the leading provider of innovative solutions based on MEMS
(micro-electro-mechanical systems) technology, announced today it is
the breeding ground for the future champion of the Robocup soccer
competition. Using MUMPs manufacturing and prototyping services, many
participants to the Nanogram competition have manufactured their
robotic structures for this very special soccer competition.
The Robocup championships that takes place in Atlanta,
Georgia, brings together 1,700 robot researchers and 300 robot teams
from 33 countries that confront each other on a 2.5mm square field of
play. The goals measure 900 micrometers wide by 500 micrometers deep,
while the robots (players) measure a few tens of micrometers to a few
hundred micrometers in their largest dimension and have masses ranging
from a few nanograms to a few hundred nanograms.
This contest of a nano-kind consist of three compulsory
exercises, the 2 Millimeter Dash, where each microrobot must sprint
across the playing field from one goal to the other, the Slalom Drill,
where the path between goals is blocked by inanimate "defenders" that
the micro-robot must avoid as it races between the goals, and the
Ball-Handling Drill, which requires the micro-robot to dribble as many
balls as possible into the goal within a 3-minute time period, while
avoiding inanimate "defenders" in the field.
The successful manufacture of these fleets of the tiniest
robots ever was made possible through MEMSCAP MUMPs program, and
"MUMPs is the US Naval Academy manufacturer for our team to
the Robocup Competition". "We have chosen MUMPs services because we
wanted to have the best quality in order to build a reliable winning
team with strong and tireless players" explains Professor Samara
Firebaugh, from the US Naval Academy. "MEMSCAP was the obvious partner
for the sophisticated processing facilities we needed."
MUMPs is the ultimate platform for proof-of-concept
fabrication. The longest running and most renowned multi-user program
for MEMS manufacturing in the world, MUMPs(R) uses standard yet
diversified process technologies that serve universities, laboratories,
companies and researchers. Its versatile possibilities adapt to endless
features, devices, and applications. The service's low cost allows
researchers with the smallest budgets to realize their ideas.
"Behind this 'sport'contest lies a bigger challenge for
tomorrows lives improvement and preservation, and this why we were
happy to contribute to building those robots teams" says states Ron
Wages, General Manager of MEMSCAP custom products business unit.