Difference between revisions of "Gem-gum technology"

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[[File:Box_full_of_future_technology.jpg|400px|thumb|right|This box is full of things made with future '''gemstone metamaterial technology'''. While we can already make out roughly what [[products of gem-gum technology|some products]] could look like their exact visual appearance for now remain censored and hidden for our still undeserving eyes.]]
  
This technology has its products manufactred by '''robotic atomically precise manufacturing with [[moiety|minimal groups of atoms]] in [[practically prefect vacuum]]'''. Here sometimes "Technology level III" will be used synonymously for vacuum gem gum technology.
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'''Gemstone metamaterial technology (or gem-gum-tec for short)''' is the far term target technology of [[Main Page|atomically precise manufacturing]]. This far term technology target was established as worth pursuing in the book [[Nanosystems]].
  
The nature of products in this technology level is outlined in the definition of advanced APM on the [[Main Page]]. This page gives in depth details to the different aspects of advanced APM systems in general.
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This technology target:
 +
* is based on stringent application of [[exploratory engineering]].
 +
* is not a fantastic vision based on wishful thinking <br><small>(See: [[Ultimate limits#Whisful thinking vs Exploratory engineering]])</small>
  
The current main goal is the construction of a [[nanofactory]] with [[advanced nanofactory design|apropriate design]] that employs [[convergent assembly]].
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= Introduction =
  
= Productive nanosystems  =
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Products of gemstome metamatrial technology use [[gemstone like compounds]] as base materials but <br>
 +
vastly change their mechanical and other properties through nanostructuring into [[gemstone based metamaterial]]s. <br>
 +
For the fundamental nature of products of this technology see: [[Defining traits of gem-gum-tech]]. <br>
  
[[file:technology-path-sketched.png|thumb|Growing specialization of nanosystems with incremental technology improvement leads more to nanofactories than assemblers.]]
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Artifacts (products) of in-vacuum gem-gum technology are manufactured via robotic atomically precise pick and place manipulation of [[moiety|molecule fragments of a size ranging from one to a few atoms each]] ([[piezochemical mechanosynthesis]]). This happens in an environment "filled" with [[practically perfect vacuum]]. Following are a number of assembly steps at increasingly larger size scales. Thesee are the [[assembly levels]] of [[convergent assembly]].
  
In the beginning of APM research only ''[[#Assemblers|(molecular) assemblers]]'' where considered as a means for reaching the capability to produce macroscopic amounts of a [[further improvement at technology level III|product]] or block of [[diamondoid metamaterial|material]].<br>
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Products are assembled in [[advanced productive nanosystem]]s.<br>
Here at technology level III it turns out that advanced [[#Advanced nanofactories|nanofactories]] are more balanced and efficient than assembler systems.
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These [[gem-gum factories]] may come in various [[Form factors of gem-gum factories|form factors]].
At [[technology level I]] the border between minimal assemblers and rudimentary nanofactories is more blurred. A rudimentary nanofactory might be buildabel with exponential assembly instead of [[self replication]] but simplified two dimensional assembler linkages/mechanisms might work too. <br>
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Most promising candidate at the moment are [[gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories]] with an [[Design of gem-gum on-chip factories|appropriate design]] that employs [[convergent assembly]].
To have an umbrella term for both ideas The term ''productive nanosystems'' was introduced.<br>
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Using the whole volume for the building process of the product rather than a layer in the "classic" nanofactory design could speed up the building process. But this will not be necessary for practical usage {{todo|find and link existing proof}}. If one builds a solid block though one might end up being slower than with the layer method due to the [[fractal growth speedup limit]]
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This page will focus more on the products (artifacts of atomically precise technology)<br>
 +
rather the production devices (devices for atomically precise manufacturing)
  
== Assembly levels ==
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= Related =
  
The assembly process of AP products can be clearly divided in a number of subsequent steps no matter whether the concrete implementation of a productive nanosytem looks more like a nanofactory or more like an assembler system (assembler designs often skipped all assembly levels above I though). Those steps are implementation agnostic. Further details can be found on the [[assembly levels|assembly levels page]].
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* [[Technology levels]]
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* [[The defining traits of gem-gum-tec]]
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* [[In-vacuum gem-gum technology]] is both making up and made by [[gemstone metamaterial on chip factory]]. <br>If that sounds paradox it's because of the chicken egg problem of [[Bootstrapping methods for productive nanosystems|bootstrapping such factories]].
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* [[Gem-gum technology (disambiguation)]]
  
