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A Computer That Operates On Water Droplets

Posted by Soulskill on from the what-voyager's-computer-is-made-of dept.

Okian Warrior notes a Stanford project to build a basic computer that operates on water droplets. One of its creators, Manu Prakash, says the goal is not to compete with digital computers for manipulating data (though they can theoretically perform all of the same computations). Instead, "Our goal is to build a completely new class of computers that can precisely control and manipulate physical matter. Imagine if when you run a set of computations that not only information is processed but physical matter is algorithmically manipulated as well." The biggest obstacle in creating the water computer was figuring out a way to develop a clock mechanism. The team decided to use a rotating magnetic field, which is both precise and easy to control. To get it to interact with the water, they put arrays of tiny iron bars on glass slides, and then added a layer of oil, and finally another glass slide. Magnetized water droplets are injected into this scaffolding, and the magnetic field can then easily push them along paths created by the iron. "It's about manipulating matter faster," Prakash said.

67 comments

  1. Block-Transfer Computations by Feneric · · Score: 2

    It sounds almost like an early form of block-transfer computations as described in Doctor Who.

    1. Re:Block-Transfer Computations by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 1

      Luckily, they don't make bubble memory anymore.

    2. Re:Block-Transfer Computations by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Peoples of the universe, please attend carefully. The message that follows is vital to the future of you all.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  2. don't they all? by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    or something like that. i don't know.

  3. Stanford? The one in Palo Alto? by jpellino · · Score: 1

    Surely the CA state water resources control board will be paying them a visit soon...

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
  4. Get the mop by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

    We have a memory leak.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Get the mop by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Funny

      Better wipe it and start clean.

      We'll have to wait for the trickle charger, though.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Get the mop by fire113 · · Score: 2

      We have a memory leak.

      Check the bubble sort algorithm!

    3. Re:Get the mop by flopsquad · · Score: 1

      The Turing Complete Water Computer: An infinite strip of snow, dotted here and there with yellow.

      --
      Nothing posted to /. has ever been legal advice, including this.
    4. Re:Get the mop by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

      I hate it when I drop my fluidic phone into sand and ruin it. When will they think of a case with sponge covering the inside, so I can keep it moist under any conditions?

    5. Re:Get the mop by mattdunelm · · Score: 1

      It already into the realms of quantum computers. It clearly has a wave function.

  5. Microfluidics? by smaddox · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The project looks interesting from an academic perspective, but the stated application to biological microfluidics seems ridiculous when it requires the droplets to be filled with magnetic materials that could potentially compromise any test you might want to perform.

    Microfluidic channels are fairly easy to produce using traditional lithography, and a simple water pump produces all of the motion necessary. It's difficult to see how this really improves upon that model.

    1. Re:Microfluidics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most biological 'microfluids' are already magnetic, without addition of further materials. The addition of non-biologically interactive magnetic particles is also easy.

    2. Re:Microfluidics? by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 3, Informative

      Microfluidic channels are fairly easy to produce using traditional lithography, and a simple water pump produces all of the motion necessary. It's difficult to see how this really improves upon that model.

      You have a valid point, but I thought it was an interesting approach(*).

      In his paper, Dr. PraKash notes that microfluidics requires pumps, valves, and other controlling hardware to route the chemicals to the required places.

      His system moves microsamples around using magnetic fields, eliminating the need for pumps and valves.

      Check out his dancing droplets video on YouTube. There's really a lot going on at the atomic level with these micro droplets.

      (*) I submitted the article

    3. Re:Microfluidics? by mlts · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Isn't this something similar to a switching apparatus that Russia was working on, except with switching done by jets of water, where two jets would cancel each other out, creating a zero? I remember reading about half-adders done this way, as well as far more complex hydrofluidic building blocks.

      One advantage of this form of switching is that it is EMP-proof (barring a blast that actually causes physical damage), something that has been the Achilles heel of almost all technology made today.

    4. Re: Microfluidics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How is this emp proof!? It requires a giant ass magnetic coil and controls under it to provide the locomotion.

    5. Re: Microfluidics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Russian version used running water. Only thing it had that could be affected was the water pump. It works by a totally different principle for doing basic computer operations, but still used water for its switching.

  6. SciFi did it first. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Was it Logan's Run that had a droplet computer?

