Meet tiny MilliDelta bot set to join league of microsurgeons

Another tiny robot is gearing up to join the ranks of microsurgeons, but this one is small enough to fit in your coin purse.

The MilliDelta bot which is inspired by pop-up books and origami, measures just mere millimetres, when unfolded (roughly the size of a one cent coin). But, even at that scale, the miniature helper packs flexible joints and bending, piezoelectric actuators that allow it to work with force, precision, and high speed.

Read also: Humans will have a ‘robot second self’ in 20 years, Microsoft experts claim

Its creators (from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) claim it can perform a range of microsurgery and manufacturing tasks in compact spaces.

Unlike existing Delta robots, which scientists have been shrinking down for workspace use for years, the new bot is a swift operator.

“Currently available Delta robots are only able to operate at a few hertz,” said Hayley McClintock, a Harvard researcher who helped design the device. “So for our robot to be able to draw circles at frequencies up to 75 Hz is quite impressive.”

 

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