Engineers say the robot is so tiny it’s barely visible, yet it can independently “sense, think, and act.”
According to the team, the device is the smallest programmable robot ever made that can move on its own through fluid, reducing the size of earlier designs by about 10,000 times.
The First Tiny Device with a Full Computer
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan report that no previous device this small has ever contained a full computer, complete with a processor, memory, sensors, and a propulsion system.
The microscopic device is smaller than a freckle—about the size of a grain of salt—and tiny enough to rest on the ridge of a fingerprint.
It’s barely visible at all, measuring just 200 by 300 micrometers and only 50 micrometers thick.
When set on a penny, the microrobot is smaller than the coin’s engraved date.
Blink, and it could disappear.
Despite its tiny size, the design shows enormous promise.
Its developers say the fully programmable robot—designed to operate only in liquid—can move, sense its environment, perform actions, and compute using solar cells that produce just about 100 nanowatts of power.
Microrobot Communicates Environmental Data Through “Dance” Signals
The device can even detect the temperature of the surrounding fluid and relay that information through a small “dance,” much like how honeybees communicate.
“This is really just the beginning,” says Marc Miskin, a nanorobotics engineer at the University of Pennsylvania.
“We’ve demonstrated that it’s possible to fit a brain, sensor, and motor into something nearly invisible, and have it survive and function for months,” he explains.
“With that foundation in place, we can add layers of intelligence and capability. It opens the door to an entirely new era of microscale robotics.”
Until recently, the smallest self-directed, programmable robots measured over a millimeter, a milestone reached more than twenty years ago.
Miniaturizing robots further hit a key obstacle: at the micrometer scale, drag and viscosity dominate over gravity and momentum.
“At that size, trying to push against water is like trying to move through syrup,” Miskin explains.
Mini Computer Meets Innovative Propulsion
The advance became possible by merging two modern innovations: a tiny computer created by researchers at the University of Michigan and a custom propulsion method developed at the University of Pennsylvania.
This propulsion approach uses no moving components. The microrobot lacks arms or legs, which are hard to make at that scale and prone to failure.
Rather than mechanical motion, the system produces an electric field that drives surrounding molecules to flow around the robot.
“It’s similar to the robot floating in a current—except the robot itself is generating that current,” says Miskin.
According to David Blaauw, a computer scientist at the University of Michigan, fitting a computer onto something so small demanded a complete redesign of both programming methods and semiconductor circuitry
The outcome is a microrobot developed over five years that can coordinate with its peers, forming dynamic, organized swarms reminiscent of fish schools.
Swarms Could Operate Months on LED-Powered Solar Energy
In principle, these swarms could function independently for months, as long as the robots receive power from LED light through their solar panels.
The research team expects future upgrades to expand the robots’ memory, enabling more advanced programs and complex autonomous actions.
Someday, a microscopic device like this could potentially act as a protector of our body’s cellular well-being.
From tiny robots, enormous possibilities may emerge.
Read the original article on: Sciencealert
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