Every structure permissible by physical law]]".
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* '''No, using soft nanomachinery to bootstrap stiff nanomachinery is not an abandonment of principles.''' <br>It just might be a more practical approach to get to the target faster. See: "[[Pathways]]".
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-----
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* '''No, nanoscale physics and [[quantum mechanics]] is not inherently incomprehensible.''' <br>It is very possible, satisfying, and useful to develop an [[intuitive feel]] for these things.
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* '''No, the in [[Nanosystems]] found to be feasible uber enormous electromechanical power densities of ~1MW/mm³ are not to be taken naively at face value.''' While indeed possible for nanoscale volumes or very brief bursts of big volumes (result of running the numbers), there are nontrivial limits of cooling to consider that effectively limit it to much lower values when running macroscale volumes at steady state. Values still high from today's perspective. For details see page: [[Limits of power density imposed by limits of cooling]]
  
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Please excuse the links dangling into construction sites.<br>
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== What APM is not ==
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The tour is still a far stretch from being in a somewhat coherent state.
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[[File:The_Inner_Life_of_the_Cell.jpg |300px|thumb|right|Source: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inner_Life_of_the_Cell Animation video: "The Inner Life of the Cell"] – '''Recreating the molecular machinery of life is NOT the far term goal of atomically precise manufacturing.''' It is one goal of [[synthetic biology]] which goes in a very different direction. The molecular machinery of life though is a valuable resource for (1) [[bootstrapping]] towards [[gem-gum]] systems and (2) learning lower level concepts like e.g. the [[coordination geometries]] in active sites of enzymes).]]
  
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== Tour by topic ==
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While early APM may have overlap with these areas the far term goals are very different.
  
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{{Template:Orientation}}
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* [[Soft nanomachines]]: APM is all about targeting [[stiffness]] / stiff nanomachines / "hard" nanomachines. <br>Nonetheless soft nanomachines can be very useful in the bootstrapping process. <br><small>Note though, that self assembly (useful in bootstrapping) does not essentially rely on a lack of stiffness aka softness. <br>There are experiments with hierarchical self assembly of structural DNA nanotechnology that have clearly demonstrated this <br>{{wikitodo|add reference}}.</small>
 +
* [[Molecular biology]]: One main far term target in molecular biology is a complete reverse engineering of natures nanomachinery for grand improvements in medicine. This is strongly unrelated to the far term target of APM. A particular example where the interests diverge: The very difficult folding problem for natural proteins versus the relatively simple de-novo-protein-design for artificial nanomachinery.
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* [[Synthetic biology]]: The far term targets of this research is the recreation and expansion of the nanomachinery of life. It goes pretty much 180° in the opposite direction of APM. <br><small>(Not to say that this research is not valuable in its own right. Its far term targets are just maximally unrelated to R&D efforts targeting APM)</small>
  
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== Tour by map ==
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Main article: "[[Brownian technology path]]"
  
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[[File:Possibility_space_overview_-_original_size.svg|750px|thumb|center|Main article: "[[possibility space]]"; (1) R&D with (1a) untargeted research discovering more surprising pathway entry points (1b) targeted engineering marching forward on identified pathway entry points; (2) [[Pathways to advanced APM systems|path]], especially [[incremental path]] with three technology levels ([[Technology level I|2a]],[[Technology level II|2b]],[[Technology level III|2c]]); (3) target backward [[preparatory design]] (4) far off target: [[Nanofactory|gem-gum factory]]; (5a) [[gemstone based metamaterial]]s, (5b) [[Products of advanced atomically precise manufacturing|advanced products]] and (5c) more abstract consequences ([[Opportunities|good]] and [[Dangers|bad]])  hard to quantify and blurring into speculation -- (green areas) [[Exploratory engineering]]. (dark green) known today.]]
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== What APM actually is ==
  
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= Atomically Precise Manufacturing (APM) – near term & far term =
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APM is basically the capability of manufacturing products such that the atoms they are constituted of link (bind) to each other in "exactly" the way one desires them to. Since "absolute exactness" in other words "making no errors ever" is a fundamental physical impossibility one just aims for extremely low error rates. On the long run error rates comparable to the bit-error-rates one can find in todays digital data processing systems.
  
