{"data":{"id":19,"lang":"en","title":"Scientists Create World's Smallest Autonomous Robots That Can Think and Swim on Their Own","summary":"Penn and Michigan researchers create grain-of-salt-sized robots with onboard computers that can swim, sense, and act autonomously for months.","category":"science","category_label":"Science","published_at":"2026-01-22T02:02:02Z","updated_at":"2026-01-22T02:02:02Z","url":"https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/19-scientists-create-world-s-smallest-autonomous-robots-that-can-think-and-swim-on","api_url":"https://techtools.cz/news-api/v1/articles/19?lang=en","markdown_url":"https://techtools.cz/news-api/v1/articles/19.md?lang=en","image_url":"https://www.seas.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/botOverPenny-1-1024x683.jpg","word_count":164,"reading_time_minutes":1,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.seas.upenn.edu/stories/penn-and-umich-create-worlds-smallest-programmable-autonomous-robots/","domain":"seas.upenn.edu"},{"url":"https://news.umich.edu/worlds-smallest-programmable-robots-perform-tasks/","domain":"news.umich.edu"},{"url":"https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260105165815.htm","domain":"sciencedaily.com"}],"translation":null,"content":"Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan have built the world's smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots—microscopic swimming machines that can independently sense their environment and operate for months at just a penny each.\n\nEach robot measures about 200 by 300 by 50 micrometers, smaller than a grain of salt. Powered entirely by light and equipped with tiny onboard computers, they swim by manipulating electric fields rather than using moving parts. The devices can detect temperature changes to within a third of a degree Celsius, follow programmed paths, and work together in coordinated groups.\n\nThe key breakthrough: this is the first time researchers have put a true computer—processor, memory, and sensors—into a robot this small. The team had to run the robot's program on just 75 nanowatts of power, 100,000 times less than a smartwatch requires. Unlike previous tiny machines that relied on wires, magnetic fields, or external controls, these robots are the first truly autonomous at microscale."}}