Scientists and engineers from BAE Systems have introduced a new radical machine called the Chemputer that allows advanced chemical processes to grow aircraft and some of their complex electronic systems from a molecular level upward.
In the concept video, a drone is being produced in a large tub of chemicals and is then being moved to a staging area, where a robotic arm inserts the drone’s engine components. While it is only in the concept stage, BAE Systems has a reputation for turning concepts into reality.
“We have been developing routes to digitize synthetic and materials chemistry and, at some point in the future, hope to assemble complex objects in a machine from the bottom up, or with minimal human assistance,” said professor Nick Colosimo, a BAE Systems global engineering fellow.
The idea behind growing Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) in large-scale labs through chemistry is primarily to assist military operations. The concept would speed up evolutionary processes and create aircrafts in weeks rather than years.
While creating drones in a lab would be extremely challenging, the company says it’s “confident that creative thinking and convergent digital technologies will eventually lead to the digital programming of complex chemical and material systems.”
So what’s next for the chemputer? Producing humanoid robots?
Source: Mashable
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