Small robots aren't anything new, from DARPA's insect-sized disaster relief bots to diminutive inchworms powered by humidity. Now, though, researchers at MIT have likely created the smallest robots, yet: Microscopic, cell-sized electronic circuits ma...
Look at this house. It looks a bit old and dilapidated, but it is the world’s smallest house. It measures a scant 300 x 300 micrometers, which means it’s too tiny for even a dust mite to make it into the door.
It was built by the nanorobotics team from the Femto-ST Institute in Besancon, France. The building of the tiniest house ever was to show off their µRobotex nanofactory. The construction was completed inside a vacuum chamber and required a process almost surgical in execution.
The team used a focused ion bean like scissors to cut a silica membrane. Once cut, a gas injection system was used to stick the edges of the structure in place. This project is the first time that the team was able to realize patterning and assembly with less than 2 nanometers of accuracy. This might be just the place for Antman to hang out when he’s really, really small.
[via Geek.com]