I just found this news item at
http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2001/minirobot.htm
Would you even notice if this crawled under your doorstep one night, sidled
along the edge of the wall and lurked in the corner watching and listening?
It's not nanotech, but it is probably the tiniest autonomous robot yet. They
say that space for the batteries is the factor limiting the ultimate size at
present. See link above for full details and pictures.
BillK
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - What may be the world's smallest robot - it "turns on a
dime and parks on a nickel" - is being developed by researchers at the
Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories.
At 1/4 cubic inch and weighing less than an ounce, it is possibly the
smallest autonomous untethered robot ever created. Powered by three watch
batteries, it rides on track wheels and consists of an 8K ROM processor,
temperature sensor, and two motors that drive the wheels. Enhancements being
considered include a miniature camera, microphone, communication device, and
chemical micro-sensor.
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