Nov 10th 2012, 16:31:38
Self-Assembling Swarms of Microrobots
Using an electrical signal to tell a swarm of microrobots to self-assemble into a desired structure has been demonstrated by researchers. The “artificial ant” won’t be far behind.
Herding Swarms of Microrobots – [technologyreview.com]
Imagine a swarm of microrobots—tiny devices a few hair widths across—swimming through your blood vessels and repairing damage, or zipping around in computer chips as a security lock, or quickly knitting together heart tissue. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, Dartmouth College, and Duke University have shown how to use a single electrical signal to command a group of microrobots to self-assemble into larger structures. The researchers hope to use this method to build biological tissues. But for microrobots to do anything like that, researchers must first figure out a good way to control them.
Using an electrical signal to tell a swarm of microrobots to self-assemble into a desired structure has been demonstrated by researchers. The “artificial ant” won’t be far behind.
Herding Swarms of Microrobots – [technologyreview.com]
Imagine a swarm of microrobots—tiny devices a few hair widths across—swimming through your blood vessels and repairing damage, or zipping around in computer chips as a security lock, or quickly knitting together heart tissue. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, Dartmouth College, and Duke University have shown how to use a single electrical signal to command a group of microrobots to self-assemble into larger structures. The researchers hope to use this method to build biological tissues. But for microrobots to do anything like that, researchers must first figure out a good way to control them.