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Science Technology

The World's Smallest Computer Can Fit on the Tip of a Grain of Rice (vice.com) 126

Posted by msmash from the never-gonna-give-you-up dept.
Engineers at the University of Michigan have created the world's smallest computer -- again. From a report: The University held the record for the smallest computer after it created its 2x2x4mm Michigan Micro Mote in 2014. The Micro Mote (or M3) is fully functional and able to retain its programming and data even when it loses power. But after IBM debuted an even tinier "computer" in February, a 1mm x 1mm chip with "several hundred thousand" transistors.

Engineers at the University of Michigan were not about to be one-upped, and quickly created an even smaller computer, so small it could fit on the tip of a grain of rice. However, the engineers quibbled over whether IBM's machine and the new Michigan design could really be called computers, since the data gets wiped as soon as it's turned off. You can find more details on the university's website.
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The World's Smallest Computer Can Fit on the Tip of a Grain of Rice More

The World's Smallest Computer Can Fit on the Tip of a Grain of Rice

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  • Impressive (Score:3, Funny)

    by 110010001000 ( 697113 ) on Friday June 22, 2018 @12:07PM (#56828876) Homepage Journal
    I have this concept I created called "smart dust" which could be used to build swarms of mesh networks of these small computers. They could be dropped from airplanes for example to monitor oil moisture for crops. Eventually these swarms would be self organizing and AI could be introduced. If you are interested in funding my concept, please contact me.
    • I was thinking smart rice. Then, of course, we would want smart minute rice.

    • I have this concept I created called "smart dust" which could be used to build swarms of mesh networks of these small computers. They could be dropped from airplanes for example to monitor oil moisture for crops. Eventually these swarms would be self organizing and AI could be introduced. If you are interested in funding my concept, please contact me.

      You mostly just troll everything now, don't you...

      • Point out ANY flaw in my plan. If you can dream it, you can do it!

        • I heard CIA officials on a show seriously talking about just this. Once you get small enough tho, computation is robotic motion, the flipping of bits is a physical action of considerable relative size, so nano compute is nano bots, and all the unintended consequences like messing with DNA arise.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward
        He's simply forgotten about having read Michael Crichton's Prey [wikipedia.org], and now thinks it's his idea.

      • I have this concept I created called "smart dust" which could be used to build swarms of mesh networks of these small computers. They could be dropped from airplanes for example to monitor oil moisture for crops. Eventually these swarms would be self organizing and AI could be introduced. If you are interested in funding my concept, please contact me.

        You mostly just troll everything now, don't you...

        "Now"?

        • I have this concept I created called "smart dust" which could be used to build swarms of mesh networks of these small computers.

          You mostly just troll everything now, don't you...

          "Now"?

          Has he always been this bad? I hadn't really noticed him until the last couple years.

    • the miniature computer only computes, you still need to transmit the data
      • No problem. Wireless mesh networking using passive energy generation. It would be useful for terraforming Mars.
        • but you don't understand size...wireless mesh networking is much bigger than dust right now...
          • My idea is to use visible light for communication instead of your traditional wireless mesh that you are used to.
            • you still need to generate the photons...what are you suggesting is small enough
              • I would use small LEDs for light generation.
                • too big for dust size...what's the smallest led you can buy? and if you're going to mesh them you need a small ccd on each for the receive side, what's the smallest ccd you can buy? and you need a pv of some sort to capture sunlight. what's the smallest pv you can buy? as you can see the compute part is easy, the network part is much harder.
                  • There are some challenges. We basically would have to invent new ways of approaching circuit design that would be equally low power but could also tolerate light. For example, that means exchanging diodes, which can act like tiny solar cells, for switched capacitors. Another challenge is achieving high accuracy while running on low power, which makes many of the usual electrical signals (like charge, current and voltage) noisier. However we will overcome these challenges, given enough funding.
    • What to do when some wires get crossed somewhere, it assumes the shape of a giant fighting robot, and goes on a rampage?

  • how is it not computer? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22, 2018 @12:07PM (#56828878)

    When was persistent storage a requirement of a computer?

    • Re:how is it not computer? (Score:5, Informative)

      by omnichad ( 1198475 ) on Friday June 22, 2018 @12:19PM (#56828962) Homepage

      Most of the early computers had no persistent storage either. Computing is separate from storing. A calculator fits the definition of computer, just not general-purpose computer (though that's typically implied by the term "computer" in vernacular).

      • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday June 22, 2018 @03:06PM (#56829980)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          It seems to be that if the thing at least includes RAM and the ability to execute programs from RAM, is Turing complete, and has the ability to communicate in both directions with a user, it ought to be classed as a computer given the common usage of the term.

