NIST Presents Clash of the Microbots

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in collaboration with IEEE, is inviting teams currently engaged in microrobotic, microelectronic, or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) research to participate in the NIST Mobile Microrobotics Challenge 2011. The competition will be held as part of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, to be held May 9-13, 2011 in Shanghai.

Viewed under a microscope, microbots are operated by remote control and move in response to changing magnetic fields or electrical signals transmitted to a microchip operating environment. Manufactured from materials such as aluminum, nickel, gold, silicon, and chromium, the microbots measure a few tens of micrometers to a few hundred micrometers long and have masses that can range from less than a milligram down to a few nanograms.

The Mobile Microrobotics Challenge 2011 will pit tiny robotic contestants against each other in two events: a mobility challenge in which microrobots will be required to navigate a planar maze with the diameter of a pin head and a microassembly challenge in which contestants must put together multiple microscale components in a narrow channel to simulate the workings of a medical microbot in a blood vessel. These events are designed to test microbots agility, maneuverability, response to computer control, and ability to move objects--skills that future industrial microbots will need to perform such tasks as microsurgery.

NIST's goal in coordinating these competitions is to demonstrate the feasibility and accessibility of technologies for fabricating MEMS--tiny mechanical devices built onto semiconductor chips. The contests are also intended to drive innovation in the new field of robotics by inspiring young scientists and engineers to become involved.