US EditionTiny Autonomous Robots Solve 40-Year Robotics Challenge
Microrobots about 210-340 micrometers wide autonomously sense temperature, decide, and navigate using onboard computing and sensors, costing roughly one cent each, researchers said.
- A Science Robotics paper dated December 15, 2025 shows researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan built sub-millimeter autonomous robots with onboard processors and sensors.
- Existing microbots typically require large external control systems like magnets and lasers and cannot make autonomous decisions, but the University of Michigan microcomputer team used Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor fabrication to move computing onto the robot's body.
- Measuring about 200 by 300 by 50 micrometers and about 210 to 270 micrometers wide, the robots use solar panels yielding over 100,000 times less power than a smart watch and passed 56 trials autonomously.
- Costing about a US penny each, the robots operate for months and have a unique address to monitor individual cells or aid microscale manufacturing.
- Researchers still aim for a fully integrated wireless locomotion system that doesn't rely on an external light source, cautioning much work remains before clinical deployment with more complex programs and new sensors.
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20 Articles
Penn and UMich create 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. Barely visible to the naked eye, the robots are smaller than grains of salt and could advance medicine, manufacturing and more.
Scientists from the United States created the world’s smallest autonomous and programmable robot. Its size prevented it from being seen in the naked eye. It worked with solar power for several months and cost less than $0.01 per unit. The advance expanded the scope of robotics in medicine and industrial processes. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan presented the technology in Science Robotics and in PN…
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