          Really, it's an incredibly low bar. You can build a Turing complete processor with a one bit state register, three opcodes and RAM. Add a couple of opcodes for I/O, and you have a computer. It would be *very* slow (possibly, something that simple you could probably run at an insanely high clock rate) but it fulfills the definition of a computer.

      • 100% this. It's silly there's even an argument. Perhaps the arguers weren't around when computers had to load the OS from disk - every time you turned it on?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It stopped being a computer when they removed the headphone jack.

  • Obligatory (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these!

  • But whatever.
    https://www.nxp.com/products/processors-and-microcontrollers/arm-based-processors-and-mcus/kinetis-cortex-m-mcus/miniwlcspm0-plus-m4:KINETIS_MINI_SERIES

  • Anyone know (Score:3)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Friday June 22, 2018 @12:30PM (#56829022)
    if it can run Crysis?

    • Re:Anyone know (Score:5, Funny)

      by 110010001000 ( 697113 ) on Friday June 22, 2018 @12:45PM (#56829114) Homepage Journal
      No, but it is useful anyway. This is from the website:

      What good is a tiny computer? Applications of the Michigan Micro Mote:

      Pressure sensing inside the eye for glaucoma diagnosis
      Cancer studies
      Oil reservoir monitoring
      Biochemical process monitoring
      Surveillance: audio and visual
      Tiny snail studies

      This opens up a whole new world in the field of conchology.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        If you stuck a computer this tiny inside an oyster, you might eventually get a perl.

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward

          perl -e 'if ( inside_oyster() ) {open($PEARL,>>,"./oyster_shell/pearl"; while ( inside_oyster() ) { print PEARL "layer\n"; } exit; } else { find_oyster(); }

        • If you stuck a computer this tiny inside an oyster, you might eventually get a perl.

          Seawater ruins everything. You would get nothing but rust.

        • If you stuck a computer this tiny inside an oyster, you might eventually get a perl.

          But probably not a ruby.

      • Pressure sensing inside the eye for glaucoma diagnosis
        Cancer studies
        Oil reservoir monitoring
        Biochemical process monitoring
        Surveillance: audio and visual
        Tiny snail studies

        breakfast cereals
        very small rocks
        fruit bats ...

    • No, but it runs Windows 10 64 bits
  • Incredible

  • Link to the source (Score:5, Informative)

    by richy freeway ( 623503 ) on Friday June 22, 2018 @12:45PM (#56829112)

    With more information regarding data transfer, power etc.

    https://news.umich.edu/u-m-res... [umich.edu]

  • Would you call a PIC microcontroller, in a SOT23-6 package, a 'computer'? It's got flash memory for non-volatile program and data storage, it's got an internal calibrated RC clock, it's got I/O (some even have ADCs), it's got other peripherals (counter-timers, PWM controller(s), and so on). Is that a computer in your opinion? Or does it have to run a full multi-tasking disk operating system wiht a GUI (or at least command line interface)? Does it have to be fully self-contained requiring no external compone
    • If it can perform a computation then it is a computer.
      • Okay, fair enough. But then is this a computer, too? [wikimedia.org] It can perform computations.
        • Yes..an abacus is a computer. Just not a digital computer. Of course, in 2018 we call an abacus a "Deep Learning Neural Net AI Trained for On-Board Computation".

          • Yes..an abacus is a computer. Just not a digital computer. Of course, in 2018 we call an abacus a "Deep Learning Neural Net AI Trained for On-Board Computation".

            As with so many people, you forgot the "</sarcasm>" tag. xD

            For sake of completeness, I seem to recall that the word 'computer' used to also refer to certain people. :-)
            I also remember (although not directly; I'm not THAT old) that 'analog computers' used to be a Thing; you can still build them, using components like precision op-amps, transistor junctions, diodes, and of course passives. More advanced versions of an analog computer, updated for the 21st century, would include entire analog computa

            • If you are interested in analog computers there is a lot of interesting Youtube videos on that subject. At one point the USSR did a lot of interesting research in that field.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Megol ( 3135005 )

          No it can't. A human can use it as a tool to do computations however the human is still the computer applying an algorithm.

    • Yes, I routinely call PIC and similar microcontrollers "tiny computers".

      > Or does it have to run a full multi-tasking disk operating system wiht a GUI (or at least command line interface)?

      PICs routinely have a CLI, and a GUI isn't unusual (at 128x64). It's not unusual to have a PIC read and write from a flash card disk, as well as it's built-in flash.

      So even if you said "a computer must be capable of running a GUI, and having a disk plugged in", the PIC is a computer even under those terms. It can run m

      • You'd have a hard time having any sort of CLI running on this PIC chip, though. [microchip.com] That's why I mentioned PIC chips specifically.

        • Okay that particular chip it's hard to call that a computer. Unless you're a 1980s car manufacturer and want to sell replacements for $399.
          That's a logic gate, I'd say.

