Keynote
In person
LeadersGoldDiscovery

Microscopic robots: Building machines smaller than a cell

  • Date
    8 July 2026
    Timeframe
    10:00 - 10:20
    Duration
    20 minutes
    • Days
      Hours
      Min
      Sec

    Nature routinely makes smart, complex, yet microscopically tiny machines. But how can humans do it for ourselves? And how would medicine or manufacturing be different if we succeeded? This talk is about building microscopic robots, those too small to see with the naked eye. By co-opting semiconductor technology, I’ll show how to build memory, sensing, computing, actuation, power, and communication systems into a single robot that can fit snugly in a paramecium. Using its on-board circuits, each microrobot can carry out useful, autonomous behaviors like temperature reporting and gradient climbing without additional instructions or supervision. When manufactured, each robot costs under a penny, inviting incredible new ways to heal and monitor the body with single cell precision.

    Are you sure you want to remove this speaker?