| Topic for open discussion: Kites as
"programmable matter"
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August 15, 2020, post by Dave Santos Kites as "programmable matter" Classic Kites are rigged and tuned many ways to operate autonomously. They are obviously very cybernetic, as they embody their own flight solution logic. Not bad for an ancient device a child can make! In recent years, we have increasingly studied kites as metamaterial units for a special kind of smart-material made of many kites in lattices. The working name for this way of thinking is "KiteMatter." This evolving kite paradigm leads us to identifying KiteMatter as a Programmable Matter class. The programming starts with design, as firmware. Settings of bridles, tethers, anchors, and so on, are software. Steerable mutiline kites are interactive. Virtually any logic gate in either digital or analog computing can be programmed in KiteMatter, which is capable in principle to comprise a Universal Turing Machine. Programmable electronics can be overlaid as well. |