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== What APM is absolutely not ==
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== Why should the far term target of APM (gemstone metamaterial technology) even work? ==
  
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While early APM may have overlap with these areas the far term goals are completely and utterly different.
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Because there is exceptional theoretical and good experimental evidence that it will: <br>
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* [[soft nanomachines]], [[molecular biology]], [[synthetic biology]] – Main article: "[[Brownian technology path]]"
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For details see: [[Why gemstone metamaterial technology should work in brief]] <br>
 +
[[Gemstone metamaterial technology]] is the far term target of APM. More on that further down.
  
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== What APM actually is ==
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For theoretical evidence (including some not covered in [[Nanosystems]]) see:
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* [[Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale]]
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* [[How macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale outperforms its native scale]]
  
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APM is basically the capability of manufacturing products such that the atoms they are constituted of link (bind) to each other in "exactly" the way one desires them to. Since "absolute exactness" in other words "making no errors ever" is a fundamental physical impossibility one just aims for extremely low error rates. On the long run error rates comparable to the bit-error-rates one can find in todays digital data processing systems.
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= APM in the near term and APM in the far term =
  
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== Today and near term ==
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See main article: [[Near term and far term]].
  
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'''Pick and place assembly of single atoms (or molecule fragments) is not at all a necessity for early forms of APM.'''<br>
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== The (two) killer features of APM ==
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In fact pick and place assembly is not needed at all for early forms of APM.
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[[Thermally driven assembly]] (aka "self assembly") can do the job.
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* Thermally driven assembly is not present in macroscale manufacturing and therefore not present in our intuition. <br>Some scientists suspect APM proponents/fans to not get this so check it out.
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* Thermally driven assembly has error rates that are barely low enough to get started climbing the "stiffness ladder".
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It may come somewhat unexpected but '''in early APM systems there is no need for the atoms to stay in place.'''
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'''See main page: [[The killer features of APM]]'''<br>
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No, that does not contradict the introduction earlier. The atoms still need to keep their links/bonds to their neighbors. But in the early atomically precise systems of today (e.g. foldamers) the atoms tend to be bonded together to zig-zag chains.
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Basically two things:
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Since many bonds can and do rotate the whole chains may deform. Thereby atoms can be displaced much more than their own diameter.<br>
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* [[Digital control over matter]]
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In summary: While APM systems must always be [[topological atomic precision|topologically precise]] [[positional atomic precision|positional precision ]] is reserved for the more advanced forms of APM.
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* Emulation of complex (mechanical) properties from simple base materials: <br>[[mechanical metamaterial]]s & [[metamaterial]]s
  
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In some sense even chemistry could be counted as the earliest form of APM.
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== Nearer term targets ==
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But APM specifically focuses on scaling up APM capabilities to bigger sizes and chemistry is on the very bottom and does not scale up well.
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== Towards the far term ==
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On this wiki "atomically precise manufacturing" (or APM) will be interpreted in a wider sense. <br>
 +
Including both earlier precursor systems in the near term and the targeted later systems in the far term. <br>
 +
Specifically this may include:
 +
* [[Modular molecular composite nanosystems]] (MMCNs)
 +
* [[Foldamer printer]]s
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* Technology level: [[Technology level 0|0]], [[Technology level I|I]], (and maybe [[Technology level II|II]])
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* [[Early diamondoid nanosystem pixel (direct path)]]
  
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There are '''two core ideas''' that determine what the R&D direction from early forms of APM to advanced forms of APM actually is.
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== Far term target ==
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This wiki will refer to those two ideas with the shorthand '''"gem-gum"'''.
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This shorthand has been chosen since:
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* it is catchy, in other words easy to spell and remember. <br>which "high throughput atomically precise manufacturing level technology" is not. (Source of that ridiculously long term: "Radical Abundance")
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* it is highly specific and thus hard to annex by other concepts. It very clearly points to the far term goal <br>which "high throughput atomically precise manufacturing level technology" does not.
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=== Gem – Gemstone – Stiffness ===
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[[File:ProductiveNanosystemsMainScreencap.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Screen capture from the concept animation video: "[[Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts]]" showing several proposed processing stages compressed into just one single image. This is conceptual.]]
 +
[[File:NanofactoryChipTheVision.jpg|400px|thumb|right|From atoms/molecules to products via [[convergent assembly]].]]
 +
On this wiki the shorthand '''"gem-gum technology"''' (or "gem based APM") will be used to refer to the '''far term target'''.<br>
  
