Monday, February 02, 2026

World's Smallest Programmable, Autonomous Robots

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan have created 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.

Posted by lamplighter at 09:31 PM | 6 COMMENTS | permalink

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The world's smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots have debuted at the University of Pennsylvania, sporting a brain developed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The microscopic swimming machines [ ... ]

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-- Tech-News (@technology-news.bsky.social) Dec 26, 2025 at 2:50 AM

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More from the article ...

... Barely visible to the naked eye, each robot measures about 200 by 300 by 50 micrometers, smaller than a grain of salt.

Operating at the scale of many biological microorganisms, the robots could advance medicine by monitoring the health of individual cells and manufacturing by helping construct microscale devices.

Powered by light, the robots carry microscopic computers and can be programmed to move in complex patterns, sense local temperatures and adjust their paths accordingly.

Described in Science Robotics and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the robots operate without tethers, magnetic fields or joystick-like control from the outside, making them the first truly autonomous, programmable robots at this scale. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-02-02 12:09 AM


#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-02-02 12:10 AM

Nanobots have been a fixture at Tufts secret military research for 20 years.

#3 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-02-02 06:10 PM

I can never think about nanobots without thinking of Michael Crichton's book, "Prey." It was one of the creepiest things I ever read.

#4 | Posted by cbob at 2026-02-03 06:31 AM

As an old man I do think about the world after my passing, but truth be told, I think I may have lived through humanity's heyday...the 1950-1965 years, when life was fairly simple, the air was cleaner, the water less polluted, and hope was in the air.
You give powerful military powers independent thinking drones that can control a battlefield and a city, you give people like Trump addicted to power and who are without conscience...and yeah, nanobots should creep us out.

#5 | Posted by Hughmass at 2026-02-03 06:50 AM

Something Wicked This Way Comes..

"Prey" is an excellent Sci Fi tale about Nanobots that escape the lab. Very similar to what might happen if a deadly virus escapes a lab. Only worse. Another way man has come up with that can cause his own extinction.

It's an excellent cautionary tale about the hubris of man and the dangers of advanced technologies in the hands of incompetent and greedy humans.

Unfortunately. We have a lot of incompetent and greedy humans in our government right now and an ignorant incompetent criminally negligent wannabe dictator at helm. A bad harbinger of the wicked things to come.

#6 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-02-03 11:02 AM

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