German scientists have created a steerable jet-powered submarine under 1mm across.

Compared with 16m coin, is the 0.8 x 0.8 x 0.14mm submarine

The sub has been built by the Chemnitz University of Technology and consists of two tubular engines, one on either side of a flat body. It swims in its own mono-propellant fuel – a solution of hydrogen peroxide.

Heating a catalyst inside the engines causes the peroxide to break down into water and oxygen, the latter of which bubbles from the rear generating thrust.

Electrical power for heating is inductively coupled into a receiving coil on the submarine, and differential control of energy between the two engines alters their thrust balance for steering.

TUChemnitz-micro-jet-subThe structures made made from polymer membranes, rolled into tubes for the engines. “Construction is mechanically highly flexible, and it enables the inclusion of electronic components and controllable actuators,” according to the university. “At the final stages, the team made a thin layer of a thermo-responsive polymer and introduced it as an actuator at one end of the micro-robotic system. It is possible to open and close this micro-arm in order to grab and release tiny objects. In addition, the robot has a light source.”

The Nature Electronics paper ‘A flexible microsystem capable of controlled motion and actuation by wireless power transfer‘ describes the summarine and the construction of its engines was first mooted in the 2011 Chemical Society Reviews paper ‘Rolled-up nanotech on polymers: from basic perception to self-propelled catalytic microengines‘.

“Almost ten years ago, my team and I came up with the idea to combine tiny chemical nozzle drives with microelectronic components,” said Professor Dr Oliver Schmidt. “It is wonderful to see that this idea has come to fruition.”

Chemnitz University of Technology worked with IFW Dresden, the Technical University of Dresden and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun.

There is a video of the submarine in action