Proposed revolutionary chemical computer to 'grow drones'

Professor Lee Cronin, at the University of Glasgow is developing a "chemputer"; a revolutionary system that would allow the production of UAVs in a laboratory setting. By using a 3D printer, Cronin hopes that small devices like drones could be produced at ground-breaking speeds with the assistance of chemical synthesis. He is currently receiving assistance from UK aerospace and defence company BAE Systems. Whilst admitting that creating the system will be "very challenging," Cronin said the developments could radically change the production of warfare-ready drones by allowing countries to build UAVs quickly and close to a battlefield.

Happy almost Independence Day, America, now prepare to witness the impending doom stalking humanity in the form of drones that are "grown" from chemical compounds. Yes, really.

Evoking images from the liquid metal and nearly unstoppable Terminator from the movies, BAE Systems has posted concept video footage of a process to create drones of the future.



"A radical new machine called a Chemputer could enable advanced chemical processes to grow aircraft and some of their complex electronic systems, conceivably from a molecular level upwards," reads the description on the company's website.

Credit: bae systems

The video shows a drone being produced in a large vat of chemicals and then moved to a staging area where a robotic arm inserts what are, presumably, the drone's engine components. Sure this is just a concept, but BAE Systems has a track record(opens in a new tab) of turning concepts into reality, so this isn't just another concept video promising unlikely inventions.

"We have been developing routes to digitize synthetic and materials chemistry … with minimal human assistance."

"We have been developing routes to digitize synthetic and materials chemistry and at some point in the future hope to assemble complex objects in a machine from the bottom up, or with minimal human assistance," said professor Nick Colosimo, a BAE Systems global engineering fellow in a statement(opens in a new tab) on the company's website.

"Creating small aircraft would be very challenging but I’m confident that creative thinking and convergent digital technologies will eventually lead to the digital programming of complex chemical and material systems."

The next obvious step would be humanoid robots produced by the "chemputer," and then science fiction will have officially predicted(opens in a new tab) reality — again.

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