The future of space exploration will witness a revolutionary change with a new breed of planetary explorer in design by engineers at the University of Glasgow. These tiny, "Smart Dust" shape-shifting devices can be carried on alien winds like dust particles, and are smart enough to communicate, fly in formation and take scientific measurements.
The concept of using smart dust swarms for planetary exploration has been talked about for some time, but this is the first time anyone has looked at how it could actually be achieved. Computer chips of the size and sophistication needed to make a smart dust particle now exist according to Dr John Barker of the University of Glasgow. Smart Dust would use wireless networking to communicate with each other and form swarms.
No comments:
Post a Comment