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Core idea #1 [[gemstone like compound|Gem]]: Short for '''high stiffness''' gemstone like compound.
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=== Development target more concretely ===
  
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Gradual increase of the [[stiffness]] of the materials we build with is the ultimate key to raise our level of control over matter (the key to advanced [[mechanosynthesis]]). The term "gem" (short for gemstone - obviously) points exclusively to the ideal [[gemstone like compound|stiff base materials of the far term target technology]]. This explicitly excludes early stage atomically precise manufacturing such as "[[structural DNA nanotechnology]]"
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'''The development target are "[[gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories]]".''' <br>
 +
The associated technology (what they are made out of and what they make) is "[[gemstone metamaterial technology]]". <br>
  
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=== Gem-Gum – Gum/Rubber made out of gemstone ===
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=== Visualization of target ===
  
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[[File:The_hyper-giant_not_yet_acessible_space_of_possible_material_properties.svg|250px|thumb|right|Gemstone based mechanical metamaterials (here called "gem-gum") are a clear (and relatively simple) far term goal of APM. "Gem-gum" will extend the material properties that are available to us today to material properties that currently are deemed exotic or even contradictory and impossible. In the process of getting towards the far term goal of "gem-gum" even further reaching capabilities are likely to become accessible that can provide material properties even beyond those that "gem-gum" can provide. One of example would be: Direct mechanosynthesis of digestible food molecules. But these materials are even further out and even harder to predict.]]
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The best visualization of the proposed internal workings of a [[gem-gum factory]] in existence so far is<br>
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'''the concept animation video: [[Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts]]'''<br>
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This features concrete example geometries.
  
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Core idea #2 [[Gemstone based metamaterial|Gem-Gum]]:
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=== Block diagram ===
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Short for '''gemstone based mechanical metamaterials''' with seemingly contradicting and impossible properties.
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Even when one can mechanosynthesize almost nothing (just a few simple base materials) one can make almost anything by mechanical emulation. This is the "magic" of mechanical metamaterials. "Gum" is just a shorthand for one concrete example of such a metamaterial that rhymes on "Gem" which makes memorization a lot easier. Also it's a concrete example that's rather un-intuitive. Rubber made from gemstone.
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Not specifying any concrete geometries a good overview over the necessary innards of a [[gem-gum factory]] can be found here:<br>
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This could peak interest (click-bait effect).
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'''[[Block diagram of a gem-gum on-chip factory]]'''
  
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Even with very minimal high stiffness nano-manufacturing capabilities (just one single high performance compound like e.g. diamond and nothing else) the amount of materials creatable will far exceed what is available today. {{todo|add visualization}}
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=== Choice of terminology ===
  
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=== Limits to the ambitions ===
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<small>''A technically accurate but unwieldy long description of the far term target of APM combining all of the above would be:</small> <br>
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<small>"atomically resolving gemstone based metamaterial manufacturing and technology"''</small>
  
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APM is sometimes said to have the goal to:
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Splitting it up gives two still quite precise descriptions of the far term target:  
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* ''Create most arrangements/patterns of atoms that are permitted by and consistent with physical law.''
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* "gemstone based atomically precise manufacturing and technology"
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But that is even beyond the far term goal of [[nanofactory|gem-gum factories]].
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* "gemstone metamaterial technology" <br>
  
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Due to the strong "pessimism" (more formally "conservativeness") of [[exploratory engineering]] '''the [[nanofactory|reliably predictable part of future tecnology]] is just the innermost naked core of what will really emerge'''. Part of this "innermost naked core" are just a few base materials.
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Shortening these to make much more usable terminology:
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But these few alone are, when made into (mechanical) metamaterials, already sufficient for the emulation of an overwhelming plethora of material properties that goes far beyond what we have today (2017).
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* '''"gem based APM"'''
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* '''"gem-gum-tec"'''
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'''Use one of these!'''
  
