Fundamentally new drive from Nizhny Novgorod schoolchildren
“Digital sandwich”, or “digital sandwich” - this is how the schoolchildren named their invention, presumably allowing them to save up to 28 terabytes of information on A4 media .
UPD : Presentation from the authors
This news was almost unnoticed half a month ago.
Schoolchildren from Nizhny Novgorod Ilya Danilov, Nikita Chernyadev and Anton Zarubin participated with their project in the Google Science Fair 2013.
Their invention is based on the widely used Plexiglass laser engraving technology, which allows to obtain similar images:
The authors believe that the significant advantages of their inventions are low cost and the impossibility of demagnetization. For some reason, the possibility of rewriting information is not mentioned.
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Journalists announce the coming tests of the new drive in the fall. It seems that after the launch of such capacious drives in the production of innovative compression technology films will not be needed.
In general, it is a pity that journalists manage to present the projects of young inventors in such a high vein: nothing good usually comes of this.
UPD : Links.
Official development site
VKontakte development team
Official Twitter account
Interview with the developer
Presentation for GSF
UPD: Text interview with Nikita Chernyadev.
Italicized questions, answers Nikita given in normal font. Bold highlights the main characteristics and parameters of the project.
Q: First of all, I wonder where the idea of this project came from, who is the mastermind and how long have you been working on the project? And such a question: was this project born on its own or prepared specifically for the Google Science Fair?
A: We started the development of the project in February of this year, having decided to take part in the international competition of Google Science Fair projects. Actually, this competition was our initial goal.
Q: And the idea of creating a drive for this particular technology belongs to one of you, or, perhaps, to your scientific consultant, or has this concept already been created by someone earlier?
A: With regard to technology, the following situation is here: the phenomenon of formation of opaque structures (icicles) inside organic glass with impurities (ferrocene in our case) was discovered 5-7 years ago during research on nonlinear optics. In general, the formation of such structures is directly related to the phenomenon of self-focusing. But the idea of using “icicles” for storing information came directly to our team .
Q: Many critics blame you for the actual absence of a sample drive. Did you initially think about the industrial implementation of the project? Have you filed patent applications?
A: What seems to be the lack of a prototype, now we are developing it. We plan to finish by October.
Q: So you already have the means to create?
And what opportunities will the prototype have? How many bytes will it be able to write / read, what size will the “structures” (millimeters, fractions of a millimeter or even less) be?
A: There will not be 28 TB on the prototype, it is planned to write the file in several KB . The size of the structures in the prototype will not exceed one tenth of a millimeter .
A sample reading system will connect to a PC so that you can view the file recorded on the sample disc on the monitor screen. Now we are thinking about the arrangement of the file system on the media.
Q: And the question is more about the final implementation: calculating the amount of data in the drive, did you evaluate the capabilities of the process? For example, in your presentation the size of the structure is stated to be several tens of nanometers. Do you think it is realistic to achieve such a positioning accuracy of the laser? Have you estimated the approximate cost of the final set of devices for writing / reading?
Did you talk about financing, promoting your project? Maybe you were offered to develop your project further in any of the universities?
A: As for structures of 50 nm , this can be realized now using a femtosecond laser with a wavelength of about 400 nm .
Now the cost of such lasers is about 500 rubles , but given the fact that fiber lasers are becoming cheaper and cheaper, we hope for a drop in their value in the near future.
So far, they say more about the fact that we are still more Popovs and Grandmothers than about investing in the project, although we did receive several proposals.
Q: And, probably, one of the main technological issues: does this technology imply the creation of a recordable media once (like, for example, DVD-R)? Or maybe subsequent rewriting is possible? That is, is this device positioned only for storing content (for example, as a cheap multi-terabyte media with movies) or can it replace SSD and HDD?
A: In theory, rewriting can be done , but our assumptions need to be tested on real equipment, which we are currently seeking access to.
We focus on companies that are interested in the safe and long-term storage of large amounts of information .
Q: And the question is: why did you abandon two-dimensional positioning (angle of rotation + linear coordinate) used in traditional optical media? What is more convenient positioning on three linear coordinates?
A: As for the laser positioning system, a square sandwich is again a prototype. In general, nothing prevents us from changing the form factor in the final version of the device. The rectangular shape is chosen because it is easy to conduct experiments on such a sample.
Q: Was it difficult to get on the Google Science Fair? What assessment did your project give there?
A: Our project was among the 90 regional finalists from around the world.
When I was in Moscow, in the Google office, where the presentation of projects of regional finalists from Russia took place, I was interested in how many works were sent to this competition, it turned out that the company does not have accurate data in the Russian branch, but approximately 2,000 works .
