U-M Retakes Record for World’s Smallest Computer
One of the most advanced areas in the tech industry is tiny computers. While most people are used to seeing a computer on their desktop, a laptop, or even a smartphone, these devices are simply massive compared to the smallest functioning computers in the world.
Truly micro-computers have important uses in many industries including medical fields where they can be used to gather data (and someday, perhaps, fight cancer), commercial fields where they are used to fight counterfeits, and many others.
For years now, the two biggest players in the micro-computer field have been the University of Michigan, and IBM. In 2015, the U of M announced their Micro Mote, which could fit on the edge of a nickel. At the time it was the world’s smallest. In March of 2018, IBM released a computer that was 1 mm x 1 mm in size, breaking the record. Just recently, the University of Michigan reclaimed their title with the announcement of a computer ten times smaller than IBMs.
This computer, which is just .3mm x .3mm. To give some scale, you could fit dozens of them on the edge of a piece of rice.
Why Small Computers?
The simple answer here is that small computers can fit into small spaces. In addition, they have greater functionality than a simple sensor. A computer this small is possible of being placed inside the eye to detect pressure and gather information. The University of Michigan also mentioned that these computers could potentially be placed inside tiny snails to help improve research.
While these ideas are interesting, the real excitement for many will be in the related advancements they allow. Creating tiny computers requires engineers to come up with new ways to design circuits and use less power. What is learned here will be used in the designs of many future computing systems.
The more learned about tiny computing, the more advancements we will see in the future of smartphones. As well as other devices that require advanced technology in smaller spaces.
It Isn’t All About Size
David Blaauw is a professor who is co-leading the project, and in an email statement said the following of these super-small computers. “We are about 10x smaller so we can fit in smaller spaces. Also, the IBM computer can’t sense its environment – it can send a code identifying itself but it does not sense its physical environment.”
The point here is that no matter how small a computer can get, it has to serve a function in order to be useful. Fortunately, there are endless ways that small computers can be used, and as they get more and more advanced. With the size of this computer, it is easy to see how computers could be put inside the human body to monitor different aspects of your health.
As these computers become more powerful (they are still extremely limited compared to a traditional device), they will be able to serve more and more functions. Tiny computers are programed with very specific tasks so they can only really do a small number of things. Of course, it just takes having different code developed and loaded on to change the tasks that are possible.
