Vast assemblies of nanorobots adhere in tessellated arrangements. The tessellations change with digitally controlled changes in the overall structure of the individual bots. With changing tessellations come changes in the macroscopic surface properties of the assembly, including rigidity, coefficient of friction, viscosity, heat capacity, phase, and general utility in a dynamic environment.-- daseva, Jul 22 2005 SCIgen http://punitive-sur...610.D.+A.+Seva.htmlShould have used this, saved yourself some effort. [waugsqueke, Jul 22 2005] Like this living ant bridge? http://www.omgjerem...nsterbugs2/ant5.jpg [ldischler, Jul 27 2005] nay. There's just no other words to describe a tessellation. Its like ahh... a weave?-- daseva, Jul 22 2005 Yes OK so you can have a material with dynamic properties dependant on the arrangement of its constituent material(s). Is this a new thought?-- pooduck, Jul 22 2005 Boy, they should've had this at the international workshop, instead of all those chemists, physicists and engineers.-- Detly, Jul 22 2005 Thanks [waugs], but I get put off reading any tract which begins "We explore new compact communication, which we call Goar."-- wagster, Jul 22 2005 Click the "generate another one" link at the top, then.-- waugsqueke, Jul 22 2005 I think I understood it, and it could be a pretty outstanding idea.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this could be achieved by having a lot of (nano)robots, each with say, a set of arms, and a set of coupling points.
Say you wanted a rigid material, you would set the bots to latch onto one another so as to form a 3d crystalline lattice similar to what you might find in the molecular formations of materials such as diamond.
For a material with more plastic properties, you might get the bots to link with one another only at either end, so as to form long chain-like structures that allow for deformation over the assembled structure.
Another example would be to tell the bots to stop 'holding hands' altogether, and whatever structure they had formed, would simply melt away.
It's like building the mechanical analogy to atomic/chemical bonding, but which could be controllable externally.
A mighty morphing powerbun [+]-- zen_tom, Jul 27 2005 I don't get this. I mean I get the idea but there isn't really an invention. Maybe if there was a suggestion at what a nano-liquid could be used for or something...-- pooduck, Jul 27 2005 Tessellation isn't something one does *to* something, it is something one just does (or doesn't).
[Pooduck]You could tell all the nanobots to let go of one another, turning them into a liquid. You could then pour them into a long mould, and tell them to reconnect in configuration N#42, a particularly strong, tightly bound configuration designed for its load-bearing yet springy properties.
Now you can polevault over the moat with your nanostick, only to be confronted with the next problem...-- zen_tom, Jul 27 2005 That's true but I'm sure this theory has been baked already. I know I read something similar to this in "Prey" by Michael Crichton, but I'm sure I heard it somewhere else too.-- pooduck, Jul 27 2005 I wish I could hang out and play, but my pedagogical content knowlege is apparently lacking.-- moPuddin, Jul 29 2005 random, halfbakery