A group of engineers from Stanford University have produced the first ever water operated computer. The computer uses electromagnetic fields to pump water droplets impregnated with magnetic nanoparticles into gates to perform complex logical operations.
Manu Prakash, a Stanford assistant professor, spent almost an entire decade thinking about the possibility of a fluid-operated computer.
“The many and varied components required of a fluidic computer have slowly coalesced in his mind over that time, with the most fundamental component of all – an accurate operating clock to drive the logic – being the crucial element in bringing his invention to fruition. Ultimately, Prakash built a rotating magnetic field to synchronize the flow of all the droplets in a precisely timed manner, and act as the clock,” Gizmag reported.
“To create the fluidic logic, Prakash and Stanford graduate student Georgios Katsikis constructed assortments of miniscule iron blocks on glass slides to act as physical logic gates. Resembling a Pac-Man maze, the whole structure is filled with oil and topped with a clear glass slide, so that the fluid is sandwiched between the layers. To this, the researchers syringe in separate magnetic-nanoparticle-infused droplets of water,” according to Gizmag.
“They then surrounded the device with a series of large electromagnetic coils that, when turned on induce a magnetic field in the iron bars. As this magnetic field has its polarity alternately and continuously changed, so too there is a change in the induced magnetic field of the iron bars, and the magnetized water droplets are drawn around the circuit. Each alternation of the electromagnetic field amounts to one clock cycle, and each drop moves exactly one step onward with each of these cycles,” according to Gizmag.
“Following these rules, we’ve demonstrated that we can make all the universal logic gates used in electronics, simply by changing the layout of the bars on the chip. The actual design space in our platform is incredibly rich. Give us any Boolean logic circuit in the world, and we can build it with these little magnetic droplets moving around,” Georgios Katsikis, Stanford graduate student, said.
The research group is also optimistic this new type of computer will be beneficial in biology, chemistry and other sciences and technologies. It can also improve upon current electronic devices and computers.
“This new type of computer offers up a way to produce an alternative to high-speed, complex, electronic computers and take logic processing to the physical world,” the team said.