== Notes ==
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= Terminology =
  
* Depending on whether one assumes incremental improvement over technology levels or a more direct access there are [[Skipping technology levels#Two types of DME design|two types of DME design]]s to choose from: pure hydrocarbon or various nonmetal including designs. Both have reason to be done.
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Here in this wiki "gem-gum tech" used without a prefix: 
 +
* shall always refer to this technology operating in vacuum "in-vacuum gem-gum tech". ([[PPV]] in a [[gem-gum housing shell]])
 +
* shall not refer to "in-solvent gem-gum tech" <br>(an eventual precursor technology)
  
* One may say that the concepts of nanofactories and assemblers are not entirely sharp seperable i.e. that they are merely the endpoints of a design continuum. To meet in the middle: The smallest possible grains of nanofactories (without the optional exponential assembly layers) somehow dispersed on a lattice in a volume could be looked at as a static configuration of quite big assemblers.
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== About the chosen name for this kind of technology (meta) ==
  
== Assemblers  ==
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"In-vacuum gemstone metamaterial technology"
 +
is a novel term introduced on this wiki (2017).
  
[[File:self-replicating-assembler-unit.png|thumb|Artistic depiction of a mobile assembler unit capable of self replication. An outdated idea.]]
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Alternative older terms had one or many of the following problems:
 +
* they didn't exclude unrelated topics well (far too general and wide in scope)
 +
* they didn't capture the most important aspects of the technology well
 +
* they weren't catchy memorable and useably short
  
'''Note: The concept of assemblers is outdated!'''<br>
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This situation led to [[History|problems in form of confusion and conflict in the past]].<br>
Assemblers are [[Autogenous]] | [[legged mobility|mobile]] | productive | [[self replication|self replicating]] units.
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Introduction of the new terms should in general be kept to a minimum. <br>
That is after they replicated to a sufficciently large number they could start produce useful goods.
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But in this case the new term seems well motivated and thus justified.
'''Assemblers are very hard to build directly and not an attractive aim point since they are very inefficient.'''
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On a different note assemblers spawned the [[grey goo meme]] that latched on the overloaded and fuzzy term "nanotechnology" that sooner had become a major money source for non atomically precise reseach in the nanocosm. The result was a conflict leading to discreditation cut of funding and censorship of everything related to APM. A development [[openness|not in the interest of society]].
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An assembler could be thought of a very compact self contained (and probably in some way mobile) [[nanofactory]] with crippled [[exponential assembly]].
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== Motivations for the name ==
  
Read more about assemblers on the [[molecular assembler|molecular assembler main page]].
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The "gem-gum" part of the name represents two core ideas:
  
== Advanced nanofactories  ==
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1) The core idea that even when one can [[mechanosynthesis|mechanosynthesize]] almost nothing (just a few simple [[diamondoid compound|base materials]]) one can make almost anything by mechanical emulation. '''Mechanical metamaterials'''. "gum" is just a shorthand for a concrete example of such a [[metamaterial]] that rhymes on "gem" which makes memorization a lot easier. Also it's an concrete example that's rather un-intuitive. Rubber made from gemstone. Which could peak interest (click-bait effect).
  
Two approaches to diamondoid nanofactories must be clearly discerned since the design objectives are very different.
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2) The core idea that gradually increasing the [[stiffness]] of [[diamondoid compound|the materials one builds with]] is the ultimate key to advanced [[mechanosynthesis]]. The term "gem" (short for gemstone - obviously) points exclusively to the stiff base materials of the far term target technology. This explicitly excludes early stage atomically precise manufacturing such as "[[structural DNA nanotechnology]]" which has no [[positional atomic precision]] and would be mushed in with other terms.
  
* Ones that are an attractive and sensible far term goal for the incremental technology path. e.g. the one sketched in [[Nanosystems]].
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The "in-vacuum" part of the name narrows down further to materials that can only be synthesized in [[practically perfect vacuum]].
* Ones that are designed to be easily buildable as easy as possible with a [[direct path]] aproach. e.g. Chris phoenix nanofactory design skech
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=== The attractive but distant aim point ===
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'''See main page: [[The defining traits of gem-gum-tec]]'''
  
How will a Nanofactory look like? <br>
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== Modifications of the name ==
Lets start with the '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY5192g1gQg official productive nanosystem video] - [http://e-drexler.com/a/080415NanoFactory94MB.mov (high quality 94MB)]'''. <br>
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If this looks like a fantasy to you be aware that this is a desired aim point and certainly not the first thing one wants to build from scratch.
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Also beside the sorting and atom deposition which are already quite concrete the further up steps serve more as a conception of what goes where rather than a construction plan.
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The blueish screen-shot on the right is from '''the video and shows all the [[assembly levels]] except IV'''. A strictly hight ordered stratified layout is presented.<br>
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On this wiki "Technology level III" may sometimes be used synonymously for in-vacuum gem-gum technology.
 
