With my limited knowledge of chemistry, molecular physics, and quantum computing, I'm struggling to reconcile sci-fi/fantasy trope depictions of (seemingly) impossibly small nanobots with actual physical limitations.
Just how small could individual nanobots plausibly be?
Details, limitations, etc.:
- Allowances can be made for some specialization between individual units in a "swarm" of nanobots but, as a general rule, most individual bots should have most of these capabilities:
A. Locomotion,
B. apparatus for communication (preferably wireless/contactless) with other bots in the swarm,
C. a collection of appendages/tools capable of both resource extraction from surrounding environment as well as constructing new nanobots,
D. a power source that either has an extremely long lifespan or can readily extract energy/fuel from the surrounding environment regardless of what environment the bot finds itself in,
E. sensory apparatus for detecting available resources in the surrounding environment,
F. internal hardware/software/equivalent capable of coordinating all of the previous described components(locomotion, sensors, tools, powersupply, etc), as well as working cooperatively with other nanobots, entirely autonomously (without any direct input from humans or any source outside the nanobots themselves, once they start running ... these are not remote controlled, they are self-controlled, "set it and forget it" functions hardwired in to them)
- Our current manufacturing capabilities can be ignored (assume we'll figure it out eventually), but accepted scientific theory should not be (no Pim particles or handwavium). In other words, atomic scale or molecular scale should not be used unless it can be explained, with currently accepted scientific theories to back it up, how something that small can incorporate all the previous requirements (locomotion, tools, powersource, communication, sensory equipment, etc)