The premise of the MicroMouse contest is simple: design and build a small, autonomous robot that will find the center of a maze. The mouse that makes it to the center of the maze is the winner. If more than one mouse makes it, then the mouse that gets there the fastest will be the winner. Contestants are given 10 to 15 minutes to solve the maze, so many return to the start cell to make multiple runs. The fastest of these runs becomes the official time. Championship-level mice can make it from the start cell to the finish cell in well under 20 seconds with top speeds averaging 2 meters/sec, now that's a fast mouse!

The MicroMouse Within a Regulation Size Maze

 

The maze

Only a few things are known about the maze before the competition begins. The maze is square and composed of 16x16 cells, the "start" cell is in the lower left corner, and the "destination" cells are the four center cells. The tops of the walls are painted red so that optical sensors can identify them, and the maze floor is black so that it does not interfere with these sensors.

 

Other than the locations of the start and destination cells, nothing else is known about the paths within the maze. The walls of the maze can be set up in any configuration by the judges in charge of the contest. You will find that there are always several solutions to the maze. This prevents robots from simply following the left or right walls to solve the maze (try it in the example above, it worn't work), and it makes the contest more interesting since "smarter" mice will look for the quickest path.

 

The mice

The mice are limited to a size of 25cm long by 25cm wide and they can be any shape. They are designed to be completely self-contained because the rules state that they cannot be remote-controlled by a human or an external computer. Mice are also not allowed to leave pieces behind (the breadcrumb method of solving mazes) nor are they allowed to climb the walls of the maze.

Our Dexter Within the Maze

Even with these constraints, there are as many different designs as there are mice. Most mice contain onboard computers for mapping and solving the maze while other mice use blind luck by making random turns. Some mice use optical sensors to "see" the walls of the maze while others use feelers to detect the walls. Some move on wheels and others on treads similar to a tank. The idea is to have fun building a project that combines electronics, mechanics and computer programming.