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Researchers at Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created the smallest robots that could detect their environment, store data, and even perform computer tasks.
are about the size of a human egg, consisting of tiny electronic circuits made of two-dimensional materials that carry tiny particles called colloids on their shoulders.
According to MIT, colloids, which are insoluble particles or molecules from a billionth to a millionth of a foot in diameter, are so small that they can remain indefinitely suspended in a liquid or even in the air.
By coupling these small objects into complex circuits, the researchers hope to lay the foundations of the devices. that could be dispersed for making diagnostic trips through something, from the system "We wanted to discover methods for grafting complete and intact electronic circuits onto colloidal particles," says Michael. Strano, professor of chemical engineering at Carbon C. Dubbs at MIT and lead author of the study, which was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology .
"Colloids can access environments and travel in ways that other materials can not," says Strano.Dust particles, for example, can float indefinitely in the air because they are small enough that the random motions imparted by the colliding air molecules are stronger than gravitational attraction, and colloids suspended in the liquid do not occur. will never install.
Researchers design self-powered robots the size of human cells https://t.co/TCumqpvMVD pic.twitter.com/5xXe5o0apf
– TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) ] July 24, 2018
Strano points out that while other groups have been working on the creation of similar small robotic devices, their focus has been on developing ways to control motion, for example, reproducing flagella resembling the tail that some microbial organisms use to propel themselves . But Strano suggests that this may not be the most successful approach, since flagella and other cell movement systems are used primarily for positioning at the local scale, rather than for a important movement. In most cases, making these devices more functional is more important than making them mobile, he adds .
The tiny robots manufactured by the MIT team are self-powered and do not require an external power source or internal batteries . A single photodiode provides the electrical net that tiny robot circuits need to power their computer and memory circuits. This is enough to allow them to feel the information about their environment, store this data in their memory, and then read the data after fulfilling their mission .
says Strano for the oil and gas industry. At present, the main way to check for leaks or other problems in the pipes is to physically drive a team along the pipeline and inspect it. with expensive instruments. In principle, the new devices could be inserted at one end of the pipeline, taken with the flow, and then removed at the other end, providing a record of the conditions encountered on the road, including the presence of contaminants that might indicate
Similarly, such particles could potentially be used for diagnostic purposes in the body, for example, to cross the digestive tract to detect signs of inflammation or other signs of disease, for example. Researchers.
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