A microrobot is a miniaturized, sophisticated machine designed to perform a specific task or tasks repeatedly and with precision.

Microrobots typically have dimensions ranging from a fraction of a millimeter up to several millimeters.

A microrobot, like its larger and smaller cousins, the robot and the nanorobot, can be either autonomous or insect-like.

An autonomous microrobot contains its own on-board computer, which controls the machine and allows it to operate independently.

The insect scheme is more common for microrobots. In an insect-microrobot arrangement, the machine is one of a fleet of several, or many, identical units that are all controlled by a single, central computer.

The term "insect" comes from the fact that such robots behave like ants in an anthill or bees in a hive.