    1. Re:SciFi did it first. by garyisabusyguy · · Score: 1

      Rollerball

      --
      Wherever You Go, There You Are
    2. Re:SciFi did it first. by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      I don't remember the original, series, or the new movie it's been a while but Aeon Flux had some kind of surveillance system that used water droplets.

  7. They missed the memo by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    Hydraulic, pneumatic, hydropneumatic, mechanical... these kinds of control systems, as it turns out, are less reliable than using electronics, and they react more slowly. They also don't learn. Before you get enough complexity to have them learn, see points A and B.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:They missed the memo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah but imagine Smart Gasoline!

  8. See also Fluidics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Before electronics took over everything there were Fluidics, logic gates driven by fluids to perform control operations.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluidics

    So they've merged the two together and made basic logic using ferrite fluids and magnets. Fun, not sure of the application but perhaps the idea inspires someone whose always needed something like this.

    1. Re:See also Fluidics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      who's

  9. Hmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not so fast. Lukyanov's water integrator was first http://gizmodo.com/5879106/the-russian-computer-that-ran-on-water

  10. In the south by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    On a hot day it would give totally new meaning to the term "vaporware".

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    1. Re:In the south by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Whoosh" dammit, my data!

  11. Cloud computing by jd2112 · · Score: 2

    Taken to a new level

    --
    Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
  12. Or another application by sonamchauhan · · Score: 2

    http://www.halfbakery.com/idea...

  13. Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Originally fluidics circuits mimicked electronic circuits but all those valves controlling fluid flow were quite cumbersome. They built standard "cells" that would have a large inlet and out let for main "flow" and then additional taps which were controlled by smaller streams of the fluid. There were cells that would do the plumbing of making tap of one cell be the main inflow for another cell etc. They had the equivalents of transistor, one small bias flow controlling a large main flow to either "out/ground" or to tap A etc. They could stack them up to avoid running tubes. They could do what the primitive digital electronic circuits could do. They had built simple ripple counters, and flip flops etc. They are digital circuits, but with "power"! They had enough power to move small actuators. Enough to move baffle doors of air ducts etc. (Quoting from memory of some IEEE spectrum article read some 25 years ago. sorry for the mistakes)

    It produced some PhDs and some R&D grants. But never went beyond academic labs. I don't think there was the Big Digital Electronic conspiracy to stymie the upstart competitor. Even their proponents did not really believe it could take on digital electronic circuits.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Informative

      It produced some PhDs and some R&D grants. But never went beyond academic labs.

      The typical automatic transmission contains a fluidic computer, and that was the only computer they ran on until the 1980s. However, today the trend is towards shift-by-wire, with no linkage present even to handle limp-home mode shifting. If the electrical system serving the trans goes south, it's dead, Jim.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by ProzacPatient · · Score: 2

      It produced some PhDs and some R&D grants. But never went beyond academic labs.

      The typical automatic transmission contains a fluidic computer, and that was the only computer they ran on until the 1980s. However, today the trend is towards shift-by-wire, with no linkage present even to handle limp-home mode shifting. If the electrical system serving the trans goes south, it's dead, Jim.

      All the more reason to continue driving manual. Unfortunately manual transmission cars are getting increasingly hard to find as more people who don't know how to drive prefer everything automatic.

    3. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It produced some PhDs and some R&D grants. But never went beyond academic labs.

      The typical automatic transmission contains a fluidic computer, and that was the only computer they ran on until the 1980s. However, today the trend is towards shift-by-wire, with no linkage present even to handle limp-home mode shifting. If the electrical system serving the trans goes south, it's dead, Jim.

      All the more reason to continue driving manual. Unfortunately manual transmission cars are getting increasingly hard to find as more people who don't know how to drive prefer everything automatic.

      My exact thoughts. It should be mandatory new drivers learn to drive both automatic transmission and manual transmission vehicles before receiving their full driving privileges. That so many people cannot operate a vehicle with a manual transmission is not something to celebrate. In the winter or during an emergency high-speed deceleration on dry pavement a manual transmission equipped vehicle can stop much faster and in a shorter distance than any automatic transmission equipped vehicle.

    4. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by Ramze · · Score: 1

      Or you could just get an electric car which typically has no transmission because with its higher torque, it can go from 0 to 60 in less than 5 seconds essentially on one gear.

