Teeny, tiny 'bots

The drive to miniaturisation has been the backbone of pretty much every solid piece of technology you own, and everything is still getting smaller - mobile phones, computers, mini-skirts, and even robots. Researchers at the Sandia National

The drive to miniaturisation has been the backbone of pretty much every solid piece of technology you own, and everything is still getting smaller - mobile phones, computers, mini-skirts, and even robots. Researchers at the Sandia National Laboratories in the US have just unveiled the world's smallest autonomous robot. At one quarter of a cubic inch, we're not arguing.

The MARV (the cute name stands for Mini Autonomous Robot Vehicle) features an 8K ROM processor, heat sensor, and two motors that drive the caterpillar tracks that MARV uses to get about - at a whopping 20 inches per minute. Look at that little baby fly! Future models, which researchers hope will get even smaller, are hoped to feature cameras, comms equipment, and even chemical sniffers.

Battery life is the current bugbear of the project, with three watch batteries needed to keep the things going. Once that hurdle is crossed (hopefully at a speed faster than 20 inches per minute) Sandia staff envisage swarms of little MARVs completing search and rescue tasks, mine clearing, and even routine maintenance in hard to get at crawl spaces.

The Atomic staff have already put in an order for one gross of the little tykes, for dealing with those hard to get at itches that seem to be a symptom of sitting at a computer all day.
Sandia National Laboratories