The SubMillimeter Challenges

Background

FPath is a project to explore the possibilities of the Feynman Path to Nanotechnology. Essentially this means using tools to make small tools which then make smaller tools. Please see the main FPath Project page for more details. This page documents a series of challenges each of which builds a small tool on the first stage of the Feynman Path - the sub-millimeter level.

The Challenges

The challenges are to build small actuated devices at the submillimeter level – the rules are quite simple.

The Rules

1. The entire build apparatus, other than infeed of materials, source electrical power or computing control, cannot cover more area than the size of a standard microscope cover slip (22mm x 22mm). The height of the apparatus is capped at 11mm. We will call this area the “worksurface”. Please note that the worksurface does not have to be square as long as the area restriction is not exceeded.

2. The power infeed rule does need some clarification. For example, liquid can be fed into the apparatus, but the force of the feed (which is provided externally) cannot, for many challenges, legitimately be used for actuation. In such cases, if the liquid infeed is placed in a reservoir on the apparatus and a pump located on the worksurface subsequently uses it to provide motive force to a device, then that is an appropriate solution. The fundamental idea is that physical motive force cannot usually be supplied externally but some specific challenges will override this restriction and allow for off-worksurface actuation. Electrical power can be provided in any form.

3. The tools built on the worksurface do not necessarily need to be fully autonomous. For example, with many challenges, it is permissible to look through a microscope and pre-position tools and material on the worksurface. However, once operations begin, the specific requirements of any particular challenge must be observed. External control signals, such as a signal to activate a device, are always permitted.

Other Information

The experiments in the FPath Project are now (mostly) directed towards solving these challenges. However, solutions provided by others are also of considerable interest. A page on the FPath Project website is maintained to document all known attempts and results.

http://www.OfItselfSo.com/FPath/SubMillimeterChallengesResults.php

If you post a video or other documentation which completes (or attempts to complete) one of the challenges below please send a message to the contact address listed on the SubMillimeter Challenge Results page. Once received, the Results Page will be updated with a link to your experiment and a brief summary so that other people can more easily find your work. It would be best to include only 1 challenge per video so as to make it simple to create a list specific to each challenge.

For most of these challenges how you built the apparatus will be as, if not more, interesting than the actual result. So, if possible, please try to include a discussion of that process in your link.

It is intended that more challenges will be added in the future and suggestions would be appreciated.

The 2mm Challenges

• CLAMP1: Make an actuated clamp no more than 2000 microns (2 millimeters) in any dimension which can grip a cylinder 100 microns in diameter (a typical human hair). The clamp should be able to grip and release based on external commands and, while gripping, hold the cylinder reasonably firmly in place. For this challenge, the cylinder can be manually placed into and removed from the jaws of the clamp – it is not necessary to develop the infrastructure and tools to position it. The cylinder can be of indeterminate length but should not protrude past any edge of the worksurface. Other than the clamp gripping it, the cylinder cannot be fixed to the worksurface. The clamping action can be actuated by any means, including manually, or by tools and actuators located off the worksurface. It is the clamping of an object to the worksurface that is the goal here.

• CLAMP2: The rules are the same as for the CLAMP1 challenge, but the clamping actuation may only be performed by tools and actuators entirely located on the worksurface. It is the securing of an object by a clamp entirely located on the worksurface that is the goal here.

• MOTOR1: Make a rotating motor no more than 2000 microns (2 millimeters) in any dimension. This motor can be actuated by any means, including by forces provided by tools located off the worksurface. It is a small rotating motor that is the goal here.

• MOTOR2: The rules are the same as for the MOTOR1 challenge. This motor need not be electrically driven, however if it is not, any motive force must originate from apparatus located on the worksurface. It is a small rotating motor that is entirely located on the worksurface that is the goal here.

• SHAFT1: Make an operational, rotating, shaft drive system no more than 2000 microns (2 millimeters) in any dimension. The shaft must have a diameter no larger than 100 microns and must contain at least three blocks or bearings which constrain the shaft. The shaft can be driven by any means, including manually, or by tools and actuators located off the worksurface. It is a millimeter scale constrained rotating shaft that is the goal here.

• SHAFT2: The rules are the same as for the SHAFT1 challenge but the shaft must be driven by tools and actuators located entirely on the worksurface. A constrained rotating shaft entirely located on the worksurface is the goal here.

• PUSHROD1: Make an operational push-pull rod system no more than 2000 microns (2 millimeters) in any dimension. The shaft of the rod must have a diameter no larger than 100 microns and must contain at least three blocks which constrain the shaft. The shaft can be actuated by any means, including manually, or by tools and actuators located off the worksurface but must be able to move at least 200 microns linearly in one direction and then return. It is an operational millimeter scale constrained push-pull shaft that is the goal here.

• PUSHROD2: The rules are the same as for the PUSHROD1 challenge but the shaft must be actuated by tools and devices located entirely on the worksurface. It is a constrained push-pull shaft entirely located on the worksurface that is the goal here.

• TOGGLE1: Make a lever no more than 2000 microns (2 millimeters) in any dimension which has, somewhere along its length, a pin (or other mechanism) anchoring it to the worksurface. The lever should be able to repeatedly rotate about the pin between two positions of at least 30 degrees apart. The toggle action can be actuated by any means, including manually, or by tools and devices located off the worksurface. It is the toggle action of a millimeter scale lever that is the goal here.

• TOGGLE2: The rules are the same as for the TOGGLE1 challenge but the toggle action must be performed by actuators entirely located on the worksurface. It is the toggle action of an actuated millimeter scale lever entirely located on the worksurface that is the goal here.

The 1mm Challenges

• CUBE_ADD: Make a cube of material 1000 microns (1 millimeter) on a side using additive techniques. Any material can be used, plastic, metal, liquid which solidifies etc. The material can be brought onto the worksurface using any technique but it must be moved onto the cube using tools located on the worksurface itself.

• CUBE_SUB: Make a cube of material 1000 microns (1 millimeter) on a side using subtractive techniques. Any material can be used, plastic, metal, paste which later solidifies etc. The material can be placed onto the worksurface using any technique but the material must be removed using tools located on the worksurface itself.

General Challenges

• BLINKY: Create a circuit which can blink a LED. The conductive traces should be created only through the use of tools located entirely on the worksurface. The LED and resistor can be placed using any technique (including manually) but tools on the worksurface must create the traces to electrically connect them. The power and control pulses can be supplied externally. The traces may be composed of any conductive material.

• DRILL: Drill a hole in a human hair using only tools located on the worksurface

License

The intellectual property rights to all new and/or original ideas and technologies documented under the FPath project and sub-projects are claimed in full by the author and are immediately released into the public domain under the terms of the MIT License. Any ideas, techniques, processes or methods of work documented in the FPath project and sub-projects must be considered to be prior art and must be cited in any patent applications.

The contents of the FPath project and sub-projects are provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind and without any claim to accuracy. Please be aware that the information provided may be out-of-date, incomplete, erroneous or simply unsuitable for your purposes. Any use you make of the information is entirely at your discretion and any consequences of that use are entirely your responsibility.