INDUSTRIAL NANOTECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURING

Substrate and Scaffolding Method
by Mike Deering

Standard Caveat - Even though this essay appears on the SAG website it is represented as solely the opinion of Mike Deering, and is not endorsed by the SAG organization or the individual members of the SAG Board of Directors. It is the policy of the SAG to present a diversity of opinion on the Singularity.

Some of the problems of free roaming assembler nanobots are power supply, communication, and knowing exactly where it is in three dimensions. These problems are all solved by the substrate/scaffold approach. The substrate is a surface with electrical power and communication conduits lattice at a nanotech scale. A population of assembler nanobots will crawl across the substrate. They will have limited power storage capability and memory. Their constant contact with the substrate results in never being far from a recharge or an info update. They will start by building a three dimensional scaffold that will be connected to the substrate, and extend the conduits into the construction space. The nanobots will climb the scaffold and assemble the product in three dimensional space, from the scaffold. As parts of the product are completed the scaffold will be disassembled. In addition to power and communication, the scaffold, being atomically precise, will be a three dimensional space reference. Manufacture of the product can proceed in parallel by many nanobots with confidence that the parts will connect in three dimensions accurately.

In order to save time in the initial scaffold construction, the space will be flooded with a solution containing self assembling scaffold components. After draining the solution, the nanobots will fix all of the errors in the scaffold. Then start the construction of the product. Another advantage of this method is safety. The nanobots will be dependent on the substrate/scaffold for power and instructions.

Electrical power and electronic digital communications and control systems will be used in the nanobots because these technologies are already well developed and scaling them to the nanotech realm is easier than creating whole new systems or copying biological systems.

The nanobots will have positive grip on the substrate/scaffold to prevent them from flying off. This can be done with nanobot arms with grippers on the end to grasp rails or hand holds on the substrate/scaffold. The grip points can also be the connection points for power and communications.

Feedstock generic subassemblies and individual atoms will be suspended in solution throughout the construction space. Patterned electrostatic grippers will select the appropriate piece from the solution as needed.