Gnat Robots (And How They Will Change Robotics)

TLDR: In this article, the authors proposed a new concept of a gnat-sized autonomous robot with on-board sensors, brains, actuators and power supplies, all fabricated on a single piece of silicon.

Abstract: A new concept in mobile robots is proposed, namely that of a gnat-sized autonomous robot with on-board sensors, brains, actuators and power supplies, all fabricated on a single piece of silicon. Recent breakthroughs in computer architectures for intelligent robots, sensor integration algorithms and micromachining techniques for building onchip micromotors, combined with the ever decreasing size of integrated logic, sensors and power circuitry have led to the possibility of a new generation of mobile robots which will vastly change the way we think about robotics. Forget about today's first generation robots: costly, bulky machines with parts acquired from many different vendors. What will appear will be cheap, mass produced, slimmed down, integrated robots that need no maintenance, no spare parts and no special care. The cost advantages of these robots will create new worlds of applications. Gnat robots will offer a new approach in using automation technology. We will begin to think in terms of massive parallelism: using millions of simple, cheap, gnat robots in place of one large complicated robot. Furthermore, disposable robots will even become realistic. This paper outlines how to build gnat robots. It discusses the technology thrusts that will be required for developing such machines and sets forth some strategies for design. A close look is taken at the tradeoffs involved in choosing components of the system: locomiotion options, power sources, types of sensors and architectures for intelligence. A.I. Laboratory Working Papers are produced for internal circulation, and may contain information that is, for example, too preliminary or too detailed for formal publication. It is not intended that they should be considered papers to which reference can be made in the literature. 1 Where Did All The Robots Go? If you've been keeping up with your reading of Time magazine or watching of the Saturday morning cartoons, you were probably disappointed last Christmas when you didn't get a robot that did the dishes, washed the windows and swept the floors. Where did all the robots go? We've become conditioned to believe that soon robot-helpers would be permeating our society, but it hasn't turned out that way. Why don't we see more robots in everyday life? The main reason is money. Robot technology is very expensive for the level of intelligence attainable. Many hard problems need to be solved in sensory perception and intelligent control before robots will achieve higher levels of competence. No market exists today for such costly machines of limited capabilities. Therefore I propose that we work on building very cheap robots with the capabilities we can produce now and then see what happens later, much the same way as when microprocessors were first introduced (as video games, etc.). What makes robots expensive? Mobile robots today contain mostly motors and batteries while all the sensors and computers come in a very tiny package. The battery-motor system has a certain runaway characteristic. Big motors tend to need big batteries which weigh down the chassis, so larger motors are called for, which require heftier batteries ... and on and on it goes. Meanwhile, all the intelligence and sensing mechanisms fit onto a few square inches of silicon. Mobile robots that are used as sensor platforms, exploration robots or sentries, as opposed to heavy lift arm-type robots, pay especially heavy penalties for carrying around large loads of motors and batteries. If mobile robots are half motors and batteries, what takes up the other half of the physical space? The answer is connectors: power connectors, signal connectors, bus interfaces whatever it takes to hook up one vendor's computer to another vendor's motor to another vendor's sensor to yet another vendor's battery. All these interfaces between parts from various suppliers mean added cost and complexity and the assurance of the necessity of planning for spare parts and maintenance during the lifetime of the robot. Due to mass production and integrated circuit technology, processors and many types of sensors have declined in both price and size over the past few years while motors and batteries have enjoyed no such benefits and remain the most costly and bulky components of a robot system. In order to minimize the size and cost of a robot, we propose to use ever smaller and lighter motors and batteries until we find a limit for building the smallest robots possible. Recent advances in silicon micromachining technology have brought about the appearance of micromechanical motors. These motors are on the order of a few hundreds of microns in diameter and are actually etched on-chip [2,301. One might question the usefulness of such tiny motors, but if all we wanted to do was to locomote the chip on which they were fabricated, then we would have a system in which the motors were of the same scale as the sensors and processors. Putting an entire robot system on-chip would allow for mass production using IC fabrication technology and costs would