Programmable matter
Encyclopedia
Programmable matter refers to matter
which has the ability to change its physical properties (shape, density, moduli, optical properties, etc.) in a programmable fashion, based upon user input or autonomous sensing. Programmable matter is thus linked to the concept of a material which inherently has the ability to perform information processing.
and Margolus
to refer to an ensemble of fine-grained computing elements arranged in space . Their paper describes a computing substrate that is composed of fine-grained compute nodes distributed throughout space which communicate using only nearest neighbor interactions. In this
context, programmable matter
refers to compute models similar to cellular automata and
Lattice Gas Automata . The CAM-8 architecture is an example hardware realization of this model. This function is also known as "digital referenced areas" (DRA) in some forms of self-replicating machine
science.
In the early 1990s there was a significant amount of work in reconfigurable modular robotics with a philosophy similar to programmable matter.
As semiconductor
technology nanotechnology
and self-replicating machine technology have advanced, the use of the term programmable matter has changed to reflect the fact that
it is possible to build an ensemble of elements which can be "programmed" to change their physical properties in reality, not just in simulation
. Thus, programmable matter has come to mean "any bulk substance which can be programmed to change its physical properties."
In the summer of 1998, in a discussion on artificial atoms and programmable matter, Wil McCarthy
and G. Snyder coined the term "quantum wellstone" (or simply "wellstone") to describe this hypothetical but plausible form of
programmable matter. McCarthy has used the term in his fiction.
In 2002, Seth Goldstein and Todd Mowry started the claytronics
project at Carnegie Mellon University to investigate the underlying hardware and software mechanisms necessary to realize programmable matter.
In 2004, the DARPA Information Science and Technology group (ISAT) examined the potential of programmable matter. This resulted in the 2005-2006 study, "Realizing Programmable Matter" which laid out a multi-year program for the research and development of programmable matter.
In 2007, programmable matter was the subject of a DARPA research solicitation and subsequent program.
is a form of programmable matter. A second school of thought is that the individual units of the ensemble can compute and the result of their computation is a change in the ensemble's physical properties. An example of this more ambitious form of programmable matter is claytronics
, where the units in the ensemble "compute" and the result is a change in the shape of the ensemble.
There are many proposed implementations of programmable matter. Scale is one key differentiator between different forms of programmable matter. At one end of the spectrum reconfigurable modular robotics pursues a form of programmable matter where the individual units are in the centimeter size range.
At the nanoscale end of the spectrum there are a tremendous number of different bases for programmable matter, ranging from shape changing molecules to quantum dot
s. Quantum dots are in fact often referred to as artificial atoms. In the micrometer to sub-millimeter range examples include claytronics, MEMS
-based units, cells created using synthetic biology
, and the utility fog
concept.
that can be controlled to react in ways that do not occur in nature. One example developed by David Smith and then by John Pendry and David Schuri is of a material that can have its index of refraction tuned so that it can have a different index of refraction at different points in the material. If tuned properly this could result in an "invisibility cloak."
's group at UCLA has been developing molecules that can change their electrical properties.
for more information and links.
concerning reconfigurable nanoscale robot
s ('claytronic atoms', or catoms) designed to form much larger scale machines or mechanisms. The catoms will be sub-millimeter computers that will eventually have the ability to move around, communicate with other computers, change color, and electrostatically connect to other catoms to form different shapes.
s which, like real atoms, can form covalent bonds, but these are extremely weak. Because of their larger sizes, other properties are also widely different.
, to change their color, shape, etc.
for the future. The ideas behind it are explored in many works of science fiction. Examples:
Matter
Matter is a general term for the substance of which all physical objects consist. Typically, matter includes atoms and other particles which have mass. A common way of defining matter is as anything that has mass and occupies volume...
which has the ability to change its physical properties (shape, density, moduli, optical properties, etc.) in a programmable fashion, based upon user input or autonomous sensing. Programmable matter is thus linked to the concept of a material which inherently has the ability to perform information processing.
History
Programmable matter is a term originally coined in 1991 by ToffoliTommaso Toffoli
Tommaso Toffoli is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Boston University. He joined the faculty in 1995. He was born in June, 1943 in Montereale Valcellina, in northeastern Italy, and was raised in Rome. He received his doctorate in physics from the University of Rome La...
and Margolus
Norman Margolus
Norman H. Margolus is an Canadian-American physicist and computer scientist, known for his work on cellular automata and reversible computing...
to refer to an ensemble of fine-grained computing elements arranged in space . Their paper describes a computing substrate that is composed of fine-grained compute nodes distributed throughout space which communicate using only nearest neighbor interactions. In this
context, programmable matter
Matter
Matter is a general term for the substance of which all physical objects consist. Typically, matter includes atoms and other particles which have mass. A common way of defining matter is as anything that has mass and occupies volume...
refers to compute models similar to cellular automata and
Lattice Gas Automata . The CAM-8 architecture is an example hardware realization of this model. This function is also known as "digital referenced areas" (DRA) in some forms of self-replicating machine
Self-replicating machine
A self-replicating machine is an artificial construct that is theoretically capable of autonomously manufacturing a copy of itself using raw materials taken from its environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature. The concept of self-replicating machines...
science.