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Much of the stuff that cannot yet be expected from the [[incremental path]] (including fundamentally unpredictable scientific discoveries) may remain in the final systems. But there also often will be [[Consistent design for external limiting factors|strong reasons to ditch earlier technology]] to not unnecessarily limit the range of situations in which the [[Products of advanced atomically precise manufacturing|advanced products]] will be usable in.
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Why "gem-gum" you ask? See: [[Defining traits of gem-gum-tec]]. In brief:
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* The '''"gem"''' stands stands for gemstone being the base material
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* The '''"gum"''' stands for rubber like flexibility – one of many possible properties that the gemstone base material attains by nano-structuring it into an advanced [[mechanical metamaterial]]. See: [[Elasticity emulation]]
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=== Microcomponent recomposers ===
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[[Microcomponent recomposer]]s also belong to [[gemstone metamaterial technology]]. <br>
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These would be kind of deliberately incomplete [[gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories]]. <br>
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They will only recompose [[microcomponents]] which already have been pre-produced. <br>
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Not produce new ones from primary resources,
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Benefits of microcomponent recomposers are
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* massively increased speed
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* significantly increased energy efficiency, and perhaps
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* some advantages regarding [[Safety towards and with gem based APM|security]].
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=== Scope of "gemstone metamaterial technology" (or "gem-gum-tech" for short) ===
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On this wiki to "[[gemstone metamaterial technology]]" is sometimes referred to with:
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* technology level [[Technology level III|III]] – (gemstones that can only be synthesized in under [[practically perfect vacuum]]) <br>
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* technology level [[Technology level II|II]] – (solution phase synthesizable gemstones) may or may not be included.
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= Safety towards and with gem based APM =
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Now with having established <br>
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– what APM in general is supposed to mean and <br>
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– what far term target gem based APM is supposed to mean and <br>
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– with having presented arguments for it's feasibility (non necessarily meaning it'll be here anytime soon though) <br>
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It's kind of mandatory to talk a bit about safety.
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Safety in a world with AP manufacturing and technology <br>
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is a lot about about [[governance and related software technology]] rather than physical technology. <br>
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There are some physical technology aspects too, yes, but these alone can't suffice.
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Note that:
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* Discussion of runaway replication accidents is massively over-represented. And risk are typically overestimated.
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* Discussion of specialized weaponry is massively under-represented. And risk are typically underestimated.
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* '''Early misdirected overregulation can increase risk rather than mitigating it.'''
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See main page: [[Safety towards and with gem based APM]] <br>
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Related pages: [[Self limitation for safety]], [[dangers]] & [[opportunities]]
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= Take a tour =
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Take a guided tour: <small>(Work in progress. Please excuse the links dangling into construction sites.)</small><br>
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* [[Tour by topic]]
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* [[Tour by map]]
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Or take a shortcut directly from here:
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== What, Why, How, When ==
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 +
{|style="background-color:#ccccff;" cellpadding="5"
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|DEFINITION:
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|'''[[About APM]]'''
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|'''What''' APM is not and what it is.
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|-
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|MOTIVATION:
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|[[Reasons for APM]]
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| '''Why''' we need APM.
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|-
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|OBSTACLES:
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|[[conceptual challenges]] and [[institutional challenges]]
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| '''What''' impedes progress towards APM.
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|-
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|APPROACH:
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|[[Pathways to advanced APM systems|Pathways to advanced APM]]
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|'''How''' we get to advanced APM.
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|-
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|PROGRESSION:
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|[[Time till advanced APM]]
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|'''When''' we will get to advanced APM?
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|}
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----
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Also there are:
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* the '''[[goals of this wiki]]'''
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* this wiki's [[APM:About|impressum]]
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* related 3D printing projects: [[The DAPMAT demo project|educational illustration of various principles]]; [[ReChain project]]; [[RepRec project]]
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Misc:
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* '''[[General Introduction to atomically precise manufacturing|Intro:]]''' Here is an old version of the landing page. Containing a detailed introduction to atomically precise manufacturing as a whole. (warning, lots of text)
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= What needs to be done to make it happen =
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'''See: [[Where to start targeted development]] for some suggestions.'''
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= Exciting super far term visions =
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See: '''[[Exciting super far term visions for gemstone metamaterial technology]]'''
  
