What's that new music to scientists' ears? Tech that makes tiny bots less sticky.
Scientists hold great hopes for microbots--tiny robots that, when working in concert, could have a wide range of medical and commercial applications. But a major research hurdle remains if we're ever going to be able to conduct an orchestra of microbots. We need to figure out how to control them.
A major problem is adhesion--the tendency for little bots to stick together, as Jason Gorman, a robotics researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology told Technology Review. Researchers have been trying to figure out ways to overcome microbot stickiness, mostly by experimenting with magnetic fields. Using this method, researchers have been able to get the microbots to do some impressive work--navigating blood vessels, for instance, of moving around on the surface of a dime. But still, the techniques weren't good enough, demanding intricate equipment.
Scientists hold great hopes for microbots--tiny robots that, when working in concert, could have a wide range of medical and commercial applications. But a major research hurdle remains if we're ever going to be able to conduct an orchestra of microbots. We need to figure out how to control them.
A major problem is adhesion--the tendency for little bots to stick together, as Jason Gorman, a robotics researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology told Technology Review. Researchers have been trying to figure out ways to overcome microbot stickiness, mostly by experimenting with magnetic fields. Using this method, researchers have been able to get the microbots to do some impressive work--navigating blood vessels, for instance, of moving around on the surface of a dime. But still, the techniques weren't good enough, demanding intricate equipment.
- 4/29/2011
- by David Zax
- Fast Company
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