Mini robots can turn on a dime and park on a nickel

From 1997-1999 the Intelligent Systems & Robotics Center (ISRC) teamed with the Microsystems Science, Technology and Components Center to develop miniature mobile robots. The ultimate goal of the project was to develop a 1/4 cubic inch mobile robot that could deploy a Sandia developed micro-sensor. The results of this effort were several prototype miniature robotic vehicles. The first, shown below, was designed using commercial printed circuit board processes and off-the-shelf integrated circuits. This robot is approximately 1/2 cubic inch in volume and is capable of detecting and avoiding obstacles via an infrared sensor. This robot is also capable of communicating with other robots with an infrared communications link.

Successive iterations of the robot in Figure 2 evolved into the robot in the press release. Improvements include an improved mobility mechanism (tracks), and a different layout of the electronics. The robot body shown in Figure 2 incorporates an infrared sensor, which was removed from the version in the press release to save space.

Press Release and other articles:

http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2001/minirobot.htm
http://www.time.com/time/2001/inventions/robots/