Forbes Magazine reports computers as small as particles of dust are emerging from science fiction. When that happens, vast change is going to happen in a flash, they say. These nano-wireless devices will be capable of sensing their surroundings and reporting back. However there will be no space for batteries inside them. Therefore, a number of energy challenges remain.
Exciting Ideas, Possible Solutions for Energy Challenges
Science already has the technology to make computers the size of rice grains. However, the big issue is how to get the power to them. An IOT battery manufacturer claims a chip consuming “1 million times less energy than an iPhone”.
Research is ongoing to harness energy from chemical reactions, light, magnetism, temperature, and vibration. Elsewhere, radio-frequency identification RFID resolves energy challenges by getting power from base stations. Whereas passive Wi-Fi uses backscatter to transmit power and so we already may have a partial solution.
Possible Applications for These Next Gen Computers
Assuming we solved the remaining energy challenges, smart sensor dust could be a key to the age of robots. Smart dust in our brains could track neural activity. Perhaps someday it could relay commands to external devices.
On the more mundane level, scientists envisage smart machines on factory floors calling for maintenance. There’s also a possibility smart sensor dust would report diseases breaking out in crops. If we had them in wearables – and in our cars, cities could manage people and traffic flows better. However, should we, could we control the proliferation of these nano devices?
Technology matures rapidly. Smartphones changed human culture while we slept to the extent we talk less in restaurants. It took a disruption at Gatwick Airport for governments to start wondering how to control drones. We may need to think carefully, before we unleash a network of smart sensor dust onto an unsuspecting population.
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