The miniature robots were created by embedding small magnetic particles into materials that are harmless to humans. — Photos: NTU SINGAPOREScientists here have developed robots the size of a grain of rice that can perform complex manoeuvres, paving the way for their possible use in fields such as medicine, including brain surgery.
This means that the new robots may be used to reach confined and enclosed spaces currently inaccessible to existing robots. The demonstration showed that the robots are able to negotiate barriers easily, an ability that is highly desirable for applications such as surgical procedures for difficult-to-reach vital organs.
The scientists also tested a gripper robot that was able to assemble a 3D structure in less than five minutes.The team said this has potential manufacturing applications as the robots could be used in micro-factories that build microscale devices in future.