 
= Links =
 
= Links =
 +
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=== Technical feasibility analysis ===
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 +
There is (after 29 years and counting) still only one focused and aggregated technical feasibility analysis of advanced APM (referring to gemstone metamaterial APM here) available as of the day of writing (2020-11-08).
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This is Eric Drexlers 1991 MIT Dissertation and the book "[[Nanosystems]]" which basically is a cleaned up version of the dissertation.
 +
 +
* via MIT libraries: [https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/27999]
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* via academia.edu [https://www.academia.edu/7789003/Drexler_MIT_dissertation]
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* via internet archive of the authors former homepage: [https://web.archive.org/web/20160409095424/http://e-drexler.com/d/09/00/Drexler_MIT_dissertation.pdf]
 +
 +
This analysis is still the most important technical work in this field alone simply because it is still the only one. If the reader is not afraid of a bit more technical reading and want's to get well past a mere superficial understanding then this is a highly suggested read. Note that the topics tackled in the analysis are of timeless nature so the analysis hasn't gone outdated in these past 29 (and counting) years.
  
 
== Webpages ==
 
== Webpages ==
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* [http://www.sci-nanotech.com Forum]
 
* [http://www.sci-nanotech.com Forum]
 
* [http://www.foresight.org/ Foresight Institute: Nanotechnology]
 
* [http://www.foresight.org/ Foresight Institute: Nanotechnology]
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* [http://www.imm.org/ Institute for Molecular Manufacturing]
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* [http://www.molecularassembler.com/Nanofactory/ Nanofactory Collaboration]
 
* [http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/201310Nano_Solutions.pdf Disquisition 2013 "Nano-solutions for the 21st century: Unleashing the fourth technological revolution"]
 
* [http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/201310Nano_Solutions.pdf Disquisition 2013 "Nano-solutions for the 21st century: Unleashing the fourth technological revolution"]
 
* [http://www.zyvexlabs.com/Publications2010/WhitePapers/APM_Q_and_A.html Zyvex's definition of APM]
 
* [http://www.zyvexlabs.com/Publications2010/WhitePapers/APM_Q_and_A.html Zyvex's definition of APM]
 
* [[Other sites]]
 
* [[Other sites]]
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·
 
== Brief introduction videos ==
 
== Brief introduction videos ==
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* '''[[Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts]]''' ~ A concept video visualizing the results found in the book [[Nanosystems]]
 
* [https://vimeo.com/186020435 Nanotube TV (von Nanotechnology Industries)] (2016-10)
 
* [https://vimeo.com/186020435 Nanotube TV (von Nanotechnology Industries)] (2016-10)
 
* [https://youtu.be/lvUFNp-TWbg?t=23m5s Nanotechnology: the big picture with Dr Eric Drexler and Dr Sonia Trigueros] (2016-01-28)
 
* [https://youtu.be/lvUFNp-TWbg?t=23m5s Nanotechnology: the big picture with Dr Eric Drexler and Dr Sonia Trigueros] (2016-01-28)
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* Chris Phoenix on Molecular Manufacturing (2014-09?) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCa0MxtgFI (alternative 2)][http://tsf.njit.edu/2006/spring/phoenix.php (alternative1)] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eEzD_FVCmk Nanotechnologist (older dead link)]
 
* Chris Phoenix on Molecular Manufacturing (2014-09?) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCa0MxtgFI (alternative 2)][http://tsf.njit.edu/2006/spring/phoenix.php (alternative1)] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eEzD_FVCmk Nanotechnologist (older dead link)]
 
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG-CQ-ZKh80 Dr Eric Drexler - Remaking the 21st Century] (2014-01-23) '''long! 1h 14min'''
 
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG-CQ-ZKh80 Dr Eric Drexler - Remaking the 21st Century] (2014-01-23) '''long! 1h 14min'''
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bw6Zi17DBI Video of oxford talk] (2014-01-22): Eric K. Drexler speaks about his new book "Radical Abundance"
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bw6Zi17DBI Video of oxford talk] (2014-01-22): Eric K. Drexler speaks about his new book "[[Radical Abundance]]"
 
* [https://vimeo.com/62119582 John Randall: "Atomically Precise Manufacturing" at Foresight Technical Conference 2013] <br> '''[https://vimeo.com/album/2331977 Illuminating Atomic Precision: Foresight Technical Conference January 2013]'''
 
* [https://vimeo.com/62119582 John Randall: "Atomically Precise Manufacturing" at Foresight Technical Conference 2013] <br> '''[https://vimeo.com/album/2331977 Illuminating Atomic Precision: Foresight Technical Conference January 2013]'''
 
* [http://vimeo.com/12768578 Fully Printed] (2010-06) - Note: '''[[Diamondoid]] nanofactories will look and work differently and [[misconceptions#no food|won't produce food]]'''.
 