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==== What is shown in the official productive nanosystems video: ====
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Correspondence to [[assembly levels]]:
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* Assembly level 0 and I are grouped together and represented by the "molecular mills" step.
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* Assembly level II is represented by the "block assemblers" step.
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* Assembly level III is represented by the "product assemblers" step.
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* Assembly level IV is not integrated since its optional.omitted All [[assembly levels]] except IV
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How much is conception only:
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* In the "molecular mills" step The notion of "next stage" marks the point from 0a to 0b (filtering and tooltip preparation). It's quite concrete.
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* The tooltip preparation process is depicted simplified {{todo|check in-how-far}}. For the actually more complex [[mechanosynthesis|preparations cycles]] the tooltips (with tipcones) for [[mechanosynthesis]] can be merged with carriage structures that can be steered by rail switches.
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* The shown reaction "which has been analyzed using advanced quantum chemistry techniques" is not RS6. {{Todo|find out which it is supposed to be}}.
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* Due to the assumption of limited to no steerability of the molecular mills a steerable [[crystolecule routing layer|routing system]] is needed for shuffling the produced [[diamondoid molecular elements|DMEs]] in the right order. This routing system is conceptually shown between the "molecular mills" and the "block assemblers" step and in the video is called "transfer mechanism".
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* Only mills are shown - a vew more flexible but slower robotic manipulators doing mechanosynthesis are likely to augment them in a real system.
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* The shown mill wheels could be extended to barrels. It is probably sensible to place more than just one atom per station. Some stripes of a whole layer maybe.
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* The shown block and product assembler steps are rather wasteful of space and will probably look quite different in an actual design.
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* Vacuum lock out is neither shown between "block" and "product assembler" step nor at the final macroscopic port. In a real system this must be integrated in at least one of these places.
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The '''[http://e-drexler.com/p/04/05/0609factoryImages.html artistic depiction of a nanofactory]''' depicted in the grayish image on the right '''only shows [[assembly levels#Level IV:|assembly level IV]] (the optional higher convergent assembly stages)'''. An iteration extruded 2D Fractal design is choosen.
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====Thourough analysis====
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'''For a detailed discussion of visit the page about [[advanced nanofactory design]].'''
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To find out how a nanofactory will look like more accurately one must start with the systems internal sub-product logistics (mechanosynthesis and assembly) since:
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Nanosystems 14.4.1 ''"... the details of supporting systems ... are peripheral to the central issues of molecular manufacturing ... ... a reasonable estimate of overall system volume can be be had by summing the volumes of the assembly workspaces without describing a particulate three-dimensional layout. ..."''* [[* [[Atom placement frequency]]
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When subsystem sizes are roughly known one can start to contemplate about the possible spacial configurations by
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making sure that production and consumption fits together at the borders between the assembly levels. This can be considered the [[level throughput balancing]] problem.
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Its natural to think that it would be best to do mechanosynthesis in the whole nanofactories volume to get maximal productivity. That is to use dense '''construction style assembly''' without higher convergent assembly layers. Nanosystems ADDREF (known form early assembler system concepts).
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An '''[http://e-drexler.com/p/04/04/0505prodScaling.html estimation]''' shows that running such a system at macroscopic speeds (which the DMME bearings can tolerate) leads to huge amounts of waste heat because of the high cumulative surface area of all the bearings.
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If one goes for maximum performance these levels of waste heat should be easily removable with AP pellet cooling systems. (other processing steps might limit assembly speed like e.g. molecule sorting {{Todo: check}})
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The problems are that the high mass throughput would create unacceptably high acceleration forces and
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The product couldn't be easily removed from the construction scaffold especially at those high speeds.
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A more living-room friendly design can be reached by either going down with the operating speed or doing mechanosynthesis and basic assembly only in a thin layer extruding the products out. This is called '''manufacturing style assembly'''
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higher convergent assembly hierarchy can be put on top and the base layer could be broken apart and distributed in this hirarchy.
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[[File:productive-nanosystems-video-snapshot.png|thumb|Cross section through a nanofactory showing the lower assembly levels vertically stacked on top of each other. Image from the official "productive nanosystems" video.]]
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[[File:0609factory700x681.jpg|thumb|Artistic depiction of a nanofactory. Only the last assembly level (convergent assembly) is visible to the naked eye.]]
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=== Designs for the direct path ===
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There is an interesting article about Nanofactory design written by Chris Phoenix in 2003 "[http://www.jetpress.org/volume13/Nanofactory.htm Design of a Primitive Nanofactory]".
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More information can be founds on the "[[discussion of proposed nanofactory designs]]" page.
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Link: The [http://www.molecularassembler.com/Nanofactory/ Nanofactory Collaboration].
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=== General ===
