Nanorobots with pollen grains, computer artwork. Nanorobots is a term used to describe future microscopic robots that could have a wide range of uses. The design of these nanorobots is based on that of a flying insect like a wasp. They would be able to land on the pollen grains (spiky balls) and use their needle tips to inject a liquid (here blue) from their bodies. This could modify the resulting plants that formed from the grains of pollen. The nanorobots would use their wings to glide through the air. Pollen grains vary widely in size, from hundreds of microns (thousandths of a millimetre) to less than 10 microns across.