Monday, February 02, 2026
World’s Smallest Programmable, Autonomous Robots
There are some interesting goings on at UPenn/UMich. They have created small autonomous mobile robots sized at 200 by 300 by 50 microns. There is an onboard CPU, solar panels and a propulsion system. Admittedly it is a press release based article but the claim is: "the world’s smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots: microscopic swimming machines that can independently sense and respond to their surroundings, operate for months and cost just a penny each"
This is innovative stuff - and an interesting read.