Born to be Viral: Micro-robot carries heavy glass bead

MacGregor Campbell, consultant

Just because you're small doesn't mean you can't be strong. These micro-robots are half a millimeter wide but they can push around objects four times their own weight (see video above).

To create the plucky bots, Igor Aronson of the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois suspended tiny magnetic particles between two layers of fluid that don't mix. When an alternating magnetic field was applied perpendicular to the boundary of the liquids, he found that the particles self-assembled to create tiny, worm-like robots. They could be moved around by applying a second, smaller magnetic field parallel to the plane.

Aronson and his team were able to manipulate the magnetic fields to make the robots behave like a pair of tweezers. As seen in this video, they can grasp and transport a glass bead almost four times their weight.

The team also found that the bots come in two types, which is determined by the direction they move in a magnetic field. By coaxing two opposing pairs to assemble, a square shape that can trap smaller particles is formed. The device exerts more force than a laser and could lead to new micro-manufacturing techniques.

For more tiny robots in action, check out this swimming microbot.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/1745ccc1/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cnstv0C20A110C0A80Cborn0Eto0Ebe0Eviral0Emicro0Erobot0Ecarries0Eheavy0Eglass0Ebead0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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