Nanorobotics is the technology of creating machines or robots at or close to the microscopic scale of a nanometres (10^-9 metres). More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the still largely hypothetical nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots. Nanorobots (nanobots, nanoids or nanites) would be typically devices ranging in size from 0.1-10 micrometers and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components. As no artificial non-biological nanorobots have so far been created, they remain a hypothetical concept at this time. For other uses, see robot (disambiguation). ... A nanometre (American spelling: nanometer, symbol nm) (Greek: νάνος, nanos, dwarf; μετρώ, metrό, count) is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a metre (or one millionth of a millimetre), which is the current SI base unit of length. ... This article is about the unit of length. ... Buckminsterfullerene C60, also known as the buckyball, is the simplest of the carbon structures known as fullerenes. ...

Another definition sometimes used is a robot which allows precision interactions with nanoscale objects, or can manipulate with nanoscale resolution. Following this definition even a large apparatus such as an atomic force microscope can be considered a nanorobotic instrument when configured to perform nanomanipulation. Also, macroscale robots or microrobots which can move with nanoscale precision can also be considered nanorobots. Topographic scan of a glass surface The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a very high-resolution type of scanning probe microscope, with demonstrated resolution of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit. ...

Nanomachines are largely in the research-and-development phase, but some primitive molecular machines have been tested. An example is a sensor having a switch approximately 1.5 nanometers across, capable of counting specific molecules in a chemical sample. The first useful applications of nanomachines, if such are ever built, might be in medical technology, where they might be used to identify cancer cells and destroy them. Another potential application is the detection of toxic chemicals, and the measurement of their concentrations, in the environment. Recently, Rice University has demonstrated a single-molecule car which is developed by a chemical process and includes buckyballs for wheels. It is actuated by controlling the environmental temperature and by positioning a scanning tunneling microscope tip. Basic nanomachines are also in use in other areas. Nanotechnology coatings are already being used to make clothing with stain-resistant fibers and are used on swim suits to repel water, reduce friction with the water, and allow swimmers to go faster. Nanotech powders are being used to create high-performance sun-screen lotions and nanoparticles are helping to deliver drugs to targeted tissues in the body. ... Lovett Hall William Marsh Rice University (commonly called Rice University and opened in 1912 as The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters, Science and Art) is a private, comprehensive research university located in Houston, Texas, USA, near the Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. ... Space-filling model of the nanocar on a surface The nanocar is a molecule designed in 2005 at Rice University in the group of Professor James Tour. ... Fullerene C540 Fullerenes are one of only 3 types of naturally occurring forms of carbon (the other two being diamond and graphite). ... Image of reconstruction on a clean Au(100) surface. ...

Nanorobotics theory

Since nanorobots would be microscopic in size, it would probably be necessary for very large numbers of them to work together to perform macroscopic tasks. These nanorobot swarms, both those which are incapable of replication (as in utility fog) and those which are capable of unconstrained replication in the natural environment (as in grey goo and its less common variants), are found in many science fiction stories, such as the Borg nanoprobes in Star Trek, nanogenes in the Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child", nanites in "I, Robot", "Stargate SG1" and nanobots in Red Dwarf. The T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day may be another example of a nanorobot swarm. The word "nanobot" (also "nanite", "nanogene", or "nanoant") is often used to indicate this fictional context and is an informal or even pejorative term to refer to the engineering concept of nanorobots. The word nanorobot is the correct technical term in the nonfictional context of serious engineering studies. A simple form of machine self-replication A self-replicating machine is an artificial construct that is capable of autonomously manufacturing a copy of itself using simpler components or raw materials taken from its environment. ... Visualization of foglet with arms retracted and extended Diagram of a 100-micrometer foglet Utility fog is a hypothetical collection of tiny robots, envisioned by Dr. John Storrs Hall while he was thinking about a nanotechnological replacement for car seatbelts. ... Grey goo is a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all living matter on Earth while building more of themselves (a scenario known as ecophagy). ... Look up Borg in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Nanoprobes are a fictional technological device from the Star Trek TV series, most commonly used by the race known as the Borg as a method for assimilation of individual people into their collective. ... This article is about the entire Star Trek franchise. ... This is a list of items from the BBC television series Doctor Who. ... This article is about the television series. ... I, Robot is a collection of nine English language science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. ... Stargate SG-1 Cast Stargate SG-1 is a television series based upon the 1994 science fiction movie Stargate. ... T-1000 in police disguise The T-1000 (Advanced Prototype Terminator Infiltrator Series 1 Model 1A Type 1000) is a fictional android assassin, featured as the main antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. ... Terminator 2: Judgment Day (commonly abbreviated T2) is a 1991 movie directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Robert Patrick. ... This is a list of references and appearances of Nanotechnology in works of fiction. ...

