SRI International’s Magnetically Actuated Micro-Robots (via SRI)
While when you hear the term robotics, you may think of R2-D2 or self-propelled vacuum cleaners, the robotics engineers of today are developing all kinds of cool mechanical projects, including tiny robots that build tiny products.
SRI International is behind a new project, called Magnetically Actuated Micro-Robots (MAMR). Put simply, they are small robots designed to build small things on a small, yet rapid, scale. The tiny magnetized robots are roughly the size of an ant but what they lack in size they make up for in function.
The tiny bots can move at an astonishing 35 centimeters per second, the equivalent of a human running at Mach 1 speed, or 761.2 mph (at sea level). The tiny bots look no different than flat, square pieces of metal, but they can do everything from scaling walls to building complex structures.
The MAMRs are controlled by a central computer and sit atop magnetized printed circuit boards. In a recently released video, the micro bots went to work to build a 29cm-long cubic truss using metal, glue and ultraviolet light, which held up to 1kg of weight.
SRI International claims that thousands of micro-robots can be used at once to build small, complex structures. Each robot can be programmed to execute a different function and because they are controlled via magnets, there is no on-board power source required.
The PCBs were designed using SRI’s Diamagnetic Micro Manipulation technology. The robots themselves are designed using fairly inexpensive magnets, which are propelled across the circuit board electromagnetically. Theoretically, the bots can safely handle a wide range of materials, including electronics.
While the bots have not yet successfully tampered with electrical wiring, trials are currently being conducted to see just how useful these tiny tots can be to standard manufacturing processes.
The project was developed under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Open Manufacturing Program. The technology is open to other innovators, as a way to jointly develop a macro-scale process by which the tiny robots can change the way manufacturing is conducted.
Any organizations or universities interested in harnessing the technology may contact SRI International directly.
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