View source for Smartdust

{{Short description|System of microelectromechanical devices}}
'''Smartdust'''<ref>''More than Meets the eye''. PC Mag. Mar 12, 2002. Page 30.</ref> is a system of many tiny [[microelectromechanical systems]] (MEMS) such as sensors, robots, or other devices, that can detect, for example, [[light]], [[temperature]], [[vibration]], [[magnetism]], or [[chemical]]s. They are usually operated on a [[computer network]] [[wireless]]ly and are distributed over some area to perform tasks, usually sensing through [[radio-frequency identification]]. Without an antenna of much greater size the range of tiny smart dust communication devices is measured in a few [[millimeter]]s and they may be vulnerable to electromagnetic disablement and destruction by microwave exposure.

==Design and engineering==
The concepts for Smart Dust emerged from a workshop at [[RAND]] in 1992 and a series of [[DARPA]] ISAT studies in the mid-1990s due to the potential military applications of the technology.<ref>Rosenthal, Marshal M. "Gamebits: Digital Tricks". ''[[Games (magazine)|Games]]''. Issue 160 (Vol 24, #3). Pg.6. May 2000.</ref> The work was strongly influenced by work at [[UCLA]] and the [[University of Michigan]] during that period, as well as science fiction authors [[Stanislaw Lem]] (in novels ''[[The Invincible]]'' in 1964 and ''[[Peace on Earth (novel)|Peace on Earth]]'' in 1985), [[Neal Stephenson]] and [[Vernor Vinge]]. The first public presentation of the concept by that name was at the [[American Vacuum Society]] meeting in Anaheim in 1996.

A Smart Dust research proposal<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~pister/SmartDust/SmartDustBAA97-43-Abstract.pdf|title=''Smart Dust: BAA97-43 Proposal Abstract'', POC: Kristofer S.J. Pister|website=berkeley.edu|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> was presented to DARPA written by [[Kristofer S. J. Pister]], Joe Kahn, and Bernhard Boser, all from the [[University of California, Berkeley]], in 1997. The proposal, to build wireless sensor nodes with a volume of one cubic millimeter, was selected for funding in 1998. The project led to a working [[Sensor node|mote]] smaller than a grain of rice,<ref>{{cite journal|title=An autonomous 16 mm/sup 3/ solar-powered node for distributed wireless sensor networks - IEEE Conference Publication|doi=10.1109/ICSENS.2002.1037346|s2cid=17152548|journal=IEEE}}</ref> and larger "COTS Dust" devices kicked off the [[TinyOS]] effort at [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]].

The concept was later expanded upon by Kris Pister in 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/warneke01smart.html|title=CiteSeerX|website=psu.edu|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> A recent review discusses various techniques to take smartdust in [[sensor network]]s beyond millimeter dimensions to the [[micrometre]] level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/neural-dust-could-enable-a-fitbit-for-the-nervous-system|title="Neural Dust" Could Enable a Fitbit for the Nervous System|first=Simon|last=Makin|work=Scientific American |date=August 8, 2016 |access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

The Ultra-Fast Systems component of the Nanoelectronics Research Centre at the [[University of Glasgow]] is a founding member of a large international consortium which is developing a related concept: smart specks.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://userweb.elec.gla.ac.uk/j/jbarker/sd.html |title=Smart Dust for Space Exploration |access-date=2010-01-28 |archive-date=2017-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630074703/http://userweb.elec.gla.ac.uk/j/jbarker/sd.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Smart Dust entered the Gartner [[Hype Cycle]] on Emerging Technologies in 2003,<ref>{{cite web|title=2003 Gartner Hype Cycle on emerging technologies|website=Gartner|access-date=20 August 2016|url=https://www.gartner.com/doc/399359}}</ref> and returned in 2013, as the most speculative entrant.<ref>{{cite web|title=2013 Gartner Hype Cycle on emerging technologies|website=Gartner|access-date=14 September 2015|url=http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2575515|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819122422/http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2575515|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 19, 2013}}</ref>

In 2022, a Nature paper written by Shyamnath Gollakota, Vikram Iyer, Hans Gaensbauer and Thomas Daniel, all from the [[University of Washington]], presented tiny light-weight programmable battery-free wireless sensors that can be dispersed in the wind.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Iyer |first1=Vikram |last2=Gaensbauer |first2=Hans |last3=Daniel |first3=Thomas L. |last4=Gollakota |first4=Shyamnath |date=2022-03-17 |title=Wind dispersal of battery-free wireless devices |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240507014903/https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10408042 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=603 |issue=7901 |pages=427–433 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04363-9 |pmid=35296847 |bibcode=2022Natur.603..427I |s2cid=247499662 |issn=0028-0836}}</ref> These devices were inspired by Dandelion seeds that can travel as far as a kilometer in dry, windy, and warm conditions.

