cilia in your lungs and mucous membranes move mucus and dirt and viruses slowly in various directions away from the the membrane to make internal membranes self cleaning.
why not a biomimetic technology that allows us to create similarly patterned carpeting to keep carpets clean?
as it stands . the highest cutting edge cleaning technology are small rhoomba style travelling robots that spend a lot of time and electricity and make a lot of noise sucking up dirt. they also are prone to breakage. furthermore , they dont' do a great job on carpets, and sweeping non-carpeted floors in not the hardest thing to do for human beings.
ciliated carpets could use very very little energy to do their job, could stay extremely clean and deposit dirt and dust onto the edges of their area where human beings could easily sweep up the refuse pile.
also, i love the idea of a carpet that is making small micro-movements silently cleaning itself all the time because it will presumably make no noise like a vaccum or rhoomba.-- teslaberry, Jan 30 2014 This is one of the cilia-est things I've ever seen. http://lindentea.tu...ag-carpet-yeah-okay [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 30 2014] Pretty close. https://www.youtube...watch?v=tKz0wvT68BM [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 01 2014] Self cleaning surface self_20cleaning_20surfacelike this then [Voice, Feb 03 2014] hoW wilL thE ciliA bE powereD?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 30 2014 How are you actuating this carpet? Is it a MEMS array, or some sort of pulley or gearing system? Have you priced either of these options at this scale?
Either way, I would suggest your statement //ciliated carpets could use very very little energy to do their job// is questionable at best. I would also suggest that this lacks both the vacuum and the strong agitation that help break dirt loose from the carpet fibers.-- MechE, Jan 30 2014 i'M prettY surE thiS coulD bE donE witH gm magiC.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 30 2014 I think it's a good idea.-- rcarty, Jan 30 2014 hmmmm, how about tiny little bi-metallic strips in each cilia? Movement could then be controlled by temperature differentials... maybe a rotating vent cover to direct heat or air conditioning.
oh, and [link]-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 30 2014 I believe milord Buchanan needs a new keyboard, or to stop licking those pretty South American frogs.
If this a cilia-ous idea then it needs to be able to do walter wall carpets.-- not_morrison_rm, Jan 30 2014 Could work with a living carpet... you just need to feed it a chihuahua every so often.-- UnaBubba, Jan 31 2014 [maX] iF i wanT tO joiN iN thiS forM oF passivE protesT, arE thereE anY toolS availablE tO adjusT mY capitolS automaticallY? dO yoU tracK alL the ideaS thaT you'vE annotateD thiS waY? iF [testlAberrY] eveR diD gO bacK anD adD capitolizatioN iN hiS ideaS anD yoU didn'T correcT yourS, peoplE mighT thinK you'rE strangE.-- scad mientist, Jan 31 2014 I thought that cilea primarily worked in a liquid or mucous environment.-- scad mientist, Jan 31 2014 //toolS availablE tO adjusT mY capitolS automaticallY// I thought that USA elections were all done by machine-counting these days?-- pocmloc, Jan 31 2014 //peoplE mighT thinK you'rE strangE//
oH deaR thaT woulD bE A pitY.
anywaY, i'm quitE gettinG tO likE thiS stylE oF writinG. iT takeS A biT oF gettinG useD tO beforE yoU caN typE aS fasT thiS waY aS yoU normallY woulD, buT it'S wortH perseverinG.
[bigS] - 1973-2014 anD countinG.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 31 2014 //mucus and dirt and viruses slowly in various directions away from the the membrane
I know it's probably a stupid point, but where do the cilia move the rubbish too? Is there some small wastebin in there somewhere.-- not_morrison_rm, Feb 01 2014 Drunken months are wonderful. I had twelve of them last year!-- Voice, Feb 01 2014 oH mY goD! it'S eateN thE caT!!-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 01 2014 Voice-Ha!-- blissmiss, Feb 01 2014 Lovely idea. If there is a metallic content in the cilia and a magnetic field generated under the carpet which is made to alter it's field direction in waves across the length and breadth of the carpet then the carpet fibres (cilia) will stand on ends and move like a field of wheat in a strong wind. As they move against each other they will gently eject dust particles upward and inevitably outward off the carpet, in the same way debris is ultimately moved off a roadway. Soothing. Elegant. Effective.-- Harry Mudd, Feb 04 2014 So the carpet would be coated with mucous which the carpet kicks out the door? Because that's how cilia works. Without the mucous the dirt would just fall between the cilia and build up until they couldn't move.
I'll take this opportunity to announce my new public service program:
cAPITALIZATION cOUNTS
It would be a series of public service messages featuring Cappy the comical capitalization bunny. In one episode, he's walking across the street while texting and the person writes back: "I don't understand your text. Are you referring to 'John' the name of a specific person or 'john' a prostitute's customer?" Then a car hits him. Flash message: Remember kids, capitalization counts!-- doctorremulac3, Feb 04 2014 random, halfbakery