World’s smallest remote-controlled robots are smaller than a flea
- Reference: 1653635727
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/05/27/worlds_smallest_remotecontrolled_robots_are/
- Source link:
In a paper published in the journal [1]Science Robotics , the boffins said they had in mind applications like minimally invasive surgery or manipulation of cells or tissue in biological research.
With a round tick-like body and 10 protruding legs, the smaller-than-a-flea robot crab can bend, twist, crawl, walk, turn and even jump. The machines can move at an average speed of half their body length per second - a huge challenge at such a small scale, said the boffins.
[2]
The machines move using thermal actuation.
[3]
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“A balance of forces associated with a one-way shape memory alloy and the elastic resilience of an encapsulating shell provides the basis for reversible deformations of these structures,” wrote the boffins, describing the design that allows it to straighten when heated and bend when cooled. The heat is applied remotely through a laser then dissipates quickly thanks to the robots' small size.
[5]Youtube Video
[6]
The machines also lack batteries, servos and other electronics, keeping its weight tiny. That feature also make them terrifyingly undetectable to human senses.
[7]Boston Dynamics' latest robot is a warehouse workhorse
[8]Worried about being replaced by a robot? Become a physicist
[9]At 9 for every 100 workers, robots are rife in Singapore – so we decided to visit them
[10]Watch it go: World's smallest self-folding origami bird that reminds us we were promised nanobots at some point
“Because these structures are so tiny, the rate of cooling is very fast. In fact, reducing the sizes of these robots allows them to run faster,” lead researcher and nano fabrication expert John Rogers explained to his Northwestern University’s [11]news page .
Rogers called the crab-like feature of the design “a creative whim.” Its manufacturing, however, was inspired by childhood pop-up books. In this “pop-up assembly method,” fabricated precursors are bonded to stretched rubber substrate that when relaxed buckles and pops up into a 3D form.
In addition to the flea-sized crab-bots, researchers also developed millimeter-sized robots resembling inchworms, crickets and beetles. They also are currently without an application, other than perhaps nightmares, and adding to humanity's store of knowledge.
“These collective advances in materials, manufacturing, actuation, and sensing add to a growing body of capabilities in this emerging field of technology,” said the researchers. ®
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[1] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.abn0602
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YpChRfYYS9CiYugMVtpmUQAAAEY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YpChRfYYS9CiYugMVtpmUQAAAEY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YpChRfYYS9CiYugMVtpmUQAAAEY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IP7jptXjgQ
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YpChRfYYS9CiYugMVtpmUQAAAEY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/02/boston_dynamics_robot_stretch/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/30/jobs_automation_risk/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/05/singapore_robot_holiday/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/19/self_folding_nanotechnology/
[11] https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/05/tiny-robotic-crab-is-smallest-ever-remote-controlled-walking-robot/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: "The heat is applied remotely through a laser"
Kind of negates the "terrifyingly undetectable to human senses" aspect.
Re: "The heat is applied remotely through a laser"
On the todo list:*
Tweak the laser to be non visible and have a beam width no larger than the device.
Add a retro-reflector with shutter to allow information to be coded into the returning beam.
Add a camera
If it wasn't creepy enough before...
*TLA organisations everywhere
Re: "The heat is applied remotely through a laser"
"Stay perfectly still as we adjust the laser(s) to make our robot(s) walk into your crevice(s) at the rate of 0.25mm/second."
That'll go over well at the surgery ... Presumably they will offer free psychological counseling after each treatment?
And how are they made to move after they are in said crevice(s), out of range of the laser? Endoscope? If so, why bother with the robots?
Re: "The heat is applied remotely through a laser"
If the tech is mature you always can find use for it. Need of a laser beam is a limited factor for sure. But the size of workers/tools is a serious advantage. How about all things dental for example?
Boffin?
I stopped reading when this word appeared as presumably the story was borrowed from a tabloid newspaper.
Re: Boffin?
You're new here aren't you?
We hold our boffins in high regard.
Do you expect me to talk, Goldfinger?
No, Mr Bond, I expect to power up your pubic crabs!
Imagine
The gripping terror in the microrganisms encountering human creations from the robocop universe…
People get paid to do this?
I'm in the wrong job!
"The heat is applied remotely through a laser"
So, does that mean that, for this to work, you have to be bathed in laser beams ?
Do sniper scopes apply ?