      I hope to have one electric car one day for everyday use and trips of less than 200 to 250 miles and another vehicle (perhaps just borrowing a parent's jeep from time to time) for longer road trips. I'm hoping for a breakthrough in battery or fuel cell tech to take things to the next level as well as a price drop - but, since Telsas have so few moving parts and the batteries are the primary part that degrades over time; they tend to hold their value really well as they require less maintenance.

      Better yet, I'd love to live in a city designed for people instead of cars and use a taxi/uber/rental when necessary. The invention of the car drastically increased urban sprawl, but it also created a car culture that makes it very difficult to reverse the situation.

      Maybe the Google Car and the like will replace human driving altogether; and we can schedule rentals to pick us up and drop us off from work... then again, mass transit works better - especially in a city. Seems a shame to have an expensive car that spends 95% of its time in the garage or in the parking lot at work, but with urban sprawl; I can't just walk, take the bus or the subway, or bike to work like most people in Europe.

    5. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      Motorcycle

      Porche performance, Prius gas milage.

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    6. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by TeknoHog · · Score: 2

      All the more reason to continue driving manual. Unfortunately manual transmission cars are getting increasingly hard to find as more people who don't know how to drive prefer everything automatic.

      Here in Finland, manual transmission is the norm, presumably due to fuel efficiency, which suits our high fuel prices. If our white trash can learn to drive them, then it shouldn't be too hard for you guys either. Automatic transmissions are generally used by people who lost a leg so can't easily operate the clutch.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    7. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by 16Chapel · · Score: 1

      Don't forget to fill out that Donor Card

    8. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      Thanks. I did not know that. I imagined the automatic transmission to be using analog computation, along the lines of Watt's governor of steam engines. Was it digital?

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    9. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Porsche. For fuck's sake.

    10. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I imagined the automatic transmission to be using analog computation, along the lines of Watt's governor of steam engines. Was it digital?

      Ultimately what it does is control various valves which can either be open or closed, so I guess you'd say so, but I'm not a transmission expert.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    11. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Awesome. I was just wondering where my next liver would come from.

      Don't forget Hummer emissions.

      Also, I have done lost count of the time I've been stuck behind a superbike on twisty roads. Motorcycles are slow if they're not on a prepared track that's been carefully swept of detritus. In the real world, keeping them on the road is a challenge, and you have to stick your head into oncoming traffic to take left-hand corners rapidly. I've whipped 750s and bigger like cream with stock-engine Nissan 240SX and Subaru Impreza GC5 - yeah, the 100HP one - because the real world has twisties and gravel.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    12. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      I know. Dangerous with all of you driving around with no idea what is going on around you.

      Or hunting us down and running us over.

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    13. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      I don't know about the bikes in your area, but my BMW has a cat converter just like any car, and the emissions are just as clean.

      I get 55 to 65 mph off the freeways, 45 to 50 on the freeways.

      Gravel can be an issue, mainly because drivers drag it from the shoulder onto the road because they can't stay on the road. Having a dual sport with ABS, ASC and tires made for road and off road means I can generally ignore gravel that would send a streetbike spinning.

      As for being able to beat them on the road... it is not a race. Slow down. YMMV

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    14. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      don't know about the bikes in your area, but my BMW has a cat converter just like any car, and the emissions are just as clean.

      Most of the bikes on the road are still pre-emissions, because motorcycles tend to be kept longer than cars... cheaper maintenance, cost almost as much as a car but do much less.

      As for being able to beat them on the road... it is not a race. Slow down. YMMV

      Haha, tell that to motorcyclists.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    15. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      If the transmission in my Audi A8 should go tits-up, I will probably drop the two grand for a six speed swap kit from another vehicle with a 4.2 V8 in it. Allroad, S4... apparently you can swap an OD from a TDI gearbox and get really bitchin' mileage out of it, too.

      Problem is, lots of cars aren't even offered with a stick. Both my sedans fall into that category. There was no manual A8 (and only some S8s) and the only manual W126 was the AMG... and even that was an option.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    16. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Here in Finland, manual transmission is the norm, presumably due to fuel efficiency, which suits our high fuel prices.

      Sorry, modern automatics have higher efficiency than driving stick. The only cars in which the stick gives better efficiency are cars with old-school slushboxes like 5 and 6 speeds. The 8+ speed automatics have multiple overdrives and can get better mileage than you can.