* [http://vimeo.com/12768578 Fully Printed] (2010-06) - Note: '''[[Diamondoid]] nanofactories will look and work differently and [[misconceptions#no food|won't produce food]]'''.
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----
 
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eRCygdW--c#t=13 Richard Feynman Nanotechnology Lecture - Tiny Machines] (1984-10-25)
 
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eRCygdW--c#t=13 Richard Feynman Nanotechnology Lecture - Tiny Machines] (1984-10-25)
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·
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== Related ==
  
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* [[Gem-gum on-chip factories]]
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* [[Gemstone metamaterial technology]]
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* [[Terminology]], [[APM related terms]]
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== Wikipedia pages ==
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomically_precise_manufacturing Atomically precise manufacturing]
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productive_nanosystems Productive nanosystems]
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_nanotechnology Molecular nanotechnology]
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_assembler#Nanofactories Molecular assembler -> Nanofactories]
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanosynthesis#Diamond_mechanosynthesis Mechanosynthesis -> Diamond mechanosynthesis]
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·
 
== Locally hosted files ==
 
== Locally hosted files ==
  
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*  <span style="color:#FF0000">'''Slides from [//cfp.linuxwochen.at/de/LWW14/public/events/115 the talk] the [[APM:About|apm-wiki site admin]] gave at the austrian "linuxwochen" event: [http://www.apm.bplaced.net/public/APM-Talk-12-2slidesproseite_de.pdf slides-pdf-file]'''</span>
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*  <span style="color:#FF0000">'''Slides from [//cfp.linuxwochen.at/de/LWW14/public/events/115 the talk] the [[APM:About|apm-wiki site admin]] gave at the austrian "linuxwochen" event: [http://apm.bplaced.net/public/APM-Talk-12-2slidesproseite_de.pdf slides-pdf-file]'''</span>
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== Other languages (ATM just an old minimal into in German) ==
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{| border="0"
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|style="background:#FFCCCC; color:#000000; width: 80%; text-align:center;" |  '''Language: en | [[Mechandense's Wiki über atomar präzise Herstellung| Sprache: de]]'''
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|}
  
 
[[Category:Contents]]
 
[[Category:Contents]]
 
[[Category:General]]
 
[[Category:General]]

Latest revision as of 11:53, 15 September 2024

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The far term target

A personal desktop gem-gum factory fabblet with dynamically deployed protective hood.

The personal gem gum factory is:

  • Your personal device that can push out virtually every thing* of your daily use.
    (* at least every inedible thing)

The personal gem gum factory makes:

  • Your products that are as cheap as the abundant mining-free raw materials that it processes.
  • Your products that are far superior to today's best and ridiculously expensive high tech products.
  • Your products potentially in an environmentally friendly effluent free way
    (also advanced recycling is faster than producing from scratch)
Graphical Infosheets: [1] (work in progress)

The existence of a personal fabricator will have profound impact human society on a global scale.
The basis for such a personal fabricator - the atomically precise manufacturing (APM) technology - is beginning to be figured out today.

Dodge the trapdoors

Gear-train (cut open). Author: Mark Sims – Don't be fooled by the stroboscopic illusion in animations of diamondoid molecular machine elements. The proposed average operation speeds in gem-gum factories are quite slow actually. Nowhere near the speed of sound.

First off: Let's get the major obstacles out of the way.

