IEEE RAS Micro/Nano Robotics & Automation (MNRA) TC

Mobile Microrobotics Challenge 2013

Call for Participants

September 26th, 2012

The IEEE Robotics & Automations Society (RAS) Micro/Nano Robotics & Automation Technical Committee (MNRA) invites applications to participate in the 2013 Mobile Microrobotics Challenge, in which microrobots on the order of the diameter of a human hair face off in tests of autonomy and mobility.

Dates and Location

The 2013 Mobile Microrobotics Challenge will be held in Karlsruhe, Germany as part of the ICRA Robot Challenges at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. The conference will be held on May 6-10, 2013.

Competition Events

All robots entered in the competition must be no bigger than 600 micrometers in their largest dimension and must be able to operate without the direct connection of wires (i.e., untethered operation.) The competition will consist of two events structured to test each microrobot’s speed, agility, and ability to manipulate small objects.

Autonomous Mobility Challenge: Microrobots are required to autonomously navigate a planar maze in the shape of a figure eight.

Microassembly Challenge: Microrobots must assemble multiple microscale components inside a narrow channel. This task simulates anticipated applications of microassembly, including manipulation within a human blood vessel and the assembly of components in nanomanufacturing. Multiple cooperating microrobots will be allowed.

Competition rules are available on-line at: ngs.uta.edu//mmc/rules.pdf

Application To Participate

To apply to the NIST Mobile Microrobotics Challenge, submit a short proposal by December 15th, 2012. The proposal may be submitted by electronic mail to RAS_MMC_Organizers@googlegroups.com.

The proposal must identify:

1. The individuals contributing to the team.

2. E-mail, telephone, and postal contact information for one individual who will serve as a Primary Contact.

3. The facilities available for fabrication, operation, and characterization of microrobots.

4. An overview of the microrobot design.

5. An overview of the intended capabilities of the microrobot.

6. An overview of the fabrication process to be used.

The purpose of the proposal is to convince the contest organizers that the team has a credible plan for bringing operational microrobots to the competition. Proposals will not be shared beyond the conference organizers before the competition without express permission of the Primary Contact.