==Examples==
[[Dust Networks]] started a project exploring the application of Smartdust, which included:

* Defense-related sensor networks such as battlefield surveillance, treaty monitoring, transportation monitoring, and scud hunting.

* Virtual keyboard sensors: by attaching miniature remotes to each fingernail, accelerometers could then sense the orientation and motion of each fingertip, and communicate this data to a computer in a wristwatch.
* Inventory control: by placing miniature sensors on each object in the inventory system (product package, carton, pallet, truck warehouse, internet), each component could "talk" to the next component in the system. This evolved into today's [[RFID]] inventory control systems.
* Product quality monitoring: temperature and humidity monitoring of perishables such as meat, produce, and dairy.
* Impact, vibration and temperature monitoring of consumer electronics, for failure analysis and diagnostic information, e.g. monitoring the vibration of bearings to detect frequency signatures that may indicate imminent failure.

== See also ==

* {{annotated link|A Deepness in the Sky}}
* {{annotated link|Claytronics}}
* {{annotated link|Dust Networks}}
* {{annotated link|Grey goo}}
* {{annotated link|Mesh networking}}
* {{annotated link|Nanotechnology}}
* {{annotated link|Neural dust}}
* {{annotated link|Prey (novel)}}
* {{annotated link|Programmable matter}}
* {{annotated link|Radio-frequency identification|RFID}}
* {{annotated link|Self-reconfiguring modular robot}}
* {{annotated link|The Diamond Age}}
* {{annotated link|The Invincible}}
* {{annotated link|Smart camera}}
* {{annotated link|Smart camera network}}
* {{annotated link|TinyOS}}
* {{annotated link|Ubiquitous computing}}
* {{annotated link|Unconventional computing}}
* {{annotated link|Utility fog}}
* {{annotated link|Wireless sensor network}}

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://computer.howstuffworks.com/mote1.htm How stuff works: motes]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050613075906/http://www.tinyos.net/ Open source mote designs and TinyOS operating system from UC Berkeley]
* [http://net-of-things.blogspot.com/ Rethinking The Internet of Things] Nature driven view of M2M cloud communications based on lightweight chirp devices.
*[http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~pister/SmartDust/ UC Berkeley Smart Dust Project]
*[http://sensor-networks.org/index.php?page=0823123150 Info about smart dust communications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319184855/http://sensor-networks.org/index.php?page=0823123150 |date=2012-03-19 }}
*[http://sailorgroup.ucsd.edu/ Sailor research group at UCSD]
*[http://www.specknet.org SpeckNet research groups based in Scotland]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/10/science/earth/10wire.html? Web of Sensors] "In the wilds of the San Jacinto Mountains, along a steep canyon, scientists are turning 30 acres [121,000 m<sup>2</sup>] of pines and hardwoods in California into a futuristic vision of environmental study. They are linking up more than 100 tiny sensors, robots, cameras and computers, which are beginning to paint an unusually detailed portrait of this lush world, home to more than 30 rare and endangered species. Much of the instrumentation is wireless. Devices the size of a deck of cards — known as motes, after dust motes..."
*[http://www.scdigest.com/assets/FirstThoughts/05-08-25.cfm?cid=221&ctype=content Technologies to watch: motes]
*[http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2009/06/molecular_shuttle_power.asp Molecular shuttle power]: Smart dust biosensors may be smaller than a grain of sand but they have big potential – an [http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Instant_insights.asp Instant Insight] from the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]]
*http://www.betabatt.com/ Betavoltaic batteries from 2.5 micrometre cubed upwards, 10 to 30-year lifespan.

{{Computer sizes}}
{{Wireless Sensor Network}}
{{Robotics}}
{{Ambient intelligence}}

[[Category:Wireless sensor network]]
[[Category:Sensors]]
[[Category:Smart materials]]
[[Category:Microtechnology]]
[[Category:Microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems]]
[[Category:Artificial materials]]