Birth of Mechanical Engineering and a Glimpse …
23
1/Size
Degree of Automation & Intelligence Level
Intelligent Microrobots/
Manipulating Blood Cells
Molecular Motor
Micro Machine Tool
CNC Machining Centre
Autonomous
Humanoid Robots
Mars Land Rover
Fig. 26 Trend of engineering in intelligence and size
divisions and suggested more numbers of IR. The trend of miniaturization in engineering activities can be observed in the trend of development shown in Fig. 26. There
are a number of reasons behind this trend of miniaturization. Ability to incorporate
much higher level of intelligence in the machines and devices is one of the reasons.
The other important reason is the opportunity to utilize the advantages derived from
the scaling laws. Miniaturization will become increasingly more important because
of the following reasons:
(i) Lower cost and higher packing density make it possible to incorporate a very
large number of variety of sensors which is essential to make a machine intelligent and
autonomous. (ii) Non-invasive health care can be possible through miniaturization
of instruments. (iii) Low energy and low material consumption will lead to better
conservation of resources. (iv) Response of devices will be faster and disposal will
be easier, and (v) Using new laws of physics and chemistry for small scale has started
becoming necessary for many applications.
The Second Industrial Revolution was made possible because of two-dimensional
miniaturization of electronic circuits. They empowered the systems for manipulation
of information. However, many experts believe that the Third Industrial Revolution
will be made possible through three-dimensional miniaturization of devices, and the
objective will be miniaturized manipulation of material and physical work. It should
not be forgotten that miniaturization will be unavoidable for making not only small
things but for developing systems of macroscopic sizes also miniaturization will be a
very important activity. The major advantages will be compact packing of very large
number of sensors, making actuators relatively more powerful and in reducing the
cost for necessary social impact. Intelligent systems’ major characteristics depend on
the massively parallel arrangement of miniaturized devices like all living organisms.
23
1/Size
Degree of Automation & Intelligence Level
Intelligent Microrobots/
Manipulating Blood Cells
Molecular Motor
Micro Machine Tool
CNC Machining Centre
Autonomous
Humanoid Robots
Mars Land Rover
Fig. 26 Trend of engineering in intelligence and size
divisions and suggested more numbers of IR. The trend of miniaturization in engineering activities can be observed in the trend of development shown in Fig. 26. There
are a number of reasons behind this trend of miniaturization. Ability to incorporate
much higher level of intelligence in the machines and devices is one of the reasons.
The other important reason is the opportunity to utilize the advantages derived from
the scaling laws. Miniaturization will become increasingly more important because
of the following reasons:
(i) Lower cost and higher packing density make it possible to incorporate a very
large number of variety of sensors which is essential to make a machine intelligent and
autonomous. (ii) Non-invasive health care can be possible through miniaturization
of instruments. (iii) Low energy and low material consumption will lead to better
conservation of resources. (iv) Response of devices will be faster and disposal will
be easier, and (v) Using new laws of physics and chemistry for small scale has started
becoming necessary for many applications.
The Second Industrial Revolution was made possible because of two-dimensional
miniaturization of electronic circuits. They empowered the systems for manipulation
of information. However, many experts believe that the Third Industrial Revolution
will be made possible through three-dimensional miniaturization of devices, and the
objective will be miniaturized manipulation of material and physical work. It should
not be forgotten that miniaturization will be unavoidable for making not only small
things but for developing systems of macroscopic sizes also miniaturization will be a
very important activity. The major advantages will be compact packing of very large
number of sensors, making actuators relatively more powerful and in reducing the
cost for necessary social impact. Intelligent systems’ major characteristics depend on
the massively parallel arrangement of miniaturized devices like all living organisms.