Exploring Nano-Robotic Technology

Since the Computer Age, researchers have striven to make all components smaller. For example, the transistor started as large vacuum tubes originally used for phone line amplification in 1947. Since then, miniaturization steps have made transistors as small as 45 nm. Furthermore, materials that have certain properties in bulk have vastly different properties in the nano-scale. With constant new miniature electronics and novel nano-materials, scientists are experimenting with radical new designs for nano-scale automation. Nano-robots have been imagined doing almost all the tedious tasks of the future; from a nano-suit that constantly grows with the user to nano-synthesis of complex objects. Although there are some obviously ridiculous ideas in science fiction regarding nano-robots, there has been much advancement of the nano-robotics field in the areas of biochips, DNA robots, nano-motors, and a conceptual nanocar. Nano-robotics holds huge promise in future applications but with the current technological limits, usable nano-robots administered by doctors for care or a nano-factory designed by engineers are still science fiction.

2. BACKGROUND

Nano-robotics attempts to create machines that perform repetitive tasks at the nano-scale. The advantage of nano-robots over their bulk counterparts is their scale; 10-9 meters, which allows for a large amount of bots to take up only a small amount of volume. Also known as nanobots, nanoids, nanites, or nanomites, these robots are generally tasked in working in large groups to perform a specific function. The nano-robots mentioned may not be robots as thought of in the macro-scale, but can be a man-made collection of materials that perform a tedious function that cannot be done by humans. T...

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... which oversees nano-robotic development. Despite the concerns, there is much potential for the improvement of society through nanobots that the upsides of development outweigh the downsides.

10. CONCLUSION

Nano-robotic technology has not caught up to the imagination of fiction writers. There are no autonomous nanobots, no miracle cures for cancer involving robot swimming in your blood vessels. Instead there are parts of future nano-robots which have been created: several viable propulsion options, nano-diagnostic arrays, and a cheap readily available base material. The unique properties of nano-scale materials allow for novel uses in nanobots and could lead to a viable nanobot. The need to create smaller robots for more specialized procedures and therapies has led to innovation in the nano-scale. While no such nanobot currently, one may exist in the near future.