Re: One Small Step

ianparker2@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> The first requirement is for a robot which can do autonomous
> manipulation. In short something which can take a CAD drawing and
> produce the article, whether it is an elotrolytic cell or something
> else.

Something like this is a clanking replicator (maybe not totally
universal though).

It would probably be best to break the problem up into blocks/parts.
The idea is that all the parts working together can make any of the
individual parts. Ideally, it should be able to work anywhere, however
as a first attempt, something which only works in a certain enviroment
would be good. I think somewhere that has sand and water would be the
easiest.

The problems are:

resource collection: This should be reasonably easy if the enviroment
is consistant. An empty desert like region with a water supply would
be easy as a start. Also, loose soil or sand would be easiest to
collect. Obviously, soil of a consistant nature would be a big help.

Refining raw materials. This should take raw materials and convert
them into a form usable by the manufacturing stage

Manufacturing: The should convert refined materials from the refinary
stage into parts usable by the assembly stage. I think something like
"lego" would be a good target here. In any case, it should be easy to
assemble and many different devices should be makable from a small set
of blocks.

Assembly: This puts parts together to make all the other devices.

Transport: This moves components from the different stages

Power: Some form of power is needed. Solar would probably be easiest,
but is pretty low power density.

The trick is to come up with a minimal number of types of things that
each stage must be able to handle. For example, the refinary stage
might just be required to produce a molten metal of any alloy rather
than being required to produce a high quality ore. It would also
probably be required to make a heat resistant, probably silicate
material.

The system must also be capable of handling some basic computation. I
remember reading something suggesting using fluidic logic for this
purpose. This has the advantage that it is alot less material
dependant than electronics.

One thing that electricity would probably be useful for is
electrolysis. This cannot really be handled with air pressure. I
wonder if using hydrogen (from water) to reduce rock and then melting
any metal produced would give you a reasonable amount of metal no
matter what the soil type. Also, presumably that alloy would conduct
electricity reasonably well.

Also, you could probably build a solar power system that is based on
air pressure rather than electronic energy collection.

One other thing, even if different types of design are required for
handling different enviroments, as long as you can build a reasonable
system that can handle any enviroment, it can be used to build the
modified designs to handle the new enviroment. If the design is
separating out from a start point, then the modified designs can be
constructed in the old enviroment.

It seems to me that the hard part is the refinary step, the rest is
pretty much applying current knowledge. However, that is probably
because I am not a chemist :).

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: An instructive antenna trick
    ... was taught that in the study of materials and structures and I am nearly ... Art posted sonething and I can agree with every word. ... Considering that all electricity is produced by essentially mechanical methods e.g. the mechanical movement of a coil through a magnetic field or by static friction or by chemical processes or by photoelectric processes, I would say that it is implicit that electricity and therefore all subsequent electrical phenomena are subject to mechanical laws. ...
    (rec.radio.amateur.antenna)
  • Plastics unite to make unexpected metal
    ... electronics from non-metallic materials, and even new superconductors. ... conducts electricity as well as a metal. ... way electrons behave is subtly altered along the interface where the ... Instead the interface became a better conductor, just as metals offer ...
    (soc.culture.zimbabwe)
  • Re: Solid Counter top for the DIY
    ... lament with regard to the electric and gas utilities he uses. ... (whether for electricity, gas, solid surface counter top material ... ... Make your countertop out of wood and quit whining about the ... availability of raw materials. ...
    (rec.woodworking)
  • electrical energy using Seebeck Effect at room temperature
    ... Syrdec is swinging for the fences when it comes to alternative energy. ... "It derives heat from the environment" and converts it to electricity, ... "I'm talking about embedding cells into doors or the panels on a car. ... square for every degree difference between the two materials. ...
    (sci.energy)