Micro-robot uses laser pulses to move thru the body

Fantastic Voyage, the 1966 film about a miniature submarine swimming through the human blood stream, continues to inspire innovation for that experience.  Here, Cornell University engineers have designed a micro-robot smaller than a paramecium that moves through an artery by light propulsion.  “The legs are made of strips of platinum just a few dozen atoms thick, with a layer of inert titanium on one side and polymer panels along the top. To make the bots walk, lasers are flashed onto the photovoltaics on the body, which send a positive electric charge streaming into the platinum. That causes negative ions from the surrounding solution to cling to the exposed platinum between the polymer panels and make it bend like a knee. By alternating the lasers between the front and back legs, the robots can crawl.”        MORE WITH VIDEO

Image Credit:  newsatlas.com and Cornell University