It has been said many times that a picture is worth a thousand
words. If this is true, then it stands to reason that a video is
worth even more. I recently came across two videos that amply
demonstrate this point. Moreover, they all point to
extraordinary progress being made in the field of miniature
robotics and hint to the longer-term potential of nanotechnology
-- the science of manipulating matter at the atomic and
molecular level. The first clip (opens a file) comes from a
small start-up company, Biorobots LLC, which is working with the
University of Florida and Case Western University to develop a
flying robot that can be hand-launched. If the robot falls short
of the target or if it needs to check out a new area, it can
then simply crawl to the next location. A complementary video
quite vividly demonstrates how such small robots might also be
made to climb over walls and other obstacles. For some time,
I've had a difficult time envisioning how iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT )
and others might be able to develop