Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!cat.cis.Brown.EDU!agate!library.ucla.edu!csulb.edu!csus.edu!netcom.com!nagle
From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle)
Subject: Re: Chip robots...why havn't we seen them yet?
Message-ID: <nagleCuJF8H.Gxw@netcom.com>
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References: <32k06g$3kg@orion.cc.andrews.edu>
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Date: Sun, 14 Aug 1994 18:26:41 GMT
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freeman@andrews.edu (Todd Freeman) writes:
>I have a question here that I am confused about. I have seen the
>advances in chip technology, and I know that you can have a chip with a
>pretty good CPU, some memory and driver circuits. Why
>doesn't someone make one that has, instead of pins, a button battery
>holder on the back. The pins are really nitinol wire.
 
      The "Stiquito" robot is a step in that direction.

      But what's the volume application that would justify tooling up
to make a large number of crawling IC-like things?

      Power is, as usual, a problem.  Nitinol is very inefficient; most
of the energy goes to heating the wire, not producing mechanical motion.
Really tiny motors will probably be electrostatic or piezeoelectric.
Both of those technologies work well in very small scales.

					John Nagle
