What is a Microrobot?
“Microrobot” is a sometimes vague term used to refer to small robots. Sometimes it has been used to refer to robots smaller than a millimeter on a side, but has been used as a name for any unusually small robot. Microrobotics is a field in its infancy, but carries huge potential for the future. As a recent example of achievments in microrobotics, South Korean researchers have already demonstrated a six-legged microrobot less than a millimeter in size, small enough to travel through arteries. This robot can release drugs that unblock clogged arteries, which could help stop heart attacks. It is currently in the prototype phase. The possibility of microrobotics was first analyzed in the 1970s by scientists doing classified research for the intelligence agencies of the US government. At the time, the necessary miniaturization technologies to build an actual microrobot did not exist, so the studies were merely theoretical for some time. In November 1987, roboticist Anita M. Flynn published
