Nanogram

Nanosoccer-the Lilliputian competition where computer-driven "nanobots" the size of dust mites challenge one another on fields no bigger than a grain of rice-will be a demonstration sport at RoboCup 2009.    The glass microschip on the left measures 3 cm across - slightly more than the diameter of the quarter on the right - and is divided into sixteen 2.5 mm by 2.5 mm nanosoccer playing fields.

 Viewed under a microscope, the soccer nanobots (200-300 µm in length) are operated by remote control and move in response to changing magnetic fields or electrical signals transmitted across the microchip arena. "Nanoscale" refers to their mass. The bots are a few tens of micrometers to a few hundred micrometers long, but their masses range from only a few nanograms to a few hundred nanograms. They are manufactured from materials such as aluminum, nickel, gold, silicon and chromium.

To win the Nanogram Demonstration, a nanobot must be fast, agile and capable of manipulating objects. These abilities are tested in three events: the Two-Millimeter Dash in which each nanobot seeks the best time for a goal-to-goal sprint across the playing field; the Slalom Drill where the path between goals is blocked by "defenders" (polymer posts); and the Shootout, a drill that requires robots to "dribble" as many "nanoballs" (silicon dioxide disks about the diameter of a human hair, 100 µm) as possible into the goal within a 3-minute period.