The world's smallest computer M3 only 1 cubic millimeters, smart dust came!

The history of Creation

For over more than 10 years, the David Blaauw team at the University of Michigan's Department of Electrical and Computer science has been working on one thing: Creating a Michigan Micro Mote (or m³) of a microcomputer with a volume of only 1 cubic millimeters, a feat of history.

Here is a comparison of M3 with a coin:

This could be the smallest automated computer device in the world, and with the rapid development of IoT Internet of things, this microcomputer will become smaller later. In the IoT world, size and power are everything, computers are small, put into the world without being perceived around them, and they run at very low power.

Although very small in size, M3 has the ability to take pictures, read temperatures, record pressure readings, and so on, and developers hope it can be used in medical, industrial and other fields. For example, the patient is implanted with body temperature, ECG data, or monitoring the state of the well. In addition, because there is no place to put the keyboard, mouse or monitor, M3 through high-frequency flash to charge, and the use of traditional radio frequency spectrum to the central computer to send data, to solve the traditional computer large size problem.

But the size of rice is not the ultimate goal. As M3 is about to start production, developers have started a new project called Smart Dust, which is expected to shrink to micron standards.

A colourful M3

M3 is based on the very low power of the Phoenix processor, only 915 microns square, the average power consumption of 500pW, a PW is the human body a cell power consumption.

Currently M3 has three different systems, focusing on different applications: sensing temperature, pressure, and taking photos. Each M3 computer contains the following layers:

1. Solar cell and optical communication electric eye
2. The collector controls the electronic layer
3. Radio Layer
4. Sensor interface Layer
5. Capacitor layer (to provide stable power supply)
6. Processor + memory + Power Mediation Layer
7. Battery
8. Optional layer for pressure sensors, imaging, etc.

Below is a cross-sectional view of the M3 imager:

M3 applications

Technology future

The M3 team has established a number of companies to explore the future of smart dust, including:

The gateway to the new computer world has been opened, and M3 has redefined computer technology ahead of the IoT curve. More detailed content points to this view.

The world's smallest computer M3 only 1 cubic millimeters, smart dust came!