Inside Job

Minuscule robots travelling along our arteries to transport drugs or fix blockages from the inside might seem like science-fiction, but progress in miniature robotics is making it increasingly plausible. Pictured on the edge of a coin, this tiny crab is the world’s smallest remote-controlled walking robot, only half a millimetre wide. Inspired by pop-up books, the robot is made from a sophisticated layered plastic sheet, cut and bent into a 3D form. Over the legs is a metal alloy, which springs back into shape when heated; precisely heating the legs with a laser beam flips them between folded and flat positions, causing the crab to quickly scuttle along in specific directions. Still a long way from versions capable of swimming in the bloodstream, more immediately achievable goals include incorporating electronic circuits, and using the robots to repair machinery in cramped spaces – small (sideways) steps towards a new form of medicine.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

Website

• Image from work by Mengdi Han, Xiaogang Guo and Xuexian Chen, and colleagues
• Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Published in Science Robotics, May 2022