A prerequisite for participation in this competition was the presentation of the video with the presentation of the project.
The judges missed our work in the regional final - that's their assessment :)
Q: Tell me, do you have accounts on Habré, even if Read-only? Probably, you will want to share with you to give yourself the opportunity to write about your development.
A: No, we do not have accounts on Habré.
Q: What educational institutions are you going to enroll in? What specialties? Have you had other innovative designs?
A: What about the word "innovative" ... is it possible without it? :)
In general, we were engaged in school projects before, but did not go beyond the city limits.
As for studying, some will stay in Nizhny on the radio / physical-phae, but personally I plan to enter MGTU.
Q: Are you going to keep the community up to date with the further development of this carrier (for example, about the autumn trials)? If so, through what sources?
A: When we make a sample, then we decide on how to tell about it.
I would also like to note that we did not order any reports, as some people write on the net. Journalists themselves began to go to our school after the project got into the number of regional GSF finalists.
Q: Here are some more questions. The reason for choosing “icicles” as a unit of data storage - advantages and disadvantages over other options (for example, before the information structure of compact discs - tracks and pitas)? The principle of reading the recorded data?
A: Everything is very simple here - icicles are chosen because of their size.
Agree, there is a difference in 50-nanometer icicles and 850-nanometer pits on the surface of a DVD disc .
And the principle of recording / reading in the chat cannot be described :) The most rapid description of the technologies is in our competitive video.
Q: Can I read a little more about reading with a CCD? Are you planning something like an optical recognition of the size of structures on an image obtained with a CCD?
Do I understand correctly that when reading information on each layer of the carrier is just circles of different sizes?
A: In fact, we do not need a full-fledged matrix. Only a strip of sensitive pixels is needed.
Reading is due to the phenomenon of diffraction. I wrote above that the “icicles” are opaque to light, which gives us the opportunity to observe diffraction circles, which are then converted into binary code.
Q: Advantages and disadvantages over Blu-ray? Fundamental differences?
A: The difference is in the way information is recorded. Information is recorded on optical disks due to the formation of pits and lands on their surface. We have "icicles" inside the carrier. Information is more dense. If the flaws, then to record Blu-ray does not need a femtosecond laser :)
Q: Do you want to add something?
A: In the comments they write, they say, we stole the idea of the British from Southampton, but I would like to draw attention to the fact that this technology has nothing in common with our development, except for the use of a femtosecond laser. The British polarize nanoparticles that are in quartz glass, as you understand, we have a completely different idea.
Q: Thank you for the interview, it was nice to talk. You are great, go ahead and further. I wish you to make and test the fall by at least a couple of kilobytes by the fall.
A: Thank you :)
Thanks for the wishes, if there is news about the reader, I will inform you.
PS In general, we expected a similar negative reaction on the Internet , because the combination of the words "schoolchildren", "innovation" and "nanometers" simply cannot be taken seriously ...
Q: First of all, I wonder where the idea of this project came from, who is the mastermind and how long have you been working on the project? And such a question: was this project born on its own or prepared specifically for the Google Science Fair?
A: We started the development of the project in February of this year, having decided to take part in the international competition of Google Science Fair projects. Actually, this competition was our initial goal.
Q: And the idea of creating a drive for this particular technology belongs to one of you, or, perhaps, to your scientific consultant, or has this concept already been created by someone earlier?
A: With regard to technology, the following situation is here: the phenomenon of formation of opaque structures (icicles) inside organic glass with impurities (ferrocene in our case) was discovered 5-7 years ago during research on nonlinear optics. In general, the formation of such structures is directly related to the phenomenon of self-focusing. But the idea of using “icicles” for storing information came directly to our team .
Q: Many critics blame you for the actual absence of a sample drive. Did you initially think about the industrial implementation of the project? Have you filed patent applications?
A: What seems to be the lack of a prototype, now we are developing it. We plan to finish by October.
Q: So you already have the means to create?
And what opportunities will the prototype have? How many bytes will it be able to write / read, what size will the “structures” (millimeters, fractions of a millimeter or even less) be?
A: There will not be 28 TB on the prototype, it is planned to write the file in several KB . The size of the structures in the prototype will not exceed one tenth of a millimeter .
A sample reading system will connect to a PC so that you can view the file recorded on the sample disc on the monitor screen. Now we are thinking about the arrangement of the file system on the media.
Q: And the question is more about the final implementation: calculating the amount of data in the drive, did you evaluate the capabilities of the process? For example, in your presentation the size of the structure is stated to be several tens of nanometers. Do you think it is realistic to achieve such a positioning accuracy of the laser? Have you estimated the approximate cost of the final set of devices for writing / reading?
