Nano Bot Soccer

Nano-bot soccer is currently one of the pioneering groups paving the way through the upcoming nano-frontier. "Nano soccer provides a fun way to road test the basic abilities that future nano robots will need to perorm useful work" (Craig McGray). Five teams from three nations competed at the first public RoboCup nanosoccer compeition in Atlanta. All of the events took place under a microscope, and included such categories as, the 2 millimeter dash, the obstacle course, and the ball handling drill. The technology that was developed just for these simple drills is not only amazing, but also will be the building blocks of more complicated nano-processes in a variety of fields. The potential in both medical and industrial fields is mind-blowing. In the future, it may be a clot it is handling, or a tumor it is destroying rather than a soccer ball, but what a novel idea to think that developments made through Nano-soccer are what’s making these leaps.

The tiny bots are six times smaller than an amoeba, and are controlled by electromagnetic fields. The game itself is played on a field the size of a grain of rice and the soccer ball is no wider than a human hair!

The field is 2500 by 1500 micrometers in size with goals about 900 micrometers. There are tiny electrodes that produce electric and magnetic fields to control the robots; these have 2 micrometer gaps between each prong, with a pitch of 30 micrometers, and run in a pattern around the perimeter of the rectangular plate.

These exciting break throughs are being made at a rapid pace because of the appeal that is brought to the table by making it a sport. It is a genius idea to take research technology and make it fun a competitive.

http://www.deviceguru.com/2008/09/22/get-ready-for-nanosoccer/

--andy