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Georgia Tech's Ant-Sized Micro-Robots Move Through Vibration

posted by Fnord666 on Friday July 26 2019, @03:03AM   Printer-friendly
from the flea-power dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

The above image is a shot of Georgia Tech's latest robot posed next to a penny. The 3D-printed bot is roughly two millimeters in length — or about the size of the world's smallest ants, per the school. The tiny devices are designed to move using vibration from a variety of sources, ranging from ultrasound to more traditional speakers.

With the proper source, the bristles allow them to move four times their own size in roughly a second by moving the legs up and down. Different-sized legs react differently, responding to a variety of different frequencies. The actuators that generate the vibration are outside of the robot, however, as batteries small enough to be housed on their bodies simply don't exist.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/17/georgia-techs-ant-sized-micro-robots-move-through-vibration/

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  • (Score: 2) by NateMich on Friday July 26 2019, @05:08AM

    by NateMich (6662) on Friday July 26 2019, @05:08AM (#871332)

    That's not so much a robot as it is a small piece of material that (like other small inanimate things) moves around aimlessly when subjected to vibrations.

  • (Score: 2) by bart9h on Friday July 26 2019, @05:10AM

    by bart9h (767) on Friday July 26 2019, @05:10AM (#871335)

    This is just a fancier version of the Bristlebot [evilmadscientist.com] (video [youtube.com]).

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by black6host on Friday July 26 2019, @05:13AM (1 child)

    by black6host (3827) on Friday July 26 2019, @05:13AM (#871336) Journal

    I'm confused. Do the tiny robots move because whatever they're on is vibrating from sound waves (ultrasound, whatever)? If so, it wouldn't matter if there was a battery small enough as there would be no mechanical type contraption to power. Really, I read the article and I'm stymied as to how these really work.

    So, being a good Soylentil, I did a little more research and perhaps this will explain things to those such as myself:

    https://www.news.gatech.edu/2019/07/16/tiny-vibration-powered-robots-are-size-worlds-smallest-ant [gatech.edu]

    At least it has a bit more information...

    • (Score: 2) by black6host on Friday July 26 2019, @05:16AM

      by black6host (3827) on Friday July 26 2019, @05:16AM (#871338) Journal

      In all fairness, I must confess the reader may be left just as confused as I was : )

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