The nanofactory is a proposed application for molecular manufacturing that uses nano-level machine systems to synthesize macroscale products through convergent assembly. Nanofactories are stationary and highly productive, allowing for atomic precision in product composition. They could even be programmed to produce further nanofactories. The technology could revolutionize every manufacturing sector.
The nanofactory is the proposed standard application for first generation molecular manufacturing, also known as molecular nanotechnology. Molecular manufacturing is a futuristic technology that would employ vast arrays of nano-level machine systems (“nanoassemblers”) to synthesize macroscale products using a process called convergent assembly. In convergent assembly, an assembly line of progressively larger manipulator arms assembles product subcomponents and passes them on to the next stage of larger manipulator arms, until a human-usable product is finally created.
Since these nanoassemblers would remain stationary and work on an assembly line like a conventional factory, the danger of these nanomachines running amok and going berserk is absent. Nanotechnology visionaries have long worried about a backlash to their proposed technology based on fanciful science fiction stories, such as Michael Crichton’s “Prey,” which depicts “nanotechnology” as swarms of autonomous machines with the ability to self-evolve. The notion of a nanofactory provides a solid rebuttal to such disaster scenarios.
Because of scaling laws, nanofactories can be extremely productive. Macroscale robotic systems, such as the robotics used to assemble cars, use manipulator arms that move very slowly by nanotechnology standards. Manipulator arms operating at the molecular level could perform assembly operations very quickly, on the order of GHz (billions of times per second) rather than mere Hz. Preliminary calculations suggest that a nanofactory could work its mass within hours.
Through advanced programming, a nanofactory would allow the user to specify the composition of a product with atomic precision, opening up vast new sectors of the design space. Many of our current products suffer from weaknesses or imperfections because they are manufactured through “mass chemistry”; randomly putting together billions or trillions of atoms rather than creating products through precise atomic placement. If a nanofactory was successfully created, it could even be programmed to produce further nanofactories at the cost of nothing more than the raw materials and necessary programming. When nanofactories become a reality (perhaps by 2015), they are likely to revolutionize every manufacturing sector.
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