In the early 1990s there was a significant amount of work in reconfigurable modular robotics with a philosophy similar to programmable matter.
As semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
technology nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
and self-replicating machine technology have advanced, the use of the term programmable matter has changed to reflect the fact that
it is possible to build an ensemble of elements which can be "programmed" to change their physical properties in reality, not just in simulation
Simulation
Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....
. Thus, programmable matter has come to mean "any bulk substance which can be programmed to change its physical properties."
In the summer of 1998, in a discussion on artificial atoms and programmable matter, Wil McCarthy
Wil McCarthy
Wil McCarthy is a science fiction novelist, Chief Technology Officer for Galileo Shipyards , and the science columnist for Syfy...
and G. Snyder coined the term "quantum wellstone" (or simply "wellstone") to describe this hypothetical but plausible form of
programmable matter. McCarthy has used the term in his fiction.
In 2002, Seth Goldstein and Todd Mowry started the claytronics
Claytronics
Claytronics is an abstract future concept that combines nanoscale robotics and computer science to create individual nanometer-scale computers called claytronic atoms, or catoms, which can interact with each other to form tangible 3-D objects that a user can interact with. This idea is more broadly...
project at Carnegie Mellon University to investigate the underlying hardware and software mechanisms necessary to realize programmable matter.
In 2004, the DARPA Information Science and Technology group (ISAT) examined the potential of programmable matter. This resulted in the 2005-2006 study, "Realizing Programmable Matter" which laid out a multi-year program for the research and development of programmable matter.
In 2007, programmable matter was the subject of a DARPA research solicitation and subsequent program.
Approaches to programmable matter
In one school of thought the programming could be external to the material and might be achieved by the "application of light, voltage, electric or magnetic fields, etc." . For example, in this school of thought, a liquid crystal displayLiquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
is a form of programmable matter. A second school of thought is that the individual units of the ensemble can compute and the result of their computation is a change in the ensemble's physical properties. An example of this more ambitious form of programmable matter is claytronics
Claytronics
Claytronics is an abstract future concept that combines nanoscale robotics and computer science to create individual nanometer-scale computers called claytronic atoms, or catoms, which can interact with each other to form tangible 3-D objects that a user can interact with. This idea is more broadly...
, where the units in the ensemble "compute" and the result is a change in the shape of the ensemble.
There are many proposed implementations of programmable matter. Scale is one key differentiator between different forms of programmable matter. At one end of the spectrum reconfigurable modular robotics pursues a form of programmable matter where the individual units are in the centimeter size range.
At the nanoscale end of the spectrum there are a tremendous number of different bases for programmable matter, ranging from shape changing molecules to quantum dot
Quantum dot
A quantum dot is a portion of matter whose excitons are confined in all three spatial dimensions. Consequently, such materials have electronic properties intermediate between those of bulk semiconductors and those of discrete molecules. They were discovered at the beginning of the 1980s by Alexei...
s. Quantum dots are in fact often referred to as artificial atoms. In the micrometer to sub-millimeter range examples include claytronics, MEMS
Microelectromechanical systems
Microelectromechanical systems is the technology of very small mechanical devices driven by electricity; it merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems and nanotechnology...
-based units, cells created using synthetic biology
Synthetic biology
Synthetic biology is a new area of biological research that combines science and engineering. It encompasses a variety of different approaches, methodologies, and disciplines with a variety of definitions...
, and the utility fog
Utility fog
Utility fog is a hypothetical collection of tiny robots that can replicate a physical structure. As such, it is a form of self-reconfiguring modular robotics.-Conception:...
concept.
Examples of programmable matter
There are many conceptions of programmable matter, and thus many discrete avenues of research using the name. Below are some specific examples of programmable matter."Simple" programmable matter
These include materials that can change their properties based on some input, but do not have the ability to do complex computation by themselves.Complex fluids
The physical properties of several complex fluids can be modified by applying a current or voltage, as is the case with liquid crystals.Metamaterials
Metamaterials are artificial compositesComposite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
that can be controlled to react in ways that do not occur in nature. One example developed by David Smith and then by John Pendry and David Schuri is of a material that can have its index of refraction tuned so that it can have a different index of refraction at different points in the material. If tuned properly this could result in an "invisibility cloak."
Shape Changing Molecules
An active area of research is in molecules that can change their shape, as well as other properties, in response to external stimuli. These molecules can be used individually or en masse to form new kinds of materials. For example, J Fraser StoddartJames Fraser Stoddart
Sir James Fraser Stoddart is a Scottish chemist currently at the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University. He works in the area of supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology...
's group at UCLA has been developing molecules that can change their electrical properties.
