3D printers have long ceased to be something out of the ordinary and have become quite a common thing. And afford it can afford, now practically everyone, because every year the device for three-dimensional printing cheaper. But, perhaps very soon we will be able to manage at all without these devices. Experts from the company SRI International presented microbots that can perform not only the function of a 3D printer, but have a number of other interesting features.
The microbots were called MicroFactory. They represent something like a colony of microscopic insects. Their workplace is organized is quite simple: the surface on which the robot generates a magnetic field, and the bots themselves tiny magnets. Specialized software turns on and off in different places of a platform a magnetic field governing the movement. Each robot has its own tools, designed to perform specialized tasks. For example, if you create a grid, the part of the robot will hold the design and another to build the bars, and the rest of the robots will apply the adhesive at the points of contact of vertical and horizontal surfaces. Robots that have served their purpose, move to “standby”, and have exhausted the supply of the working material, “go” for self-replenishment.
The main advantage is that MicroFactory, in contrast to 3D printers may use various materials when creating designs. The microrobots are also able to combine the Foundation with the finished components (resistors, LEDs, ICS, etc.) to the “output” was completely ready to use product. As stated by the chief engineer of the project, Annjo Wong-Foy,
“The MicroFactory system of robots can work together with traditional three-dimensional printers. Robots will build a sturdy frame, and the three-dimensional printer will create the body of the device. We consider MicroFactory as a Supplement to the three-dimensional printing technology. Such symbiosis of two different approaches will significantly expand the possibilities of modern production technologies”.
MicroFactory: miniature bots capable of replacing a 3D-printer
Vladimir Kuznetsov