Assembler vs Nanofactory

The final goal of the Nanotechnology is to build the first atomic precise factory that can produce macroscopic objects. But what will this change in our life and in the world?

Introduction Assembler

A molecular assembler is a robot on Nano scale that can manipulate molecules and atoms to produce structures they don't exist natural. The first one was outlined by
Erik Drexler in 1986 in his book Engines of Creation. The idea is to build a programmable, self-replicating Nano robot. The goal is to build one robot with an STM/AFM which replicates so the number grows exponential. Then they get reprogrammed so they produce other products.

Abilities

The assembler is able to manipulate 1 million atoms per second and it's made out of 1 billion atoms so it can replicate in 1000 seconds or 16:40 minutes.

Problems

There are two main problems of the assembler.
The first one is the grey-goo problem which is the less realistic one. The grey-goo problem means that the Nano robots destroy the world just to replicate themselves.
In my opinion this problem is very unrealistic because the Nano robots can be programmed and so we are always able to stop them. In addition to that we will be able to only let them replicate in a defined area or room.
The second more important problem is that an Assembler isn't as flexible as a Nano factory because of its compactness. It's much harder to add components to an assembler than to a Nano factory.

Introduction Nano factory

A Nano factory is in contrast to an assembler not one compact robot rather a complex of single parts. That is why a Nano factory is so flexible in adding new parts. This makes it able to easily get improved.

Abilities

Nano factories don't have a border how many atoms they are able to place. One Nano factory could be big enough to produce a whole space ship. This can also be done by assemblers but there are more advantages. The flexibility is essential even in the developing process of the factory. Some parts could be built before others but these could be easily attached. Another great ability is the self-replication. The assembler can replicate it but the factory could do the same.

Problems

On the one hand Nano factories are more flexible than assemblers in relation to development but on the other hand they are less flexible in movement and forming together to a bigger one is nearly impossible. But there is no real grey-goo problem because the replication is much harder and so less fast and they are not able to act themselves or even to move.

Conclusion and prospects

So as one can see in the future Nano factories will probably manufacture our food and not assemblers. They are just too complex to coordinate and too inflexible. In contrast to the assemblers the Nano factories have a great future. Nearly everything can be built by them. I can imagine that in 2100 our food will emerge out of a Nano factory.