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Robotics

A microscopic robot with onboard closed-loop control

A microscopic robot with onboard closed-loop control

Researchers in the School of Engineering and Applied Science fabricated a chip with photovoltaic cells for power, temperature sensors, control circuits for electrokinetic actuators, and an optical receiver for communication and programming, as well as processing and memory.

The world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots
A microscopic robot on a U.S. penny for scale.

A microrobot on a U.S. penny for scale.

(Image: Michael Simari, University of Michigan)

The world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots

Engineers at Penn Engineering have created robots barely visible to the naked eye that operate without tethers, magnetic fields or joystick-like controls.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read