Contactless, external, SATA (MCubes, MemoryCubes) - Sell Project

The MCube is a new kind of removable SSD with great mechanical robustness and highly reliable link to the PC. It is meant to revolutionize the way we see the PCs in relation with data and data in relation with the PCs (data being either operating systems, other software, documents...). The MCube pave the way toward a new breed of computer: the PC-Player (PCP). To learn more about PCPs and MCubes see this article (also at MPS Freeware): “Toward a New Breed of Computing Devices: The PC-Player” (player..., like in CD-Player, PCP). The project consist in a 16 pages PDF with figures (drawings) available also independently as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) files. It contains description, roadmap, principle schematics, relatively detailed builds of the mechanical support, use cases etc. Al it need is the actual electronics. Some mechanical support parts, with a little bit of work, can be 3D printed (almost all drawings are at a 1/1 scale), but the MCube show its strength by being mass produced.  Extras from the project's PDF:  ..."  What is an MCube Is a... cube, that store data. 30mmm (1 3/16in) wide. It appear as a compact block of plastic or acrylic glass, mild heavy, with edges slightly rounded and no other protuberances or appearing metallic parts and with some inscriptions on its faces that cannot be pealed off, one of them being actually an eInk display. It can resist in vacuum or even 100m under water. It cannot be broken easily even it is dropped down from 3m on a hard surface. Can resist in boiling water, caught in ice and don't catch fire. Can be scratched and painted all over and continue to work because it is not based on light. An MCube can also survive more then 100 years under earth, under water or even in a land fill. Hence the label with the place on earth were can be found complete specifications required in order to read it.  “...  The great mechanical robustness of an MCube is given by its build similar to ICs (Integrated Circuits). But, because at this scale problems might occur is actually realized from 2 compounds:  - one rubbery (similar to a silicone sealant, maybe harder) at inside, capable to give a little and engulfing entirely the electronics (hence insensitivity to water);  - one rigid, as a shell, at outside - could be polycarbonate or acrylic.  The rigidity occur because any deformation attempt to modify volume but the rubbery at inside is elastic but incompressible as volume and the outer shell cannot be stretched. Also the cubical shape is a factor by its volume/surface relation. But its faces are still capable to give a little (by becoming slightly concave or convex) to accommodate thermal dilatations of electronics.  Mechanical robustness occur also by not exposing sensitive galvanic contacts. All connections are made by radio waves or induction (RF data in and out transfers and inductive power supply).  Even the lock in place (in the host unit) mechanism is highly reliable as it is based only on attraction between 2 tiny ferromagnetic plates encased in cube and 2 tiny magnets in the siting plate from host-unit.  All these features of robustness are meant to provide a nice margin of safety as today some data structures could happen to be both huge and tremendously valuable.  The MCube also implements a forgotten feature of storage media: a read-only switch. But again no mechanical parts on cube. All is done by a near-control (remote-control <> near-control) based on NFC technology. This near control provide also the the power needed to flip the hardware switches in the cube. These switches cannot, by any meanings, be flipped by computer software trough the host unit. The status of a cube - read/write permissions, public or private, key used, drive name and an icon - is permanently displayed on cube by an eInk display (refreshable by the near-control).  The host unit is in the shape of 5.25' half-height drive unit (like CD-ROM units) with four slots on the front panel. Again no moving parts, the cubes are inserted / removed by hand with ease. As data connection to PC, are used existing SATA ports and cables, one for each slot. The use of slots in this host unit might be standardized especially in case of a PC-Player. For example the most left might be the bootable one (used for the OS), second for mass storage, third - other uses, fourth - free for backup cubes. For the money you can get the full resolution PDF and the drawings under a regular copyright license. Here you can see/download a low resolution copy of the project.  Notice:  This project belong to a group of 3 projects (including this one) meant together to correct all the main vulnerabilities (from the hardware-reliability point of view) and deficiencies of desktop-PCs (and maybe not only of them), and bring them in to the 21-st century.  The 2 other projects are available for free and also listed at Side Projectors (are listed as "Showcase" but anyone is welcome to download them for free from the developer's website)  The full names of the 2 other projects are:  Power System with Battery Backup for Desktop PC Systems (ATX-UPS) Dust proof, fans based, cooling system for desktop PCs (XDust)