About the Nanowalker project:
In actual nanotechnology applications the small sample that is to be manipulated or observed is brought to the - usually - big and bulky machine which will perform the desired task: this is usually done by a user, and requires long times in term of preparation and operation, thus limits drastically the throughput of the process.

The core idea behind the NanoWalker project of the NanoRobotics Laboratory of the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal (EPM), in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is to break with tradition. From now on, the instruments are to be brought to the samples in the form of miniature wireless instrumented robots called "NanoWalkers". With the NanoWalker robot approach, instrumentations and throughput requirements can be adjusted extremely fast by simply adding, replacing, or removing robots at will.

The laboratory's team has set its objective to develop the first version of this NanoWalker robot. With approximative dimensions of 30mm x 30mm, it will be equipped with a Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM) to help it in its conquest of the infinitely small.