Robotics in the small: Part II : Nanorobotics

Nanorobotics is the study of robotics at the nanometer scale, and includes robots that are nanoscale in size, i.e., nanorobots (which have yet to be realized), and large robots capable of manipulating objects that have dimensions in the nanoscale range with nanometer resolution, i.e., nanorobotic manipulators. Knowledge from mesoscopic physics, mesoscopic/supramolecular chemistry, and molecular biology at the nanometer scale converges to form the field. Various disciplines contribute to nanorobotics, including nanomaterial synthesis, nanobiotechnology, and microscopy for imaging and characterization. Such topics as self-assembly, nanorobotic assembly, and hybrid nanomanufacturing approaches for assembling nano building blocks into structures, tools, sensors, and actuators are considered areas of nanorobotic study. A current focus of nanorobotics is on the fabrication of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), which may serve as components for future nanorobots. The main goals of nanorobotics are to provide effective tools for the experimental exploration of the nanoworld, and to push the boundaries of this exploration from a robotics research perspective.