I came to the farm to see how things grow And I learned some things

1. I came to the farm to see how things grow And I learned some things I didn't know Plants can grow high Plants can grow low Some grow above the ground Some grow below  sung by Erniewith help from the veggies

2. Nano-to-meter-scale Building concepts & requirements Danijel Rebolj University of MariborFaculty of Civil EngineeringConstruction IT Centre

3. Research motivation • building industry • produces lots of waste • consumes lots of resources • is not very effective • adequate housing • not affordable for 1.6 billion people • NT potentials

4. Research goals • design top-down NT based production concepts • further explore relevant NT areas • nanorobotics • bioengineering and synthetic biology • nanomaterials (3D Carbon Nano Tubes) • formulate requirements for the NT bottom-up research & start cooperation

5. nanoBuilding conceptHow things grow • By multiplication of basic elements • bricks, cells, molecules,... • using a plan that is either • extrinsic (building plans), • intrinsic (instructions contained in DNA), or • combined (bonsai) • forming functional parts • in their final size (a house) • in growing size and functionality

6. nanoBuilding conceptGrowing facilities • Common practice of construction is by • sequential multiplication and composition • of a variety of macro-level building elements, • produced by traditional ways of material treatment • our goal: to mimic the natural way using nano-level building elements

7. nanoBuilding conceptGrowing facilities • Extrinsic plan • nanotechnology devices to produce building material at nano scale on site • physics & chemistry laws • Intrinsic & combined plan • bionanotechnology / synthetic biology to program living particles to grow systems at the higher level • biology laws

8. myosin, a bio-robot Nanotechnology = biology • The study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale • Nanometer : meter = marble : Earth • A prooven method for growing things - nature does it successfuly for billions of years

9. C60 fullerene Nanotechnology • Nanomaterials • Molecular self-assembly (incl. DNA nanotechnology), cause single-molecule components to automatically arrange themselves into some useful conformation • Programmable matter

10. Nanotechnology • Nanorobots (a possible way to go): use of minuscule objects from DNA (TU München)

11. Nanotechnology in Construction • Material refinment (e.g. 3-6x higher strenght of conrete using nano-silica, self-cleaning & antifogging using TiO2) • New materials with better properties – carbon nanotubes (CNT), 100x strength of steel

12. nanoBuilding conceptThe process • detailed 3D solid modeling • adding supporting structures (preparing model for nano-production) • site preparation • building & control • functional testing

13. nanoBuilding conceptThe process • 3D solid modeling • define detailed solid geometry • define parts of the model (3D areas), with specific material properties (strength, friction, conductivity) to form utility systems (like water system, sewer system, electrical instalations, communication system etc.)

14. nanoBuilding conceptThe process • adding supporting structures / volumes for all parts without vertical material connection to the ground)

15. nanoBuilding conceptThe process • site preparation • excavation to level 0 of the building • setup building equipment – the projector

16. nanoBuilding conceptThe process • building & control • planting of “seed” nanoroborts onto the ground plan • self-replication of nanorobots throughout the extent of the building layout • creating carbon nano materials • continuously repeating the process until the top of the building is reached

17. nanoBuilding concept Summarized • Use nanorobots, able to • self-replicate, and • build CNT using C from CO2 in the air • with desired characteristics • using light as a source • for energy, and • instructions (wavelenghts)

18. Light projector  input: 4D model • Specific wavelengths • transmit different • instructions to nanorobots: • self-replicate • build CNM with specific characteristics ground plan 0

19. “seed” nanorobots ground plan 0

20. Instruction: - replicate

21. Instruction: - replicate

22. Instruction: • build CNM slicewith high bearingstength

23. Instruction: - build pipe wall CNM with lowfriction • Instruction: • build CNM slicewith high bearingstength All utilities are built-in (pipes, shafts, wires,...)

24. Supporting structure - temporary CNMmaterial to be decomposedafter window beamis built The building is rising slice by slice...

25. nanoBuildingRequirements • Nanorobots powered by light, able to • recognize different wavelengths and compiling them into instructions • compose CNM with required characteristics (strength, conductivity) • using C from CO2 from the air • able to self-replicate (option)

26. nanoBuildingThe future

27. Conclusion • I belive the question is not if (bio)nanotehnology can meet the defined requirements, but when. • The proof of concept exists!