Swarms, which stem from collective behaviors among individual elements, are commonly seen in nature. Since two decades ago, scientists have been attempting to understand the principles of natural swarms and leverage them for creating artificial swarms. To date, the underlying physics; techniques for actuation, navigation, and control; field-generation systems; and a research community are now in place. This Review reviews the fundamental principles and applications of micro/nanorobotic swarms. The generation mechanisms of the emergent collective behaviors among the micro/nanoagents identified over the past two decades are elucidated. The advantages and drawbacks of different techniques, existing control systems, major challenges, and potential prospects of micro/nanorobotic swarms are discussed.
Keywords: biomedical applications; collective behaviors; microengineering; micromanipulation; microrobotics; nanoengineering; nanorobotics; robotics; swarm behaviors; swarm control.