Some proponents of nanorobotics, in reaction to the grey goo scare scenarios that they earlier helped to propagate, hold the view that nanorobots capable of replication outside of a restricted factory environment do not form a necessary part of a purported productive nanotechnology, and that the process of self-replication, if it were ever to be developed, could be made inherently safe. They further assert that free-foraging replicators are in fact absent from their current plans for developing and using molecular manufacturing. Grey goo is a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all living matter on Earth while building more of themselves (a scenario known as ecophagy). ...

In such plans, future medical nanotechnology has been posited to employ nanorobots injected into the patient to perform treatment on a cellular level. Such nanorobots intended for use in medicine are posited to be non-replicating, as replication would needlessly increase device complexity, reduce reliability, and interfere with the medical mission. Instead, medical nanorobots are posited to be manufactured in hypothetical, carefully controlled nanofactories in which nanoscale machines would be solidly integrated into a supposed desktop-scale machine that would build macroscopic products. Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology and related research. ... A nanofactory is a proposed system in which nanomachines (resembling molecular assemblers, or industrial robot arms) would combine reactive molecules via mechanosynthesis to build larger atomically precise parts. ...

The most detailed discussions of nanorobotics, including specific design issues such as sensing, power communication, navigation, manipulation, locomotion, and onboard computation, have been presented in the medical context of nanomedicine by Robert Freitas. Although much of these discussions remain at the level of unbuildable generality and do not approach the level of detailed engineering, the Nanofactory Collaboration^[1], founded by Robert Freitas and Ralph Merkle in 2000, is a focused ongoing effort involving 23 researchers from 10 organizations and 4 countries that is developing a practical research agenda^[2] specifically aimed at developing positionally-controlled diamond mechanosynthesis and a diamondoid nanofactory that would be capable of building diamondoid medical nanorobots. Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. ... Robert A. Freitas Jr. ... Robert A. Freitas Jr. ... Ralph C. Merkle (born 2 February 1952) is a pioneer in public key cryptography, and more recently a researcher and speaker on molecular nanotechnology and cryonics. ...

Nubot

Main article: DNA machine

Nubot is an abbreviation for "Nucleic Acid Robots." Nubots are synthetic robotics devices at the nanoscale. Representative nubots include the several DNA walkers reported by Ned Seeman's group at NYU, Niles Pierce's group at Caltech, John Reif's group at Duke University, Chengde Mao's group at Purdue, and Andrew Turberfield's group at the University of Oxford. The idea of using DNA as a material for molecular-scale construction of objects and devices was pioneered in the late 1980s by Nadrian Seeman and co-workers from New York University. ...

Nanobots in fiction

Main article: Nanotechnology in fiction

Nanobots have been a recurring theme in many science-fiction novels and movies, such as the 2004 release I, Robot and the 2003 release Agent Cody Banks This is a list of references and appearances of Nanotechnology in works of fiction. ... For the song from The Rocky Horror Show, see Science Fiction/Double Feature. ...

Potential Applications

• Early diagnosis and targeted drug delivery for cancer^[3][4][5].
• Biomedical instrumentation^[6].
• Surgery^[7][8].
• Pharmacokinetics^[9].
• Diabetes^[10][11][12].

References

Bibliography

• K. Eric Drexler, Engines of Creation, ISBN 0-385-19973-2.

See also

• Bio-nano generator

External links

Robotics Portal

• NanoRobotics Laboratory - EPM
• Carnegie Mellon NanoRobotics Lab
• Molecular Robotics Overview
• Nanorobotics in Medicine, by Freitas
• Medical Nanorobotics
• Nanorobotics Control Simulation - CAN
• Nanorobotics - Info Center ETHZ
• Rice University - NanoCar
• Multi-Scale Robotics Lab - ETH Zurich
• A Review in Nanorobotics - US Department of Energy