On chip microcomponent recomposer

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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.

An on-chip microcomponent recomposer is a production device that constitutes a standalone sub part of a nanofactory.
It is something like an incomplete nanofactory.
An on-chip microcomponent recomposer only contains the upper assembly levels beginning with microcomponent assembly (level III or IIb).

An on-chip microcomponent recomposer can handle bigger parts that can be taken apart again - that is:

And in contrast to a full nanofactory an on-chip microcomponent recomposer can't handle smaller parts that often can't be taken apart again - these are:

As a consequence (unlike full nanofactories) everything that on-chip microcomponent recomposers can build they can take apart to the building blocks they made them out. Thus on-chip microcomponent recomposers are excellent recycling machines. They shuffle existing that is prefabricated microcomponents into new configurations to create new different products from old ones (or from virgin microcomponents of an macroscopically external nanofactory).

Misc

More general purpouse microcomponent maintenance microbots may do the same job as an on-chip microcomponent recomposer but less efficient.

Global microcomponent redistribiution network

Ob-chip microcomponent recomposers become especially effective when connected to a global microcomponent redistribution system.
Main article: Global microcomponent redistribution system

Mobile

When in locations without access to a global microcomponent redistribution system then
one could lug around around a cartridge of the most often used microcomponents.
This is somehow comparable to a computer cache with the most often used dater nearest to the ALU.

Integration into normal everyday experience

Thing source and thing drain

Instead of packing on-chip microcomponent recomposer functionality into each and every surface of our environment it is probably more sensible to put them where we expect them. Physical locations are usually associated with functions.

No one wants the immediate delete button right next to the save button.

E.g. The good old dustbin. It may be replaced with a microcomponent recomposer that is set to disassemble its contents when "a button is pushed".

Note: The other direction - general purpose production devices (e.g. the size of a laserprinter are probably more likely to integrate the full nanofactory functionality. (Regulations?...)

The fridge and the freezer

The fridge and the freezer are further physical locations associated with a special use.
Especially at those locations full on-chip nanofactories are needed instead of just on-chip microcomponent recomposers.

What one usually expects to be in a freezer is food and medicine. Since they Food and medical drugs (at least the non serious ones) absolutely need to be synthesizable locally. Otherwise they need to be be carried in from afar which makes little sense - see below.

Food (made directly in the fridge) may contain nonpoisonous digestible microcomponents (made exclusively from e.g. periclase, calicte, appatite, DNA-meshworks, de novo proteins ...) but certainly not as a main component. Food is not made to be disassembled - its made to be eaten by humans or other forms of life.

The same holds for medical drugs (that may be temperature sensitive)

Medicine will often come in the form of advanced medical nanodevices. those nanodevices may be standalone microcomponents (slowly degrading or nonderading but well egestable) - there's no need for a recomposer.

Why microcomponent recycling involving transport: (Main article: Recycling)
It boils down to that everything that biodegradates quickly is not worth the effort of transporting in from afar. The point of paying the cost of transport for microcomponents is: not to create even more non degrading waste which is more costly to get rid of. Critical drugs will very probably be subject to intense regulations - thus no local synthesis.

Related: Synthesis of food

Thermal bunching

(wiki-TODO: Write about this very important aspect)
See page: Thermal bunching

Related


A compact microscopic version of an on-chip microcomponent recomposer is a microcomponent maintenance microbot.
It would have some similarities with a molecular assembler. Main difference being the lack of mechanosynthetic capabilities

External links