The authors present a critical survey of some representative technologies which are candidates for the development of microactuators for microrobots. Since the field of 'microrobotics' is an entirely new one, some concepts and definitions are given first; in particular, a distinction between 'micromachines' and 'microrobots' is proposed. Then, a further classification is proposed between three different types of robots: the 'miniature' robot, the 'microrobot' and the 'nanorobot', and their expected performances and fields of applications are discussed. The need for developing dedicated miniature actuators and microactuators emerges clearly from this discussion, together with the main requirements for this class of 'new' actuators. Finally, some significant examples of implementation of microactuators are illustrated, and the main advantages and limitations of each technology are discussed.

ARchaeological RObot systems for the World's Seas (ARROWS) EU Project proposes to adapt and develop low-cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technologies to significantly reduce the cost of archaeological operations, covering the full extent of archaeological campaign. ARROWS methodology is to identify the archaeologists requirements in all phases of the campaign and to propose related technological solutions. Starting from the necessities identified by archaeological project partners in collaboration with the Archaeology Advisory Group, a board composed of European archaeologists from outside ARROWS, the aim is the development of a heterogeneous team of cooperating AUVs capable of comply with a complete archaeological autonomous mission. Three new different AUVs have been designed in the framework of the project according to the archaeologists' indications: MARTA, characterized by a strong hardware modularity for ease of payload and propulsion systems configuration change; U-CAT, a turtle inspired bio-mimetic robot devoted to shipwreck penetration and A Size AUV, a vehicle of small dimensions and weight easily deployable even by a single person. These three vehicles will cooperate within the project with AUVs already owned by ARROWS partners exploiting a distributed high-level control software based on the World Model Service (WMS), a storage system for the environment knowledge, updated in real-time through online payload data process, in the form of an ontology. The project includes also the development of a cleaning tool for well-known artifacts maintenance operations. The paper presents the current stage of the project that will lead to overall system final demonstrations, during Summer 2015, in two different scenarios, Sicily (Italy) and Baltic Sea (Estonia).

Although silicon planar technology has generated the field of micromechanics, it has been realized that this technology has intrinsic limitations for the fabrication of truly so micromechanisms. A number of alternative technologies based either on silicon or on different materials are presently investigated in order to overcome the limitations of planar silicon technology. This paper outlines the motivations for developing new microfabrication technologies, especially those that are considered as 'non-traditional' in the microelectronics domain, and the perspectives offered by this approach for fabricating miniature, micro and nanodevices. Four representative 'non-traditional' technologies are considered. LIGA process, micro electro-discharge machining (EDM), micro stereo lithography, and the combination of biological and artificial microfabricated structures ('hybrid' technologies).

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The work function of solid layers of increasing thicknesses of E2M8− sapphyrin, deposited on a gold substrate by the Langmuir–Blodgett method, has been measured by the Kelvin-probe technique. The results show that the contact-potential-difference values depend upon the layer thickness, reaching saturation after a certain amount of deposited sapphyrin. Scanning tunneling microscope images taken at the same coverages show that corresponding with this threshold, sapphyrin forms a true continuous layer on gold, completely covering the substrate. Evolution of the layer towards its completion is accompanied by a continuous variation of the work-function value, consistent with an increasing dipole term due to the interaction of sapphyrin with the metal substrate.