When physics rules robotics

Fundamental issues that arise as robots become much larger or much smaller than everyday human scale are outlined. Specifically, such issues are opportunities provided by and restrictions imposed by the basic laws of physics as they relate to things like the strength of materials, the interla and external motions of structures, the energy requirements associated with their basal metabolisms, the mechanical work they do, the energy they dissipate to friction, and the work they do. These basic, physical laws include concerns for the energy cost and signal range of communication and the relationship between the size of an antenna and the efficiency with which it couples to the environment at any particular communication frequency. All of these issues are discussed mostly from the biological perspective.