Nano Quest was name of the 2006-07 challenge theme of FIRST Lego League

FIRST Lego League

The FIRST® LEGO® League is an international competition organized by FIRST for elementary and middle school students ....

. It revolved around the emerging field of nanotechnology

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...

.

Project

Teams were tasked with identifying an application of nanotechnology, see where current research stands and creatively improve upon it. Then teams shared their project with the community and with judges at compeition.

Gameplay

The table performance portion of Nano Quest is played on a 4 ft by 8 ft field rimmed by wood boards. At competition, two of these fields are placed together to form an 8 ft square. In each 2 1/2 minute match, a team competes on each field with their robot to earn up to 400 points manipulating the mission models.

One of the mission models, the Space Elevator, straddles both fields in the center. This model earns points for both teams, no matter who triggered it.

The touch penalty objects are dirt particle models. They are worth up to 5 points each depending on their location on the field, but are removed from play every time the robot is touched outside of base.

Missions

All of the Nano Quest missions are related to nanotechnology and its applications:

• Individual Atom Manipulation - up to 40 points
• Smell (pizza molecules) - up to 15 points each
• Stain-Resistant Fabric - up to 30 points
• Dirt (particles) - up to 5 points each
• Atomic Force Microscopy - 40 points
• Self-Assembly - 30 points
• Smart Medicine - 50 points
• Nanotube Strength - up to 40 points
• Molecular Motor - 40 points
• Space Elevator - 40 points
• Fairness Bonus - 20 pointsRCX
  Lego Mindstorms
  The LEGO Mindstorm series of kits contain software and hardware to create small, customizable and programmable robots. They include a programmable 'Brick' computer that controls the system, a set of modular sensors and motors, and LEGO parts from the Technics line to create the mechanical...
  
   teams need to earn points in at least 3 missions; NXT
  Lego Mindstorms NXT
  Lego Mindstorms NXT is a programmable robotics kit released by Lego in late July 2006.It replaced the first-generation Lego Mindstorms kit, which was called the Robotics Invention System. The base kit ships in two versions: the Retail Version and the Education Base Set . It comes with the NXT-G...
  
  teams need 6 missions.

External links

• Nano Quest main page on the FLL website