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Can we get batteries that are small enough and powerful enough to do it? This example is powered by lasers, it looks like they have to shoot a laser first at th

Can we get batteries that are small enough and powerful enough to do it? This example is powered by lasers, it looks like they have to shoot a laser first at the front legs then again at the back legs in order to get it to walk. If we are able to shoot a laser at the robot walking on the tumor without damaging the surrounding tissue, why not just shoot it at the tumor?

giantrobot 6y ago
They could be powered by little rectennas, think RFID tag. Hit the bots with a radio frequency and it indict a charge and they power on and do their thing. Turn the radio off and they go inert. So they could be injected into a tumor and powered by an external radio source. In they're only powered by light a fiber optic filament could be injected in the activation site. So long as the light passes through enough tissue to power them you don't need to stick a halogen bulb up someone's butt.
- polishdude20 6y ago
  Hard to do that when the antenna size is correlated with the frequency you can use. Tiny micro bots would need really high frequency signals
  - groby_b 6y ago
    Gamma rays would work well. We can keep the existing radiation treatment equipment. /sarcasm
    - giantrobot 6y ago
      Your cancer is gone...but don't get angry. Like ever.
  - giantrobot 6y ago
    A tuned antenna is correlated to frequency, a shitty antenna can be any size. In a microscopic robot needing likely µA of current an untuned antenna could be sufficient for power. But that's me speculating, I don't know how to power an injectable micro robot. If I did the link might have been about me! RF might be completely inappropriate for power.
ridgeguy 6y ago
Could alternate laser colors: green for front legs, red for back. Tailoring molecules for specific wavelength response is old tech.
jb775 6y ago
I'd think somehow turning heat energy into power would be ideal since human bodies naturally produce and regulate heat. Or maybe some sort of chemical breakdown where the energy could be relayed as a power source.
- Nasrudith 6y ago
  That would make it worse not better as thr temperature differential is the power source. Something which binds to and cracks blood sugars would be closer in terms of exploiting bodily resources for the task but would still have many challenges at that scale.
TeMPOraL 6y ago
Maybe let's bite the bullet and try chemical power? Natural nanobots (cells) work fine powering themselves off ATP, so why couldn't human-designed ones?

giantrobot 6y ago

They could be powered by little rectennas, think RFID tag. Hit the bots with a radio frequency and it indict a charge and they power on and do their thing. Turn the radio off and they go inert. So they could be injected into a tumor and powered by an external radio source. In they're only powered by light a fiber optic filament could be injected in the activation site. So long as the light passes through enough tissue to power them you don't need to stick a halogen bulb up someone's butt.

polishdude20 6y ago
Hard to do that when the antenna size is correlated with the frequency you can use. Tiny micro bots would need really high frequency signals
- groby_b 6y ago
  Gamma rays would work well. We can keep the existing radiation treatment equipment. /sarcasm
  - giantrobot 6y ago
    Your cancer is gone...but don't get angry. Like ever.
- giantrobot 6y ago
  A tuned antenna is correlated to frequency, a shitty antenna can be any size. In a microscopic robot needing likely µA of current an untuned antenna could be sufficient for power. But that's me speculating, I don't know how to power an injectable micro robot. If I did the link might have been about me! RF might be completely inappropriate for power.

ridgeguy 6y ago

Could alternate laser colors: green for front legs, red for back. Tailoring molecules for specific wavelength response is old tech.

jb775 6y ago

I'd think somehow turning heat energy into power would be ideal since human bodies naturally produce and regulate heat. Or maybe some sort of chemical breakdown where the energy could be relayed as a power source.

Nasrudith 6y ago
That would make it worse not better as thr temperature differential is the power source. Something which binds to and cracks blood sugars would be closer in terms of exploiting bodily resources for the task but would still have many challenges at that scale.

TeMPOraL 6y ago

Maybe let's bite the bullet and try chemical power? Natural nanobots (cells) work fine powering themselves off ATP, so why couldn't human-designed ones?