Until now, most microrobots could only crawl across a single flat surface, limiting what they could accomplish.
By Shula Rosen
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed microscopic robots that can climb over tiny obstacles, move between floors, walls and ceilings, and transport living bacteria—an advance that could one day help perform delicate medical and laboratory tasks inside spaces too small for conventional machines.
The robots are extraordinarily small, measuring about the size of a single cell. Because they are far too tiny to carry motors or batteries, scientists control them from the outside using magnetic and electric fields.
Until now, most microrobots could only crawl across a single flat surface, limiting what they could accomplish.
The new system allows them to move through much more complex environments, navigating between different surfaces and around obstacles instead of remaining confined to one plane.
In laboratory tests, the robots climbed microscopic walls, crossed elevated platforms, and followed predetermined routes. The researchers also demonstrated that the robots could pick up live E. coli bacteria, carry them over obstacles, and release them at a specific destination without harming the cells.
The breakthrough could expand the use of microrobots in biomedical research and medicine. Scientists envision future versions transporting cells or drugs to precise locations, assembling microscopic structures, or carrying out tasks inside “lab-on-a-chip” devices that perform complex biological experiments on a tiny scale.
The system relies on two different external forces working together. Magnetic fields control the robots’ direction and allow them to lift and roll between surfaces, while electric fields propel them forward and enable them to grasp and release microscopic cargo.
The research, led by doctoral student Ido Rachbuch, Dr. Sinwook Park, and Prof. Gilad Yossifon of Tel Aviv University’s Schools of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, was published in Nature Communications.
“The challenge in microrobotics is not only moving tiny robots but navigating them in a controlled way and giving them freedom to operate in complex environments,” Yossifon said. He said the ability to move through multiple layers rather than a single flat surface opens new possibilities for biomedical engineering and future generations of microrobotic systems.
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