posted on Feb, 12 2005 @ 12:01 AM
The idea of recharging in an electrical field is a good one. If the robots skin was made up of thousands of micro-magnetic switches, you might be
able to utilize the field indirectly. If the switches are highly sensitive, and surrounded by charge, they should bounce back and forth, repelling
and attracting each other. You might be able to derive power simply from their friction with internal components, or through 'ratchet' molecules
and a central dynamo.
Or, you could use thermal-energy panels to utilize the heat being put off by internal functions, and the environment. They already have solar panels
that utilize heat, why not micro panels to power micro robots?