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Note that '''in a stratified design that uses convergent assembly''' that is strictly ordered after assembly levels '''a block made from eight blocks must come from only four ports of the stage below'''. Consequently the '''production frequency must double with every stage one goes down''', which is no problem since objects of '''half size can move with twice the frequency''' (a scaling law). (In computer terms you extract an [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octree octree] out of a a [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadtree quadtree]).
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The lowest levels (assebly levels <= II) are significantly slower then the simple mergement steps above.
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Filling a whole volume with the basic assembly levels keeping macroscopic speeds would lead to ridiculously high mass throughput and heat generation.
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Slowing down to mediocre waste heat still leaves high productivity.
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Using a thin well coolable layer is the classical nanofactory approach.
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= Design levels  =
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APM systems can depending on the size of the chunk of them that is under considereration be designed at three different levels:
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* [[tooltip chemistry]] level
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* atomistic mechanic level
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* lower bulk limit
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* system level
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Further details can de found on the [[design levels|design levels page]].
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== Diamondoid Molecular Elements (DMEs) ==
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At the core an advanced productive APM systems consist out of DMEs. <br>
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DMEs can be designed either directly at the atomistic level or in lower bulk limit form.
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One can classify DMEs into:
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*Diamondoid Molecular machine elements DMMEs
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*Diamondoid Molecular [[structural elements for nanofactories|structural elements]] DMSEs
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Furthere details can be found [[diamondoid molecular elements|diamondoid molecular elements page]].
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Certain standard sets like ''housing components'' or a ''minimal set of compatible DMMEs'' are needed.
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Potential structural and machine elements that seem suitable to port them to DME designs can be found here:
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* [http://www.thingiverse.com/mechadense/collections/potential-nano-machine-and-nano-structural-elements Thingiverse collection I]
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* ['''Todo:''' add further resources]
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Depending on the design different degrees of modifications need to be done. <br>
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All degrees of freedom need to be controlled, wall thicknesses need to be increased, atomic roughness must be considered, ...
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== Logistics  ==
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A lot of media need to be shoved around in a nanofactory. <br>
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Included are: data; energy; raw material; heat; waste; partly finished products; vacua (in some sense); noble gasses <br>
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The use of electricity is avoided at the lowest size levels since tunneling and conduction around bents are nontrivial.
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See [[non mechanical technology path]].
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The routing of the structures bearing those different media i.e. the schematics to physical layout mapping is part of the [[design levels|system level design]].
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Some structures bearing the transmitted media can be found on the "[[diamondoid molecular elements]]" page.
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= Data processing =
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Computation must be done reversibly since deleting data dissipated energy.
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More about this can be found on the "[[reversible data processing]]" page.
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For AP electronic computer technology go to: [[non mechanical technology path]]
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For [[control hirarchy|control]] a three layer hirachical tree might suffice
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* Top layer: external computer
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* Intermediate layer: integrated nanoelectronics units
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* Bottom layer: nanomechanic computation units (out of size reasons)
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* Core: Semi hardcoded conveyor belt systems (like molecular mills) & Manipulators (no active logic here)
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= Vacuum =
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[[Mechanosynthesis]] of [[diamondoid]] materials in t.level III needs to be done in a "perfect" vacuum (or noble gas).
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Actually this is the defining trait seperating it from [[technology level II|t.level II]].
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Any free gas molecules would quickly react with the tooltips rendering them dysfunctional.
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From current perspective creation of "perfect" vacua seems illusionary. Any operator of an UHV system knows that it is impossible to get rid of all the gas molecules that are unavoidably adsorbed on the vacuuum vessels walls.
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The current perspective is based on the current technology though.
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The vacuum vessels for APM systems of t.level III
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* are cavities sized in the nanometer range - this increases the probability of having zero gas molecules captured inside
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* have atomically precise maximally flat walls - not allowing for gas adsorption and allowing for maximally tight seals without out-gassing lubricants
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* can utilize atomically tight positive displacement pumps for vacuum generation - no backflow
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and are thus capable of creating sufficient vacua.
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(About sealings and pumps: Nanosystems 11.4.2 & 11.4.3)
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For how to create and maintain vacuums with advanced AP systems see: '''[[Vacuum handling]]'''
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= Related =
+
  
