Computer graphic of a microvehicle with iron wheels (gold) and a polymer chassis (red). The vehicle measures just 0.25 millimetres long. (Visualisations: Alcāntara et al. Nature Communications 2020)
Computer graphic of a microvehicle with iron wheels ( gold ) and a polymer chassis ( red ). The vehicle measures just 0.25 millimetres long. (Visualisations: Alcāntara et al. Nature Communications 2020) - Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a technique for manufacturing micrometre-long machines by interlocking multiple materials in a complex way. Such microrobots will one day revolutionise the field of medicine. Robots so tiny that they can manoeuvre through our blood vessels and deliver medications to certain points in the body - researchers have been pursuing this goal for years. Now, scientists at ETH Zurich have succeeded for the first time in building such "micromachines" out of metal and plastic, in which these two materials are interlocked as closely as links in a chain.
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