Duke University scientists have developed the first implementation of an untethered, multi-microrobotic system.

The microrobots are almost 100 times smaller than any previous robotic designs of their kind, measuring about 60 microns wide, 250 microns long and 10 microns high, and run off power scavenged from an electrified surface.

Built with microchip fabrication techniques, they are each designed to respond differently to the same single “global control signal” as voltages charge and discharge on their working parts.

This global control is akin to ways proteins in cells respond to chemical signals.