* [[Atom placement frequency]]
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By leaving out the "in-vacuum" part of the name (leaving only "gem-gum-tec") one can precisely widen the scope to include one technology level below. Namely ([[In-solvent gem-gum technology]]).
  
[[Category:Technology level III]]
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An other term occasionally used on the wiki to refer to gem-gum-tec is "advanced atomically precise technology". In-liquid gem-gum-tec may or may not be included dependent on context.
[[Category:Nanofactory]]
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[[Category:Site specific definitions]]
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Revision as of 17:14, 6 March 2022

This article defines a novel term (that is hopefully sensibly chosen). The term is introduced to make a concept more concrete and understand its interrelationship with other topics related to atomically precise manufacturing. For details go to the page: Neologism.
Defining traits of technology level III
building method robotic control (machine phase)
building material minimal molecule fragments and single H atoms
building environment vacuum or noble gas
Navigation
back to very first level technology level 0
previous level technology level II
previous step introduction of practically perfect vacuum
you are here Technology level III
basis for products diamondoid metamaterials
products further improvement at technology level III
This box is full of things made with future gemstone metamaterial technology. While we can already make out roughly what some products could look like their exact visual appearance for now remain censored and hidden for our still undeserving eyes.

Gemstone metamaterial technology (or gem-gum-tec for short) is the far term target technology of atomically precise manufacturing. This far term technology target was established as worth pursuing in the book Nanosystems.

This technology target:

Introduction

Products of gemstome metamatrial technology use gemstone like compounds as base materials but
vastly change their mechanical and other properties through nanostructuring into gemstone based metamaterials.
For the fundamental nature of products of this technology see: Defining traits of gem-gum-tech.

Artifacts (products) of in-vacuum gem-gum technology are manufactured via robotic atomically precise pick and place manipulation of molecule fragments of a size ranging from one to a few atoms each (piezochemical mechanosynthesis). This happens in an environment "filled" with practically perfect vacuum. Following are a number of assembly steps at increasingly larger size scales. Thesee are the assembly levels of convergent assembly.

Products are assembled in advanced productive nanosystems.
These gem-gum factories may come in various form factors. Most promising candidate at the moment are gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories with an appropriate design that employs convergent assembly.

This page will focus more on the products (artifacts of atomically precise technology)
rather the production devices (devices for atomically precise manufacturing)

Related

Terminology

Here in this wiki "gem-gum tech" used without a prefix:

  • shall always refer to this technology operating in vacuum "in-vacuum gem-gum tech". (PPV in a gem-gum housing shell)
  • shall not refer to "in-solvent gem-gum tech"
    (an eventual precursor technology)

About the chosen name for this kind of technology (meta)

"In-vacuum gemstone metamaterial technology" is a novel term introduced on this wiki (2017).

Alternative older terms had one or many of the following problems:

  • they didn't exclude unrelated topics well (far too general and wide in scope)
  • they didn't capture the most important aspects of the technology well
  • they weren't catchy memorable and useably short

This situation led to problems in form of confusion and conflict in the past.
Introduction of the new terms should in general be kept to a minimum.
But in this case the new term seems well motivated and thus justified.

Motivations for the name

The "gem-gum" part of the name represents two core ideas:

1) The core idea that even when one can mechanosynthesize almost nothing (just a few simple base materials) one can make almost anything by mechanical emulation. Mechanical metamaterials. "gum" is just a shorthand for a concrete example of such a metamaterial that rhymes on "gem" which makes memorization a lot easier. Also it's an concrete example that's rather un-intuitive. Rubber made from gemstone. Which could peak interest (click-bait effect).

2) The core idea that gradually increasing the stiffness of the materials one builds with is the ultimate key to advanced mechanosynthesis. The term "gem" (short for gemstone - obviously) points exclusively to the stiff base materials of the far term target technology. This explicitly excludes early stage atomically precise manufacturing such as "structural DNA nanotechnology" which has no positional atomic precision and would be mushed in with other terms.

The "in-vacuum" part of the name narrows down further to materials that can only be synthesized in practically perfect vacuum.

See main page: The defining traits of gem-gum-tec

Modifications of the name

On this wiki "Technology level III" may sometimes be used synonymously for in-vacuum gem-gum technology.

By leaving out the "in-vacuum" part of the name (leaving only "gem-gum-tec") one can precisely widen the scope to include one technology level below. Namely (In-solvent gem-gum technology).

An other term occasionally used on the wiki to refer to gem-gum-tec is "advanced atomically precise technology". In-liquid gem-gum-tec may or may not be included dependent on context.