Catalog

Robotics and automation at small spatial scales have received increased interest as artificial devices and systems at the nano and micro-scales can achieve revolutionary advancements in such applications as biology, medicine, industry, micro-/nanotechnologies, and the environment. Micro and nanorobotic systems for the manipulation and assembly of small artificial or natural components will provide unprecedented knowledge and tools to incorporate them into electronic devices or mechanical structures. Micro and nanorobots interacting intimately with biological entities are expected to lead to new scientific understanding and to new agents for such fundamental tasks as the detection and treatment of disease.

Robotics and automation at small spatial scales raise new scientific challenges as phenomena at the micro and nanoscale are often markedly different from their macroscopic counterparts, and this has strong implications on robotic strategies, software, and hardware for manipulation, locomotion, sensing, control, automation, and intelligence. Micro and nanorobotics is a multidisciplinary field at the frontier of many different scientific domains, including physics, chemistry, material sciences, robotics, and control. Many questions remain open when the scale goes down to the micro and nanometer levels. We still lack precise models of the behavior of micro and nanorobots. Sensing remains a challenge when the spatial resolution or the force range drops. These highly dynamic and non-linear systems necessitate the development of specific control strategies. The fabrication of micrometer-sized robots is yet fully mastered. Here are only a few examples of open questions raised by robotics and automation at small spatial scales.

This TC will bring together scientists and engineers from different backgrounds and disciplines and will provide a set of opportunities to discuss open issues and imagine the next generation of robots for small spatial scales.

https://www.ieee-ras.org/micro-nano-robotics-and-automation