“How Do You Build an ANAD?”

For this month, we’re going to look at the details of actually building and initializing an Autonomous Nanoscale Assembler/Disassembler or ANAD system.  For ease of explanation, I’ve put this process in a list of steps, each of which I’ll expand on.  It’s also appropriate to recall here that among other things, ANAD is a weapon system, designed to combat really small enemies.

Here’s the list:

Phase I  Construction

1.  The Core

            a.  Main memory – multiple zettabytes of storage for data and instructions

b.  Working memory – RAM memory for all the many operations that ANAD has to perform

c.  Buffers – software in memory that couples ANAD’s processor with the brain of the nanotrooper.  All sensory inputs from ANAD have to be buffered before a human brain can make sense of them

d.  Config translator – software that takes trooper commands for ANAD to assume a specific configuration and translates them into ANAD-compatible instructions…i.e., move this effector ten degrees and rotate twenty degrees, etc

e.  Quantum processor – the CPU; a quantum computer with extremely fast execution speed; able to use qubits to execute multiple instructions in parallel like the human brain. Provides ANAD 1.0 with approximate cognitive capacity of a five-year old.

2.  Main Platform and Actuator Mast – the structural foundation of the ANAD system with a narrow column or mast to which most actuators and effectors are joined, with articulating multiple degree of freedom axes.

3.  Power Cells (picowatt) – ANAD power cells are powered by nuclear fission of long-lived radionuclide elements, essentially a radioisotope thermoelectric generator.  Power output is in picowatts (trillionths of a watt).  

4.  Propulsors

a.  Normal (flagellar screws) – whiplike propellers for maneuvering ANAD in confined spaces, where precision is required.  Similar to bacterial flagella.

            b.  Quantum wave – ANAD has the capability to propel itself even if it has lost its entire actuator mast and all normal propulsors.  This can occur during a ‘quantum collapse’ maneuver, where ANAD sloughs everything but its core.  Quantum wave propulsion makes use of extremely rapid entanglement state changes, which heat the surrounding medium, generating a propulsive wave, like a surfer, on which ANAD can travel for short distances.  Often used as an escape maneuver.

5.  Sensors and Actuators (generally self explanatory)

            a.  Pyridine probes

            b.  Carbene grabbers

            c.  Enzymatic knife

            d.  Hydrogen abstractors

            e.  Bond disrupters

            f.  Fullerene grapples

            g.  Ribosomal systems

            h.  Photon lens

6.  Connection and Bonding – all elements have to work together, sensing target atoms and molecules and communicating what they sense to the core.

Phase II:  Animation – this phase involves powering up, energizing and initializing an ANAD system in a systematic manner.

1.  Lay-in triggers – triggers are the starting points, literally effector starting coordinates, for replication and all configuration changes

2.  Seed growth medium – ANAD requires some kind of feedstock in order to replicate.  Config changes don’t need this, but any replication cycle requires the config translator to be ‘primed’ to sense and accept a variety of feedstock atoms.  This is done by exposing the config engine to the types of atoms it is likely to encounter.

3.  Base replication  - these steps are followed to ensure that ANAD can perform a basic replication cycle, i.e., ANAD can copy and reproduce itself accurately. All facets of the rep cycle are exercised and ANAD’s response is analyzed at each step.

            a.  Transmission

            b.  Reception

            c.  Execution

            d.  Examine memory

4.  Learn-in comm centers  - this involves activating and testing each communication channel that ANAD uses…, bandwidth constraints, test messages, etc. 

            a.  Acoustic

            b.  EM

            c.  ELF

            d.  Quantum coupler

            e.  Voice synthesis and response

5.  Activate sensor algorithms and substrates – involves priming all sensor channels with test data and examining and analyzing ANAD’s response.  Because ANAD has quantum capabilities, it has sensors which can perform a lot of analysis on sensor data before it ever gets to the CPU.

6.  Basic operations – this is the process of exercising and testing ANAD in a variety of simple operations

            a.  Launch and recovery in containment

            b.  Disassembly of simple structures

            c.  Assembly of simple structures

            d.  3-axis (non-swarm) config changes

            e.  Elementary swarm operations

            f.  Controlled replication

            g.  Combat replication

Phase III: Unit Readiness

1.  Load tactical config templates and verify – tests ANAD’s ability to accept and execute tactically relevant configurations needed to perform its many missions.

2.  Combat swarm operations – demonstrates ANAD’s ability to replicate a swarm of like assemblers of any given size in a tactically useful timeframe and conduct single swarm maneuvers

3.  Demonstrate small-unit tactics – here ANAD operates as a swarm with a human unit and coordinates and synchronizes operations with human nanotoopers.

4.  Program and control systems integration/verification – verifies that ANAD master bot and replicant swarms can be effectively controlled and responds properly to control inputs.

5.  Response checks – tests and validates ANAD’s response to all tactical commands in a warfighting environment, with jamming, environmental stresses, etc.

6.  Exercise all inhibits and constraint checks – final check on all fail-safe, fail-operational and redundancy systems.  Ensures ANAD responds to all overrides and safety commands.

7.  Verify all final configs – re-loads and verifies accuracy and executability of mission configurations needed for anticipated tactical scenarios, conflicts and adversaries.

8.  READY!  Now you know how to build, setup and test an Autonomous Nanoscale Assembler/Disassembler. 

Hopefully, the end result looks something like this…

In the next post to Quantum Corps Times, we’ll learn more about how Mobility Obstruction Barrier (MOB) systems work and just what you can do with them.

See you on July 1.

Phil B.