Smart dust is a hypothetical network of tiny wireless micro electromechanical
systems (MEMS) sensors, robots, or devices,
installed with wireless
communications, that can detect (for example) light, temperature, or vibration
The devices, or motes, are intended to be the size of a grain of sand,
or even a dust particle.
When clustered together, they would automatically create highly flexible,
low-power networks with applications ranging from climate control systems to
entertainment devices that interact with information appliances.
The smart dust concept was introduced by Kristofer S. J. Pister (University of California) in 2001, though similar
ideas existed in science fiction before then. A recent review discusses various
techniques to take smart dust in sensor networks beyond millimeter dimensions
to the micrometer level.
Smart dust devices will be based on sub-voltage and deep-sub-voltage
nano electronics and include the micro power sources with all solid state
impulse super
capacitors (nonionic super capacitors).
A typical application scenario is scattering a hundred
of these sensors around a building or around a hospital to monitor temperature
or humidity, track patient movements, or inform of disasters, such as
earthquakes. In the military, they can perform as a remote sensor chip to track
enemy movements, detect poisonous gas or radioactivity