      The new automatics might still be annoying to drive, of course. For example the ZF9 has to make a weird shift to get in and out of overdrive, best-case it is much slower than the other shifts, though pretty fast. Still, as a driver what you really want is for all your shifts to feel the same. And most drivers are still slower than even a good old-fashioned tiptronic, although most of them aren't that good.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    17. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by Spugglefink · · Score: 1

      When I went through that process nearly 30 years ago, I wanted to learn on Dad's car with the 5-speed. I felt since manuals were cheaper, the driving school would surely have manuals in their cars, and I wanted to know how to shift one.

      If it hadn't been for that, I probably never would have learned to drive a straight. The driver's ed cars were automatics, my mother's car was an automatic, my first three used cars were all automatics. When I bought a 2012 Ford Focus, I was going to get the manual transmission, but I would have had to special order one, and the self-shifter supposedly delivered better fuel economy anyway. (It did work quite well.) When I traded the Focus for an F150 in 2014, it wasn't possible to buy an F150 with a manual transmission in any special order configuration. Take the automatic, or buy a different brand.

      I've driven manuals in a few random, borrowed vehicles, but I've never owned one, in spite of quite liking to change gears, and always wanting a vehicle with a manual transmission. With all of this being the case, I just can't see the point in requiring American drivers to learn how to shift a manual transmission. Most of us will never encounter one, even if we're looking.

      These days, big trucks don't have manuals anymore either. I'm good at shifting gears, because I've logged almost 2,000,000 miles behind the wheel of tractor-trailers. I once had the pleasure of driving 600 miles with no clutch. I haven't had a shift lever in four years though, and I haven't had a clutch pedal in three. Even class 8 trucks have automatics these days, unless you go way out of your way to specify otherwise.

      Shifting gears is right up there with those handy dandy hand signals, and knowing how to crank your engine over without breaking your arm.

    18. Re:Fluidics was very big some 25 years ago by 16Chapel · · Score: 1

      I don't remember doing that. Maybe I was drunk?

  14. Electrons matter by pz · · Score: 1

    Imagine if when you run a set of computations that not only information is processed but physical matter is algorithmically manipulated as well.

    And here I thought the movement of electrons in normal computers was already the embodiment of algorithmic manipulation of physical matter. Silly me.

    --

    Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
    1. Re:Electrons matter by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      And here I thought the movement of electrons in normal computers was already the embodiment of algorithmic manipulation of physical matter. Silly me.

      Look, a brother's got to write his PhD thesis on something, you know? Don't be a spoil-sport.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  15. Floating point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FPU, A tank with little cork beads?

  16. Math by pcjunky · · Score: 1

    I can't wait to see the SQRT function.

    1. Re:Math by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Max() and Minim()...

    2. Re:Math by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      SIN() and COS()

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
  17. Mainframe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Move over "cloud" computing. Sea is where all data will be stored now! Outsource programming to dolphins.

  18. old tech by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A droplet computer is certainly new and interesting, but people should remember that computers using pneumatic or fluidic elements are actually quite old.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...

  19. Imagine.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Imagine if when you run a set of computations that not only information is processed but physical matter is algorithmically manipulated as well.

    Imagine if your TI-89 could be not only a graphing calculator but a handheld Rube Goldberg machine as well.

    1. Re:Imagine.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See Space 1999 Brian Blessed as Mentor with his Fluidic computer
      http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/crguide/vcgab.html

  20. MONIAC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And this
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...

  21. well described in "The New Hackers Dictionary" by pereric · · Score: 2

    The Eric S Raymonds jargon.txt or "The New Hackers Dictionary" has a series of illuminating illustrations on the features of a water-powered computer, made by Bells & Whistles incorporated.
    No cooling problems, good floating point performance, but the overflow error and subsequent core dump is to be taken seriously ...

    See http://www.catb.org/jargon/htm...

  22. How fast (slow?) would this thing be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Intuitively it would seem that this would run so slow that it would be all but useless. However, I may be wrong.

  23. Re:Stanford? The one in Palo Alto? by zlives · · Score: 1

    damn beat me to it!!! :)

  24. Water Clock by sudon't · · Score: 1

    The biggest obstacle in creating the water computer was figuring out a way to develop a clock mechanism.

    Water Clock

    --
    -- sudon't

    Air-ride Equipped

  25. Is it hosted on digital ocean! by randomhacks · · Score: 1

    ... hum.. that's all I've got to say about that.