  • There are no "nanobots" here!
    Check the info pages "Prime distractions" and "No nanobots".
  • Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale?! (machinery like this)
    It's well known, that there are several severe concerns regarding this idea. And for very good reasons.
    Less known is, that all of those major concerns have been considered in quite some detail with rather surprising results.
    Check out the main article discussing the concerns here:
    Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale
  • No, macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale does not behave like jelly.
    It's an arifact of simulations being run hundred thousand times faster than proposed speeds. Reasons for this and more details are on page: Misleading aspects in animations of diamondoid molecular machine elements
  • Yes, lifes nanomachinery (molecular biology) does NOT constitute a feasibility proof of the targeted kind of technology.
    But it does not constitute an infeasibility proof either. For details see: "Nature does it differently".
    What does provide the very high confidence in feasibility is low level exploratory engineering applied without compromises.
    Additionally there are successful experimental demonstrations of manipulation of single atoms. Repeatable, precise, with strong covalent bonds, and at decently high temperatures ("decently high" meaning: no liquid helium involved). Plus there's a clear path how to speed this up to the necessary operations frequencies. Namely by scaling down the placement mechanisms.
  • No, making every structure permitted by physical law is NOT the goal here. Quite the contrary actually. What we want is to cheat and make it seem as if we could. It's even encoded in the name that this wiki uses to refer to the far term target. Specifically in the "gem" and "gum" parts in "gem-gum-tec". For details check out: "The defining traits of gem-gum-tec" and "Every structure permissible by physical law".
  • No, using soft nanomachinery to bootstrap stiff nanomachinery is not an abandonment of principles.
    It just might be a more practical approach to get to the target faster. See: "Pathways".
  • No, nanoscale physics and quantum mechanics is not inherently incomprehensible.
    It is very possible, satisfying, and useful to develop an intuitive feel for these things.
  • No, the in Nanosystems found to be feasible uber enormous electromechanical power densities of ~1MW/mm³ are not to be taken naively at face value. While indeed possible for nanoscale volumes or very brief bursts of big volumes (result of running the numbers), there are nontrivial limits of cooling to consider that effectively limit it to much lower values when running macroscale volumes at steady state. Values still high from today's perspective. For details see page: Limits of power density imposed by limits of cooling

What APM is not

Source: Animation video: "The Inner Life of the Cell" – Recreating the molecular machinery of life is NOT the far term goal of atomically precise manufacturing. It is one goal of synthetic biology which goes in a very different direction. The molecular machinery of life though is a valuable resource for (1) bootstrapping towards gem-gum systems and (2) learning lower level concepts like e.g. the coordination geometries in active sites of enzymes).

While early APM may have overlap with these areas the far term goals are very different.

  • Soft nanomachines: APM is all about targeting stiffness / stiff nanomachines / "hard" nanomachines.
    Nonetheless soft nanomachines can be very useful in the bootstrapping process.
    Note though, that self assembly (useful in bootstrapping) does not essentially rely on a lack of stiffness aka softness.
    There are experiments with hierarchical self assembly of structural DNA nanotechnology that have clearly demonstrated this
    (wiki-TODO: add reference).
  • Molecular biology: One main far term target in molecular biology is a complete reverse engineering of natures nanomachinery for grand improvements in medicine. This is strongly unrelated to the far term target of APM. A particular example where the interests diverge: The very difficult folding problem for natural proteins versus the relatively simple de-novo-protein-design for artificial nanomachinery.
  • Synthetic biology: The far term targets of this research is the recreation and expansion of the nanomachinery of life. It goes pretty much 180° in the opposite direction of APM.
    (Not to say that this research is not valuable in its own right. Its far term targets are just maximally unrelated to R&D efforts targeting APM)

Main article: "Brownian technology path"

What APM actually is

APM is basically the capability of manufacturing products such that the atoms they are constituted of link (bind) to each other in "exactly" the way one desires them to. Since "absolute exactness" in other words "making no errors ever" is a fundamental physical impossibility one just aims for extremely low error rates. On the long run error rates comparable to the bit-error-rates one can find in todays digital data processing systems.

Why should the far term target of APM (gemstone metamaterial technology) even work?

Because there is exceptional theoretical and good experimental evidence that it will:
For details see: Why gemstone metamaterial technology should work in brief
Gemstone metamaterial technology is the far term target of APM. More on that further down.

For theoretical evidence (including some not covered in Nanosystems) see:

APM in the near term and APM in the far term

See main article: Near term and far term.

The (two) killer features of APM

See main page: The killer features of APM
Basically two things:

Nearer term targets

On this wiki "atomically precise manufacturing" (or APM) will be interpreted in a wider sense.
Including both earlier precursor systems in the near term and the targeted later systems in the far term.
Specifically this may include:

Far term target

Screen capture from the concept animation video: "Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts" showing several proposed processing stages compressed into just one single image. This is conceptual.
From atoms/molecules to products via convergent assembly.

On this wiki the shorthand "gem-gum technology" (or "gem based APM") will be used to refer to the far term target.

Development target more concretely

The development target are "gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories".
The associated technology (what they are made out of and what they make) is "gemstone metamaterial technology".

