Levels of abstraction for a matter compiler

Chris Phoenix has several very good comments about the UK Ideas factory projects. Here is one on the matter compiler

Level 1: Reaction trajectories, potential energy surfaces.
2: Covalent structures: ball-and-stick diagrams.
3: Surface and volume structures. (Overlaps with 2 and 4.)
4: Lowest functional parts: gears, levers, wires…
5: Gearboxes, logic gates
6: Machines, circuits
7: Machine systems (e.g. assembly line, simple CPU)
8: Nanoblocks ~100 nm-1 micron
9: Nanoblock surface/volume structures; moving interfaces
10: Virtual materials (10-100 micron scale)
11: Human-interacting material properties (texture, appearance)
12: Detailed product form and function
13: Large-scale product form and function

Chris’s article about the projects that came from the Ideas Factory