Continuous progress in the miniaturization of electronic devices causes concepts previously known only from fantasy books to leave the plot and find their application in reality. Stanislaw Lem wrote about the intelligent dust in his books “Invincible” and “Peace on Earth” and this is neither his first nor last accurate “prediction”.
The intelligent dust system is nothing more than a system of accurate measurement of space or surface. It is characterized by a large group, often numbering in the thousands or millions, of device-sensors connected to a central processing unit for the collected data. The sensor devices range in size from 0.001 to 0.1 mm, so they are invisible to the naked eye. Due to their small size and weight, they can float in the air like dust particles – hence their name.
The devices are equipped with sensors, typically capable of measuring temperature, distance, pressure, light, shock, humidity, sound and radiation. What is important in the context of using dust as a research tool, but sometimes also from a practical point of view – due to its size, the system often has no impact on the studied processes.
The devices-sensors, once again because of their size but also their weight, are extremely mobile, and the use of a power supply, memory and data processing system in each of them makes them autonomous. An immanent feature of the system is wireless communication both between the devices themselves and between the devices and the control panel. Hence, we can undoubtedly attribute them to the Internet of Things. As in the design of most devices dedicated to the field, so here too, the problem of power supply has arisen. Research on this topic so far has focused on designing sensor devices to draw power from outside sources such as light or wind.
The development of the smart dust concept is inextricably linked to the ability to process large data sets. Without the use of proper analytics, they will remain an unusable curiosity. Read more about Big Data processing in Agata’s interesting article from March 11, 2021.
The application of the system on a really large scale was attempted by Hewlett-Packard, which in the framework of the “Central Nervous System for the Earth” project started to deploy wireless sensors all over the planet. Their target number is expected to reach a trillion. According to its creators, the project aims to check the state of ecosystems, detect earthquakes and create traffic patterns and monitor global energy consumption. At the University of California Berkeley, work is underway on “neuronal dust” which is smart dust but with a medical purpose. Neuronal dust is designed to detect, interpret and transmit electrical signals produced by the human body, not only for diagnostic purposes but also to control devices. There are also first attempts to use this system in the construction of smart cities. For now, mainly in the context of traffic and lighting management. Intelligent dust has also found application in the automotive industry, so far mainly in safety systems. Special software, such as Tiny OS, has been developed to support intelligent dust.
It is an open secret that research works are directed towards military use. It is so because on the contemporary battlefield the key significance is the speed of information transfer, possibilities of its secret acquisition as well as its detail, reliability and credibility. We can imagine what benefits would flow from the possibility of having secretly collected data not only on the location of troops, speed and direction of their movement but also on the state of health or morale of soldiers.
Another frequently mentioned application is cultivation. The condition of the soil, the state of the plants and the current as well as the predicted weather conditions provide data on what actions should be taken to achieve optimal results. In combination with already available agro-technologies, this would not only fully automate the cultivation process, but optimize it significantly.
Dear reader, before you is my own application. Imagine that such dust covers the interior of our houses and apartments. We will never again look for the keys, the cat and we immediately know where the younger sister and wallet are. The possible applications really are many. Intelligent dust has twice been placed by the company “Gartner” (founded in 1979 in the United States, an independent analysis and research company specializing in the strategic use of technology and technology management) on the list of technologies that will have a profound impact on the lives of societies and businesses in the near future.
Like any technology, there is a dark side to this one. At this stage, the use of smart dust to control life processes is the most controversial. There are concerns that the technology could be used to negatively affect basic life functions, to know our thoughts or even control our bodies – including the brain.
The system used outside the human body is controversial mainly because of the possibility of collecting huge amounts of data about citizens without their consent and knowledge. This problem is regulated by the GDPR regulation, the practical application of which in this and other contexts will have to be dealt with by Polish Data Protection Commissioner (PUODO) and the courts.
Guest Author: Michał Pankiewicz