Visualization of target

The best visualization of the proposed internal workings of a gem-gum factory in existence so far is
the concept animation video: Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts
This features concrete example geometries.

Block diagram

Not specifying any concrete geometries a good overview over the necessary innards of a gem-gum factory can be found here:
Block diagram of a gem-gum on-chip factory

Choice of terminology

A technically accurate but unwieldy long description of the far term target of APM combining all of the above would be:
"atomically resolving gemstone based metamaterial manufacturing and technology"

Splitting it up gives two still quite precise descriptions of the far term target:

  • "gemstone based atomically precise manufacturing and technology"
  • "gemstone metamaterial technology"

Shortening these to make much more usable terminology:

  • "gem based APM"
  • "gem-gum-tec"

Use one of these!

Why "gem-gum" you ask? See: Defining traits of gem-gum-tec. In brief:

  • The "gem" stands stands for gemstone being the base material
  • The "gum" stands for rubber like flexibility – one of many possible properties that the gemstone base material attains by nano-structuring it into an advanced mechanical metamaterial. See: Elasticity emulation

Microcomponent recomposers

Microcomponent recomposers also belong to gemstone metamaterial technology.
These would be kind of deliberately incomplete gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories.
They will only recompose microcomponents which already have been pre-produced.
Not produce new ones from primary resources,

Benefits of microcomponent recomposers are

  • massively increased speed
  • significantly increased energy efficiency, and perhaps
  • some advantages regarding security.

Scope of "gemstone metamaterial technology" (or "gem-gum-tech" for short)

On this wiki to "gemstone metamaterial technology" is sometimes referred to with:

  • technology level III – (gemstones that can only be synthesized in under practically perfect vacuum)
  • technology level II – (solution phase synthesizable gemstones) may or may not be included.

Safety towards and with gem based APM

Now with having established
– what APM in general is supposed to mean and
– what far term target gem based APM is supposed to mean and
– with having presented arguments for it's feasibility (non necessarily meaning it'll be here anytime soon though)
It's kind of mandatory to talk a bit about safety.

Safety in a world with AP manufacturing and technology
is a lot about about governance and related software technology rather than physical technology.
There are some physical technology aspects too, yes, but these alone can't suffice.

Note that:

  • Discussion of runaway replication accidents is massively over-represented. And risk are typically overestimated.
  • Discussion of specialized weaponry is massively under-represented. And risk are typically underestimated.
  • Early misdirected overregulation can increase risk rather than mitigating it.

See main page: Safety towards and with gem based APM
Related pages: Self limitation for safety, dangers & opportunities

Take a tour

Take a guided tour: (Work in progress. Please excuse the links dangling into construction sites.)

Or take a shortcut directly from here:

What, Why, How, When

DEFINITION: About APM What APM is not and what it is.
MOTIVATION: Reasons for APM Why we need APM.
OBSTACLES: conceptual challenges and institutional challenges What impedes progress towards APM.
APPROACH: Pathways to advanced APM How we get to advanced APM.
PROGRESSION: Time till advanced APM When we will get to advanced APM?

Also there are:

Misc:

  • Intro: Here is an old version of the landing page. Containing a detailed introduction to atomically precise manufacturing as a whole. (warning, lots of text)

What needs to be done to make it happen

See: Where to start targeted development for some suggestions.

Exciting super far term visions

See: Exciting super far term visions for gemstone metamaterial technology

Links

Technical feasibility analysis

There is (after 29 years and counting) still only one focused and aggregated technical feasibility analysis of advanced APM (referring to gemstone metamaterial APM here) available as of the day of writing (2020-11-08). This is Eric Drexlers 1991 MIT Dissertation and the book "Nanosystems" which basically is a cleaned up version of the dissertation.

  • via MIT libraries: [2]
  • via academia.edu [3]
  • via internet archive of the authors former homepage: [4]

This analysis is still the most important technical work in this field alone simply because it is still the only one. If the reader is not afraid of a bit more technical reading and want's to get well past a mere superficial understanding then this is a highly suggested read. Note that the topics tackled in the analysis are of timeless nature so the analysis hasn't gone outdated in these past 29 (and counting) years.

Webpages

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Brief introduction videos

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Related

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Wikipedia pages

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Locally hosted files

Other languages (ATM just an old minimal into in German)

Language: en | Sprache: de
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