This tiny Penn-made robot snagged a Guinness World Record

While hovering at the Pennovation Center, the University of Pennsylvania’s tech-transfer hub in Grays Ferry, a quarter-sized robot made its way into the Guinness World Records.

“Piccolissimo” is a 3D-printed robot created by grad student Matt Piccoli of Penn’s ModLab, which was recently recognized by Guinness as the “World’s Smallest Self-Powered Flying Robot.”

Piccolissimo comes in two sizes, the smallest of which weighs less than 2.5 grams and is about the width of a quarter at 39 millimeters.

The robot consists of just two parts: a propeller and the “body” of the robot, which is able to carry up to a gram of payload.

“The body spins around 40 times per second, while the propeller spins about 800 times per second,” Piccoli said in a Medium article from Penn Engineering.

The tiny robot is able to carry a small camera or sensor, and might be of help for remote monitoring or to obtain data in an easy way. Or, let’s hope not, something more sinister.