Self-Reconfiguring Modular Robotics
Self-Reconfiguring Modular Robotics is a field of robotics in which a group of basic robot modules work together to dynamically form shapes and create behaviours suitable for many tasks. Like Programmable matter SRCMR aims to offer significant improvement to any kind of objects or system by introducing many new possibilities for example: 1. Most important is the incredible flexibility that comes from the ability to change the physical structure and behavior of a solution by changing the software that controls modules. 2. The ability to self-repair by automatically replacing a broken module will make SRCMR solution incredibly resilient. 3. Reducing the environmental foot print by reusing the same modules in many different solutions. Self-Reconfiguring Modular Robotics enjoys a vibrant and active research community see Self-Reconfiguring Modular RoboticsSelf-Reconfiguring Modular Robotics
Modular self-reconfiguring robotic systems or self-reconfigurable modular robots are autonomous kinematic machines with variable morphology...
for more information and links.
Claytronics
Claytronics is an emerging field of engineeringEngineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
concerning reconfigurable nanoscale robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s ('claytronic atoms', or catoms) designed to form much larger scale machines or mechanisms. The catoms will be sub-millimeter computers that will eventually have the ability to move around, communicate with other computers, change color, and electrostatically connect to other catoms to form different shapes.
Cellular automata
Cellular automata are a useful concept to abstract some of the concepts of discrete units interacting to give a desired overall behavior.Quantum wells
Quantum wells can hold one or more electrons. Those electrons behave like artificial atomArtificial atom
The term Artificial atom is commonly used to describe objects that have bound, discrete electronic states, as is the case with naturally occurring atoms...
s which, like real atoms, can form covalent bonds, but these are extremely weak. Because of their larger sizes, other properties are also widely different.
Synthetic biology
Synthetic biology is a field that aims to engineer cells with "novel biological functions." Such cells are usually used to create larger systems (e.g., biofilms) which can be "programmed" utilizing synthetic gene networks such as genetic toggle switchesJames Collins (Boston University)
James J. Collins is an American bioengineer, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator...
, to change their color, shape, etc.
Programmable matter in fiction
Programmable matter is still, for the most part, a fantastic visionfor the future. The ideas behind it are explored in many works of science fiction. Examples:
- The T-1000T-1000The T-1000 is a fictional nanomorph mimetic poly-alloy assassin and the main antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day controlled by the series main antagonist Skynet. The T-1000 is portrayed primarily by Robert Patrick; however, being a shape-shifter, the T-1000 is played by other actors in some...
from Terminator 2Terminator 2: Judgment DayTerminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
fits the definition of programmable matter, although it is not described that way in the film. (The term was only just coined the year of the film’s release.) - It is called "wellstone" in many of Wil McCarthy's books and stories.
- It is called "Trillions" in the 1973 children's book Trillions by Nicholas Fisk
- It is called "reality graphics" in Vernor Vinge's book A Fire Upon the Deep.
- It is called "the Flesh" in Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. - David Brin's Kiln PeopleKiln PeopleKiln People is a 2002 science fiction novel by David Brin. It was published in the UK under the title Kil'n People. It has the distinction of finishing second in four different awards for best SF/fantasy novel of 2002 -- the Hugo, the Locus, the John W. Campbell Award, and the Arthur C...
' - It is called "Computronium" in Charles Stross' Accelerando.
- Programmable Silicon is used to quickly erect buildings in Peter F Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy
- The ReplicatorsReplicator (Stargate)In the military science fiction series Stargate SG-1, the Replicators are antagonistic self-replicating machines that propagate by ingesting the metals that make up civilizations and use them to create either blocks that form the bug-like version or smaller cells that compose the human-form...
from the Stargate universeStargate SG-1Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
are based on this technology. - In the Pendragon Adventure series, "Forge" is a programmable matter device created by Mark Dimond and Andy Mitchell.
- The Caeliar are an alien race in the Star Trek novel trilogy "Star Trek: Destiny" whose bodies are made up of catoms (or claytronicClaytronicsClaytronics is an abstract future concept that combines nanoscale robotics and computer science to create individual nanometer-scale computers called claytronic atoms, or catoms, which can interact with each other to form tangible 3-D objects that a user can interact with. This idea is more broadly...
atoms). - In the book ExtrasExtras (novel)Extras is a young adult science fiction novel written by Scott Westerfeld. The novel was published and released by Simon & Schuster on October 2, 2007, and is a companion book to the Uglies series. However, Extras differs from its predecessors in that its protagonist is fifteen-year-old Aya Fuse,...
by Scott WesterfeldScott WesterfeldScott Westerfeld is an American author of science fiction. He was born in Texas and now divides his time between Sydney, Australia and New York City, USA.-Books:...
a substance called smart matter is a very useful type of programmable matter. It is capable of anything one can program it to do as read in the book. - In the book AnathemAnathemAnathem is a speculative fiction novel by Neal Stephenson, published in 2008. Major themes include the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the philosophical debate between Platonic realism and formalism.-Plot summary:...
by Neal StephensonNeal StephensonNeal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction.Difficult to categorize, his novels have been variously referred to as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk...
, a substance called "new matter" can alter its physical properties through the application of electrical charges.