University of Pennsylvania researchers built sub‑millimeter robots equipped with sensors, a motor and an onboard computer, powered by tiny solar cells. The devices, described by Marc Miskin and team, can navigate fluids via electric‑field propulsion, sense their environment, and perform basic decision making; the group envisions future biomedical applications inside the body. Each robot measures under one millimeter and can rotate and translate using an engineered electric field; manufacturing yields are high and cost per unit is reported under a penny. The team is working on coordination behaviors and expanding functional capabilities for more complex tasks. While medical deployment remains long‑term and must clear safety and delivery challenges, the platform demonstrates scalable fabrication of autonomous microscale machines that combine sensing, actuation and computation.