Nanobots Are One Step Closer
Microscopic repair machines have been a staple of science fiction for decades. Now that they have motors, they're one swim closer to reality.
Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, Metal Gear Solid and System Shock 2 have all relied on the idea of tiny machines(nanobots/nanites) that can alter the body's makeup at a microscopic level. The advancement of technology has already made microscopic electronics possible- the problem was getting the darn things to move.
Conventional electrical motors have a lower limit of the millimeter dimension where the resistance to movement becomes almost impossible to overcome. (Physicists can see a similar effect in surface tension [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/surten.html].)
Now, research reported in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering [http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/JMM] has demonstrated a motor about twice the size of a human hair. This latest research uses piezoelectric materials [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectric], which typically are crystals that expand and contract when voltage is applied to them.
Professor James Friend of the University of Monash [http://www.monash.edu.au/], Australia, has already produced work last year on a motor about the size of a grain of salt, but they were still linear motors (back and forth). To perform real movement, the motors need to be able to rotate.
This has been overcome by building a "screw" into the motor, so that a forward motion at the right time also rotates the motor, in a similar way that bacteria move with their tails.
The prototype "spinning motor" is only a quarter of a millimeter wide, 70% smaller than its nearest competitor.
Source: BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7837967.stm]
Permalink
Microscopic repair machines have been a staple of science fiction for decades. Now that they have motors, they're one swim closer to reality.
Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, Metal Gear Solid and System Shock 2 have all relied on the idea of tiny machines(nanobots/nanites) that can alter the body's makeup at a microscopic level. The advancement of technology has already made microscopic electronics possible- the problem was getting the darn things to move.
Conventional electrical motors have a lower limit of the millimeter dimension where the resistance to movement becomes almost impossible to overcome. (Physicists can see a similar effect in surface tension [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/surten.html].)
Now, research reported in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering [http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/JMM] has demonstrated a motor about twice the size of a human hair. This latest research uses piezoelectric materials [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectric], which typically are crystals that expand and contract when voltage is applied to them.
Professor James Friend of the University of Monash [http://www.monash.edu.au/], Australia, has already produced work last year on a motor about the size of a grain of salt, but they were still linear motors (back and forth). To perform real movement, the motors need to be able to rotate.
This has been overcome by building a "screw" into the motor, so that a forward motion at the right time also rotates the motor, in a similar way that bacteria move with their tails.
The prototype "spinning motor" is only a quarter of a millimeter wide, 70% smaller than its nearest competitor.
Source: BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7837967.stm]
Permalink
