Smart dust computers are no bigger than a snowflake

Such tiny computers C nicknamed smart dust C would work much like their larger cousins, says Prabal Dutta at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. They will have tiny CPUs that run programs on a skeleton operating system and be able to access equally small banks of RAM and flash memory. The plan is for such sensor-packed machines to be embedded in buildings and objects in their hundreds or even thousands, providing constant updates on the world around us. 

Dutta's group is creating the first prototypes, which they have dubbed Michigan Micro Motes. These devices, a cubic millimetre in size, come equipped with sensors to monitor temperature or movement, say, and can send data via radio waves. 

But how do you charge something so small? "The vision of blanketing the world with smart sensors is very compelling," says Joshua Smith, head of the Sensor Systems Laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle. "But a lot of sensor networks researchers found themselves surrounded by mountains of depleted batteries and dead sensor nodes." 

So,Laser engraving and laser customkeychain for materials like metal, like microscopic Robinson Crusoes, the motes will live off the power they can scavenge from their surroundings. A mote near a light source might use a tiny solar panel, while a mote running somewhere with greater temperature extremes can be built to tap into that, by converting the heat energy that flows between hot and cold into electricity. 

So what will be smart dust's killer app? The Michigan team says Micro Motes could be used to monitor every tiny movement of large structures like bridges or skyscrapers. And motes in a smart house could report back on lighting, temperature, carbon monoxide levels and occupancy.An bestrtls is a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building. With motes embedded in all of your belongings it might be possible to run a Google search in the physical world. For example, asking Google "where are my keys?" would give you the right answer if they have been fitted with a mote. 

Smart dust computers could make efficient medical implants too. The idea is that motes placed inside the body would monitor a patient's vital signs. For example, in as-yet-unpublished research, the Michigan team has implanted a Micro Mote inside a mouse tumour so that it can report back on its growth. 

Smith is also working on miniature computing, with his wireless identification and sensing platforms (WISPs). Further along in development than Micro Motes C albeit larger C WISPs communicate via radio frequency identification devices, using the same computer language that your next-generation credit card uses. Like Micro Motes, WISPs don't need batteries and only consume what they can scavenge C stray signals from a nearby TV tower might do the trick, for instance. 

The Toughpad is Panasonics first product in the tablet space and consists of a range of three devices, including a seven-inch tablet. 

Steve Lewis, from the Toughpad division at Pansolutions Holdings,Manufacturer of the Jacobs plasticcard. says the device is not directed at consumer markets and seeks to service industrial environments, like the mining industry. The Toughpad is used in the field where you can drop it from four feet and it can be handled quite a bit without damaging the unit. 

Ryan Martyn, director of hardware distributor Syntech, says: I think it is important that this product gets incorporated into a market where it can be used to deliver specific solutions. Looking at integration with software packages and specific markets, where they require software to be delivered in a means that is reliable, [the Toughpad] has a long battery life and can be operated in any environment. 

Lewis says the Toughpad can also be enhanced with add-ons to ensure optimal business solutions. There are car mount units, a Trade platform for tooling Tile manufacturers and global Mosaic Tile buyers.bar code scanner with a smart card. So youre looking at a device that you could eventually use as a credit card machine.Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or howoconcretemixer . You can scan your own inventory, invoice and run through a credit card all on the same device. 

Given the added hardware to ensure the Toughpads durability, Martyn says the question of price versus quality has to be brought into the equation. What weve noticed spending time overseas is that tablets, especially the new products coming onto the market, are really targeted at reaching a price point that the consumers will be happy to pay and that often comes in where the quality is compromised. 

He says Panasonic has not compromised on quality with the production of the Toughpad. The retail pricing of the Toughpad will come in at around R18 000. 

While this is a steep price tag in comparison to leading market brands like Samsung and Apples iPad, Martyn says its important to remember it is an import product so the foreign exchange and currency fluctuations do have an impact on pricing. 

The Toughpad also brings with it new possibilities of what can be done in terms of app development; with Martyn believing it can boost the local market. This is a platform we feel can really deliver new technology formed and founded in SA, with companies here attending to a market which they otherwise wouldnt have been exposed to.