MIT successfully built robots just as small as a human cell

Connect 2D electronics (graphene and transition metal) with ultra-small particles, equipping it with photovoltaic semiconductor diodes, scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Successfully built a robot that can power itself without a battery just as small as a human egg cell.

To demonstrate the ability to test biological samples, the team dripped some of the solution containing this tiny robot onto a leaf, then used a laser to determine its exact location.

This light-to-electricity conversion system helps generate enough energy to keep the environment sensor as well as the information storage unit on the robot running stably. The expert team said the tiny robot system would be useful in reaching areas where humans or other machines could not, such as pipes or human bodies.

Basically, robots will enter one end and exit at the other end. Upon completion of the task, information obtained from sensors on the body of the device can be used to copy and analyze. In the oil and gas industry, robots are expected to help leak detection or problems within the pipeline, thus saving a significant amount of money for this as it is today.

As for the human body, when it comes to organs in the body like the digestive system, robots can search for and detect signs of inflammation or other problems, thereby giving an accurate diagnosis of patient's condition.