Did you talk about financing, promoting your project? Maybe you were offered to develop your project further in any of the universities?
A: As for structures of 50 nm , this can be realized now using a femtosecond laser with a wavelength of about 400 nm .
Now the cost of such lasers is about 500 rubles , but given the fact that fiber lasers are becoming cheaper and cheaper, we hope for a drop in their value in the near future.
So far, they say more about the fact that we are still more Popovs and Grandmothers than about investing in the project, although we did receive several proposals.
Q: And, probably, one of the main technological issues: does this technology imply the creation of a recordable media once (like, for example, DVD-R)? Or maybe subsequent rewriting is possible? That is, is this device positioned only for storing content (for example, as a cheap multi-terabyte media with movies) or can it replace SSD and HDD?
A: In theory, rewriting can be done , but our assumptions need to be tested on real equipment, which we are currently seeking access to.
We focus on companies that are interested in the safe and long-term storage of large amounts of information .
Q: And the question is: why did you abandon two-dimensional positioning (angle of rotation + linear coordinate) used in traditional optical media? What is more convenient positioning on three linear coordinates?
A: As for the laser positioning system, a square sandwich is again a prototype. In general, nothing prevents us from changing the form factor in the final version of the device. The rectangular shape is chosen because it is easy to conduct experiments on such a sample.
Q: Was it difficult to get on the Google Science Fair? What assessment did your project give there?
A: Our project was among the 90 regional finalists from around the world.
When I was in Moscow, in the Google office, where the presentation of projects of regional finalists from Russia took place, I was interested in how many works were sent to this competition, it turned out that the company does not have accurate data in the Russian branch, but approximately 2,000 works .
A prerequisite for participation in this competition was the presentation of the video with the presentation of the project.
The judges missed our work in the regional final - that's their assessment :)
Q: Tell me, do you have accounts on Habré, even if Read-only? Probably, you will want to share with you to give yourself the opportunity to write about your development.
A: No, we do not have accounts on Habré.
Q: What educational institutions are you going to enroll in? What specialties? Have you had other innovative designs?
A: What about the word "innovative" ... is it possible without it? :)
In general, we were engaged in school projects before, but did not go beyond the city limits.
As for studying, some will stay in Nizhny on the radio / physical-phae, but personally I plan to enter MGTU.
Q: Are you going to keep the community up to date with the further development of this carrier (for example, about the autumn trials)? If so, through what sources?
A: When we make a sample, then we decide on how to tell about it.
I would also like to note that we did not order any reports, as some people write on the net. Journalists themselves began to go to our school after the project got into the number of regional GSF finalists.
Q: Here are some more questions. The reason for choosing “icicles” as a unit of data storage - advantages and disadvantages over other options (for example, before the information structure of compact discs - tracks and pitas)? The principle of reading the recorded data?
A: Everything is very simple here - icicles are chosen because of their size.
Agree, there is a difference in 50-nanometer icicles and 850-nanometer pits on the surface of a DVD disc .
And the principle of recording / reading in the chat cannot be described :) The most rapid description of the technologies is in our competitive video.
Q: Can I read a little more about reading with a CCD? Are you planning something like an optical recognition of the size of structures on an image obtained with a CCD?
Do I understand correctly that when reading information on each layer of the carrier is just circles of different sizes?
A: In fact, we do not need a full-fledged matrix. Only a strip of sensitive pixels is needed.
Reading is due to the phenomenon of diffraction. I wrote above that the “icicles” are opaque to light, which gives us the opportunity to observe diffraction circles, which are then converted into binary code.
Q: Advantages and disadvantages over Blu-ray? Fundamental differences?
A: The difference is in the way information is recorded. Information is recorded on optical disks due to the formation of pits and lands on their surface. We have "icicles" inside the carrier. Information is more dense. If the flaws, then to record Blu-ray does not need a femtosecond laser :)
Q: Do you want to add something?
A: In the comments they write, they say, we stole the idea of the British from Southampton, but I would like to draw attention to the fact that this technology has nothing in common with our development, except for the use of a femtosecond laser. The British polarize nanoparticles that are in quartz glass, as you understand, we have a completely different idea.
Q: Thank you for the interview, it was nice to talk. You are great, go ahead and further. I wish you to make and test the fall by at least a couple of kilobytes by the fall.
A: Thank you :)
Thanks for the wishes, if there is news about the reader, I will inform you.
PS In general, we expected a similar negative reaction on the Internet , because the combination of the words "schoolchildren", "innovation" and "nanometers" simply cannot be taken seriously ...
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/187430/
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