          However, if that PIC had its single IO pin connected to a specialized memory device it would be a Turing Machine, capable of emulating a 486 or any other CPU (slowly).

          • That's a logic gate, I'd say.

            Uh, LOL, no, it still runs code, it still qualifies as a Turing machine, it's just very, very limited in it's resources. ;-) I've used something just like that to provide integration of pulses from a flow monitor, to smooth out the readings on an otherwise standalone digital rate display. You couldn't do that with just logic gates, at least not in a SOT23-6 package. ;-)

            • The other day you had a submission about a RAID enclosure. You didn't say how many drives, or talk about budget. I used some large ones, 12-16 bay.

              Enclosures are very simple devices. It's a metal case, a power supply, connectors, and optionally a SAS expander card. So there's not a WHOLE lot of room for one to be that much better than another.

              These are a great value. With the right card and firmware, they handle large drives.
              https://www.servethehome.com/s... [servethehome.com]

              If you don't want to buy pre-owned stuff off eBa

      • The ATmega2560 has a GUI, has a manual interface, stores configuration and program in flash memory and can access data stored on an external memory card so it also fits this narrow definition of computer.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Megol ( 3135005 )

      Of course that is a computer! And the idiotic line in the blurb is only that - idiotic.

  • Calculators are computers. They lose their data when you turn them off.

    Quit arguing semantics when you know full and goddamned well that the device is a computer.

  • I imagine BeauHD wishes U of M would invent a pill cam that fits on the tip of a grain of rice...

  • You can have a computer without having any local storage. I could rip the hard drive out of my laptop, put a LiveCD of a Linux distribution in my CD/DVD drive, and boot it up. Everything will be reset any time I power down, but I doubt anyone would look at that and say "this isn't a computer." Yes, storage is a nice feature of a general purpose computer (and pretty much a requirement for any laptop/desktop/tablet computer), but it doesn't mean that storage-less computers don't have a purpose or that compute

  • That's just silly! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Locke2005 ( 849178 ) on Friday June 22, 2018 @01:47PM (#56829494)
    Why would a grain of rice need a computer???
    • Stop trolling. We all know that computer enabled rice is the way forward.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by GuB-42 ( 2483988 )

      You got it backwards. The computer needs rice to run.
      People usually don't know that because bigger computers are given enough rice during the manufacturing process to keep running their entire life. The only case where more rice is needed is when they get wet.

    • You just have no vision for the future of IoT.

      I envision a future where the world is so connected that every rice grain will have it's own internet connection. I'm already looking forward to 1024 bit IP addresses.
      • Imagine if every rice grain could monitor itself when it is being cooked and adjust the temperature of the pot accordingly. You would end up with perfectly cooked rice. If we could capture even a small percentage of the Chinese market for this we would have a Unicorn.

    • How else are you going to get Smart Rice(TM)?

  • The tip of grain rice would be 2 x 2 x 2mm maximum, otherwise it would fit over a grain rice, not in its tip.

  • Vernor Vinge's localizers, maybe?

    First in A Deepness in the Sky, then again in Rainbow's End.

    "Localizers were a basic tool of a technical civilization. The tiny devices chirped their impulse codes at one another, using time of flight and distributed algorithms to accurately locate each participating device."

    They could work like a mesh-networked computing cluster too.

  • Sorry, no carbs, please. At least bring us one that fits on a quinoa seed.

  • "engineers quibbled over whether IBM's machine and the new Michigan design could really be called computers, since the data gets wiped as soon as it's turned off."

    Um, that was normal for almost all computers until not too long ago. Loss or retention of data at power off is not part of the definition of being a computer.

  • This seems a bit silly without a common definition. The IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits is probably full of things like this. Note that an 8- or 16-bit microcontroller core only requires about 12kgates (NAND2 equivalent), and in 65nm or 40nm CMOS that fits in something like 200um x 200um, and adding a few data registers, a small program RAM or ROM, a ring oscillator for clocking and some ESD IO pad cells would keep the whole thing well under 1mm x 1mm. In one minute of Googling I found this example:
    • Here's another with a 0.79mm^2 32-bit MCU... The point is, it's not hard these days to make a "computer" under 1mm^2. It's just a matter of deciding what is needed.

      "A Sub-cm3 Energy-Harvesting Stacked Wireless Sensor Node Featuring a Near-Threshold Voltage IA-32 Microcontroller in 14-nm Tri-Gate CMOS for Always-ON Always-Sensing Applications"
      Published in: IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits ( Volume: 52, Issue: 4, April 2017 )

      Abstract:
      "An energy-harvesting wireless sensor node (WSN) integrates a 1
  • From the conceptual look... While this ideology would be a good stepping stone to microcomputer design, and maybe even push to smaller transition design, this from a consumer standpoint will most ironically give people a better way to hide their porn.

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