Login With Google
Microbots
Why is it in news?
- Recently, Mr. Miskin, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania took silicon chip of 100 microns size and provided the exoskeleton for the robot arms, the actuators on chip making robot of size of a cell or dust.
More in news
- Applications:(1) To rejuvenate cell phone batteries.(2) Boost to neural science- by burrowing into the brain to measure nerve signals.(3) To test new ideas in networking and communications.
- How it works?(1) Mr. Miskin developed technique to put layers of platinum and titanium on a silicon wafer.(2) When an electrical voltage is applied, the platinum contracts while the titanium remains rigid, and the flat surface bends.(3) The bending became the motor that moves the limbs of the robots, each about 100 atoms thick.
- Not new idea: Researchers like Kris Pister of the University of California, Berkeley, have for decades talked of “smart dust,” minuscule sensors that could report on conditions in the environment.
- Laser charging:(1) Mr. Miskin used lasers instead of batteries to power the robots.(2) This super-small robot can be control by shining light on it. These robots run on a fraction of a volt and consume only 10 billionths of a watt.
Source
The Hindu