some
pictures from NCD simulator
Nanotechnology
News Network decide to ask some questions about new nanotechnology
program - NCD simulator. We also asks some questions about
nanorobotics at all. Here (http://www.nanorobotdesign.com/papers/nanorobotTutorial.pdf)
you can find nanorobotics tutorial on NCD simulator.
Our
administration sincerely thanks to Adriano Cavalcanti for
this interview.
How
your team handle the computational efforts required for
such 3D simulation? How you plans to increase the complexity
in the NCD?
We
optimize the software Nanorobot Control Design (NCD) performance
applying some techniques such as parallel processing, level
of details, and sharing the code in object oriented approach.
Such techniques permit us to quickly customize new study
of cases for different biomedical engineering applications
keeping the code organized with high performance. For upcoming
works is being implemented a distributed processing tool
to increase simulation capabilities.
Hereby
a very interesting aspect about the NCD is the fact that
many of analyses and numerical results may help pave the
way on design, control, and manufacturing nanorobots for
biomedical applications. Indeed the NCD is the result and
faith of many contributors, supporters, and collaborators
from different universities, institutes, and private companies
-- as you can observe at the site www.nanorobotdesign.com.
Worthwhile to say, Robert A. Freitas Jr. has been our first
and most important supporter through all his continuous
contributions, even when the idea about developing simulations
for Nanorobot Control Design (NCD) was just beginning.
Can
your nanorobots penetrate into single live cell to provide
cell surgery, or not? And which sort of manipulators or
other devices to provide medical operation they'll needed?
The
nanorobots could be used for a large range of applications,
also for manipulating and repairing cells. Basically, we
may observe two distinct kind of nanorobot utilization.
One is nanorobots for the surgery intervention, and the
other is nanorobot to monitor patients’ body.
For
the first case, a most suitable approach is the tele-operation
of nanorobots as valuable tools for biomedical engineering
problems. Hence, for example surgery experts guiding a minimally
invasive medical procedure. Such applications are expected
also to be extremely useful for brain surgeries. For cases
such as monitoring the human body, the nanorobots are expected
to follow a defined set of specified activation rules for
triggers of designed behaviors. In such case the nanorobot
is designed to be able to interact with the 3D human body
environment, in order to fulfil programmed tasks.
The
nanorobots require specific controls, sensors and actuators,
basically in accordance with each kind of biomedical application.
Many of such required nanodevices are being built nowadays
in different research centers around the globe, as well
as the necessary control specifications.
In
your study all of your nanorobots have propeller nanoactuators.
How it is agreed with viscous environment? Maybe flagella
motor will be more effective? Such question: - propellers
Vs flagella’s).
Actually
we are also investigating new designs on nanorobotics motion
strategies. Flagella motor is been investigated in our new
analyses, and this new work will be soon disclosed at the
nanorobot design site. When you talk about nanorobots operating
in the human body, there are some aspects on design to be
addressed in order to enable their successful application.
A set of important factors are: real time feed-back control,
computing, communication, and locomotion strategy -- nanorobots
cannot be operated efficiently without it.
How
your NCD simulator agrees with micro scale and nano scale
physics, including environment?
The
design, control, and manufacturing of nanorobots is a challenging
and very new field. The use of simulation as a practical
tool to evaluate and validated nanorobots approaches enabling
biomedical solutions is quite useful. Our simulation includes
the main physical properties existent in the environment
where the nanorobots are projected to operate.
Moreover,
the NCD has a modular object oriented architecture. Hence
for each study case done, it acquires some additional improvement,
in accordance with details on micro and nano scale physics.
Therefore aspects such as Brownian motion, viscosity, fluid
mechanics, among others, are comprised in the NCD software.
Are
organic obstacles dynamically changed? Or them fixed in
model?
In
our first works the obstacles were generated stochastically,
then taking random positions throughout the 3D workspace.
The first environment versions had the obstacles positioned
statically. For the recent and most actual nanorobot investigations,
we have included moving obstacles in the environment. The
complexity and details comprised in the NCD has been increasing
after each investigation. We have conducting the necessary
investigations considering all the environment aspects to
successfully achieve the aim on nanorobot control levels
for navigation and positioning within the human body.
Applying
a simulator help us for a better insight on many reactions
not previously observed in depth for a 3D workspace, considering
nanorobots collective work coordination, energy consumption,
and control automation. The NCD can be a big plus for robots
experts and control engineers regarding good choices on
the better way to apply and operate nanorobots.
Can
we achieve in the nanotechnology early stage development
devices, which can cyborgise existing living microorganisms
as large as amoeba to provide some useful operation (controlled
phagocytosis, controlled assembly of nano scale structures
and other).
Through
the use of nanotechnology techniques, genetics advances,
and biomolecular computing, we can expect to see biological
nanorobots being applied for specific biomedical and environmental
issues. We may have workable biological nanorobots in a
very short time.
Some
examples on microbiology engineering dealing with approaches
to achieve such goals have been proposed and works on building
in vivo digital circuits have been demonstrated as well
(www.swiss.csail.mit.edu/~rweiss). Moreover, a proposal
on nanorobots being injected inside living cells and controlling
them for biomedical purposes was done alike (www.nanomedicine.com/NMI/9.4.7.htm).
More complex nanorobots will be manufactured through the
use of diamondoid or other similarly rigid materials awaiting
mainly our ability to do positional mechanosynthesis (www.foresight.org/stage2/mechsynthbib.html).
Can
we achieve first nanorobotic devices without diamondoid
manufacturing? E.g. can you say what can you see in future,
if you be "devil's advocate" of biotechnology
nanorobotics?
The
most important synergetic gears comprising any research
field could be said as: creative minds and financial resources
to the necessary support on facilities for any fast development.
We can observe more than ever, that today the growth in
investment and interest on nanotechnology is living a great
scenery. The trends show that the advances in nanobiotechnology
breakthroughs are being achieved in a formidable speed.
Not only governments but also private companies are putting
their own thrust on nanobiotech fast development as the
bridge for a new time in the human history.
Altogether,
make quite reasonable to say as real to expect the first
biological nanorobots being fully functional in five years
or less. Advances on diamondoid manufacturing has also been
done most recently. We may be able to use it on manufacturing
nanodevices and building nanorobots in the coming ten years.
Hence, in terms of time we are really talking about a very
near better future.
2004,
Nanotechnology News Network
