SRI International is behind a new project, called Magnetically Actuated Micro-Robots (MAMR). The tiny magnetized robots are roughly the size of an ant but what they lack in size they make up for in function.

The tiny bots can move at an astonishing 35 centimeters per second, the equivalent of a human running at Mach 1 speed, or 761.2 mph (at sea level). The tiny bots look no different than flat, square pieces of metal, but they can do everything from scaling walls to building complex structures.

The MAMRs are controlled by a central computer and sit atop magnetized printed circuit boards. The robots themselves are designed using fairly inexpensive magnets, which are propelled across the circuit board electromagnetically.

Via Element 14.