Autonomous robot plays with NanoLEGO

 

Introduction

Atoms and molecules are the fundamental building blocks of everything that we see, feel or touch.

Moving from Bohr's atomic model to the present generation scientific analysis of the basic buildings blocks, we have taken a very immense leap.

The major and the obvious implications about working on molecules are that we cannot deal with them like a macroscopic particle. For instance, if you take a piece of lego then you can easily have your way with it, that might be lifting it or combining it with other lego bricks, but the same cannot be done with atoms and molecules.

 So with the dawn of Artificial Intelligence, Scientists are working on developing an autonomous system that has the capability of learning different ways to grip and move microscopic particles, and this is accomplished using a scanning tunnelling microscope.

This breakthrough is going to be of significant importance in the advance study of molecular structure.

What is it?

A team of Scientist from Julich and Berlin have developed an autonomous system which is fueled by Artificial Intelligence. This robot can learn ways to grip and handle individual microscopic particles. It achieves this by first establishing a connection between the molecule and the tip of the microscope and tries to remove the molecule one by one while maintaining the contact throughout the process.

This system will provide us with infinite possibilities we can put molecules together and separate them again just like a piece of lego brick.

Until now, such precise and specific movements of molecules have only been possible using hand, through trial and error. But now with the advent of this system, Scientists have finally found a solution for this variability on the microscopic level. Here, the robot first experiences randomness in the movement, but learns from the collected experiences and further improves. This development comes under reinforcement learning.

Reinforcement learning, the root for this development, is a special variant of machine learning in which we don't put forward a path of work, we simply give green flags to success and red flags to failure.

Benefits

 Restructuring and handling of microscopic particles was just a theory, but with this technology, we can move and grip molecules, put them together and then operate them.

This technology is not only significant in the field of research but will also play a key role in production technologies like 3-D printing.

Nowadays, Rapid prototyping is a booming industry, and with the use of this technology, it will help those industries to take their products on to a different level.

Future of this

With the arrival of this independent system, the study of nanoscale particles is going to be revolutionized. This system encourages boundless opportunities.

Dr Stefan Tautz, head of Juilich's Quantum Nanoscience Institute states how this system will benefit them in managing and restructuring microscopic particles.

This system is not only of great significance for research but will also be a key point for technologies like molecular 3-D printing.

Conclusion

This is the first time we will see nanotech in conjunction with Artificial Intelligence if we trace our steps back to the initial days of nanotech research this might seem impossible to us.

There is still a lot of scope for growth. This technology holds immense potential and secures unlimited possibilities.