Scientists in South Korea have unveiled swarms of tiny magnetic robots that mimic the collaborative strength of ants to achieve incredible tasks, from carrying heavy cargo to navigating complex environments.
These microrobots, described in a study published in the journal Device, could one day tackle challenges such as clearing clogged arteries or precisely guiding organisms.
The team, led by Jeong Jae Wie from Hanyang University in Seoul, developed the robots to operate under a rotating magnetic field, enabling them to work together in swarms. Their potential applications include minimally invasive medical treatments and other tasks in difficult-to-reach environments.
“The high adaptability of microrobot swarms to their surroundings and high autonomy level in swarm control were surprising,” Wie, a researcher in the Department of Organic and Nano Engineering, said in a recent statement.
Feats of Strength
Wie and his team tested how swarms with different configurations performed various tasks. One test showed a swarm of 1,000 microrobots forming a dense raft on water, enabling them to wrap around a pill weighing 2,000 times more than any robot. The swarm successfully transported the pill across liquid—a promising step toward drug delivery applications. A video of this performance can be seen here.
On dry land, the robots demonstrated similarly impressive feats. A swarm transported cargo 350 times heavier than an individual robot. Another swarm was able to unclog tubes designed to simulate blocked blood vessels. Further tests had the robot swarm drag an ant for some distance.
In another experiment, swarms configured with high aspect ratios climbed obstacles five times taller than a single robot’s body length and propelled themselves over barriers. The researchers even developed a system that allowed the microrobots to guide the movements of small organisms using spinning and orbital dragging motions.
Hellbound and Down 