Tiny robots may revolutionize factories

17 Jun 2002

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute are studying a plan to market tiny robots to do precise factory jobs, such as assembling small electronic products like cameras and small computers in a factory the size of a tabletop. The plan transforms a traditional robot, which may weigh up to 150 pounds, into a machine one-tenth of that weight and 100 times as precise. The researchers say they hope to have the robotic factories perfected within six to eight years.

When operational, such miniaturized robotic factories offer enormous flexibility in response to manufacturing needs, Carnegie Mellon researcher Dr. Ralph Hollis explained. Hollis predicts a could be on-line in as little time as one week, giving manufacturers the edge over technological leaps."A designer of such a factory, for assembly of these kinds of products, could be located in one city and access robotic modules which are built by other manufacturers in other cities," Hollis said. Researchers at CMU Robotics Institute will present recent results of miniaturized robotic systems and related interconnectivity issues at Photonics East, 18-22 November 1996 in Boston, Massachusetts.