Challis Hodge’s UXblog

A Chiang Mai University team has developed a motor so small it will power a microscopic robot on an expedition through human blood vessels.

Boffins at the university’s science faculty describe their invention as a “nanomotor”. It will drive a medical robot about the size of a blood cell on a tour of the maze of human veins and capillaries.

A “nanobot” - or nanotechnology robot - developed at Kent State University in Ohio, United States will be powered by a motor made of an extremely fine and pure ceramic created at Chiang Mai University.

In addition to powering the nanobot, the piezoceramic - also known as “smart ceramics” - motor will navigate the machine on its exploration for such things as tiny tumours in internal organs.

It is remote controlled by either low-voltage electric current or microwaves, explains head researcher Assoc Prof Supon Ananta.

A device that automatically moves electrodes through the brain to seek out the strongest signals promises to overcome loss of electrode sensitivity and help people who are paralyzed or unable to communicate.

The researchers say that within a year they expect to be able to fit a paralyzed person with an “autonomous microdrive” implant that will allow them to control a computer cursor and navigate the web. New Scientist

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are aiming to create biologically inspired “roboflies” — tiny, inexpensive, quick-moving robots they can send into space for planetary exploration. Imagine swarms of inexpensive robots seeking out life in other galaxies. The concept is simple really, just as schooling fish and flocking birds have evolved to take advantage of the increased odds of survival so too would the robots. Of course there are the usual military applications as well. Check the Roboflies out here.