A group of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) devised the world’s smallest robots, which are the same size as cells but are able to sense their environment, store data and perform computational tasks.
According to the US site Engadget, these micro-robots can be used in oil and gas pipelines to verify leaks and can be released into the air to sense harmful products, or even in the human digestive tract for early detection of diseases.
“We wanted to discover ways to vaccinate whole electronic circuits intact on microparticles
so they could access environments and travel in ways other substances could not,” said Michael Strano of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Instead of focusing on mobility, such as previous research efforts, the current group has made its robots more efficient, self-powered, using a small optical device that provides electricity to robot circuits to allow computing and memory storage. Each small robot has very small sensors, .