MicroMouse Research Paper
Each robot has to find its way through the maze and figure out owe to get all the way through the maze. It will go through one time to figure out how to finish the maze then it will go ahead and do a full run from the beginning to the end and see if the robot makes any mistakes. Contest Rules The objective of the contest is to build a small self-contained robot to negotiate a maze in the shortest possible time.
The rules for the robot are as follows: Microcosms shall be self-contained (no remote controls), Microcosms shall not use an energy source employing a combustion process, Microcosms shall not jump over, fly over, climb, scratch, cut, burn, mark, image, or destroy the walls of the maze, Microcosms shall not be larger either in length or in width than 16 CM, and any violation of the rules will constitute immediate disqualification from the contest and ineligibility for the associated prizes. The maze must be: composed of multiples of an CACM x CACM unit square, walls are 5 CM high and 1. CM thick, the outside wall encloses the entire maze, sides Of the maze walls are white, the tops Of the walls are red, and the floor is black, must be made of wood, finished with a non-gloss paint, start of the maze is located at one of the four corners, start square is bounded on here sides by walls, start line is located between the first and its second squares, and multiple paths to the destination square are allowed but the destination square must be positioned so that a wall-hugging robot will not be able to find it.
Contestant rules are as follows: Each contesting Microcosms is not allocated any time to access the maze prior to their first run, contestants have 10 minutes in which a robot successfully reaches the destination square is given a run time.
The minimum run time shall be the robot’s official time, First prize goes to the robot with the shortest official time, two timers will be used or each contestant one for the 10 min timer and another for individual runs, initial run may be started from any of the 4 starting squares all runs after the first run will be started from the initial starting square, after the maze is disclosed, the operator shall not feed information on the maze into the Microcosms however switch positions may be changed for the purpose of changing programs within the robot, the illumination, temperature, and humidity of the room shall be those of an ambient environment( 40 to 120 degrees F) run timer Starts when the front edge Of the robot Crosses the Start nine and stops when the front edge of the robot crosses the finish line, every time the robot leaves the start square a new run begins, a robot may after reaching the destination square continue to navigate the maze as long as there is total maze time available, if a robot continues to navigate the maze after reaching the destination square the time taken will not count toward any run however the 10-minute times will continue to run, judges reserve the right to ask the operator for an explanation of the Microcosms, also reserve the right to stop a run and declare disqualification or give instructions as appropriate, a contestant may not feed information on the maze to the Microcosms, contestants cannot alter the weight or the robot, and all robots must be presented to the judges by the original design team. Contests are allowed to change switch settings, replace batteries between runs, adjust sensors, change speed settings, and make repairs. Negotiating a Maze Thirty years ago, most people thought the idea of a self- thinking robot was just a dream or an idea in a science fiction movie. Little did they know that this technology was already being developed. This information was limited to the new age computer geeks.
Over time, with the advances in computer technology, this dream is coming closer to fruition. Technology has changed so much, so fast, that a full scale self-thinking robot is not too far off. Presently, these robots do exist on a smaller scale and have been in existence since the sass’s. The Microcosms event started in the late sass’s. This is a competition where small robots called “The Microcosms” were designed to negotiate a man-made maze using only sensors. The mouse must negotiate the maze and self-correct Itself when it runs into a barrier. The winner is the mouse that completes the maze in the fastest time. This is an annual global event that shows off the latest technology in this field.
Microcosms Robot There are specific guidelines for building a Microcosms for the competition. The guidelines are as follows: the Microcosms shall be self-contained (no remote controls). A Microcosms shall not use an energy source employing a combustion process. A Microcosms shall not leave any part of its body behind while negotiating the maze. A Microcosms shall not jump over, fly over, climb, scratch, cut, burn, mark, damage, or destroy walls of the maze. A Microcosms shall not be larger either in length or in width, than 25 centimeters. The dimensions of a Microcosms that changes it geometry during a run shall not be greater than 25 CM x 25 CM.
There are no restrictions on the height of the Microcosms. A Microcosms is basically an autonomous robot designed to get from the opening of a maze to the middle of the maze unaided. All the robot is comprised of is a drive motor, steering and turning method, sensors, and power source. However each part of the robot must be synchronized and work with each other to ensure the robot will work, without just one of the components the Microcosms would not operate. A key to making the Microcosms faster resides in the motor and chassis. The wider the chassis the faster the robot can maneuver around the maze and the bigger motor allows for more speed.
Something that shouldn’t be overlooked after all of the physical features of the Microcosms is the software and the program algorithm it will take for the Microcosms to navigate the maze. Microcosms Program and Design There are certain aspects the program must be able to do in order for the Microcosms to navigate the maze. The robot must have decision-making capabilities which require an adaptive algorithm to make that happen. Due to the colors and AD aspect that the maze provides the Maze-solving Algorithm ill not work however a Line Solving Algorithm works great for this format. The design of the robot can vary from creator to creator due to the vague rules; however the internals of the robot will respectively remain the same.
The outside shell of the robot can vary as long as it does not exceed the allowed size described in the rules. There are main parts that are required for the robot to operate, those parts are as follows; Microelectronic Circuit, Driving Motor, Cables, Input Circuit, Wheels, Grid plate, and Sensors. There are 3 main sub- systems the programming must also control, those Ewing; drive system, sensor control, and steering control. The 3 sub-systems of the algorithm directly control the mechanical features of the robot. The drive system directly correlates to the Drive Motor. The Sensor Control correlates to the Input Circuit and Sensors. The Steering Control correlates to the Microelectronic Circuit, Wheels, and Cables.
Maze Specifications The floor of the maze is made of ply. Voodoo and finished with a black, non;gloss paint. F-aiding of the paint color is allowed and expected. It is composed of sections that are CACM x CACM unit square. The maze comprises 16 x 16 unit squares. Multiple sheets of plywood will be needed and there may be seems between each sheet that may cause a mouse to snag. Because the floor is made of plywood, no assumptions should be made in regards to the friction of the floor, it may be quite slick. The walls of the maze must be CM high and 1. CM thick (assume 5% tolerance). The walls are finished with a white, non- gloss paint. The tops of the walls are red.
Fading of the paint color is allowed and expected. The outside wall encloses the entire maze. The start of the maze is located in one of the four corners. The start square must be bounded by walls on three sides. The start line is located between the first and second square. The destination goal is the 4 squares at the center of the maze. At the center of this zone is a post, CACM high and each side is 2. CM. This post may be removed if requested. The destination sq rare can only have one entrance and must be positioned so that a wall hugging mouse will not be able to find it. However, multiple paths to the destination square are allowed and expected.
Small square posts, each 1. CM x 1. CM at the four corners of each unit square are called lattice points. The maze must be constructed so there is at least one wall at each lattice point. Maze Rules Timing starts when the front edge of the mouse crosses the start line and ends when the front edge of the mouse crosses the destination line. Each micro mouse is allowed ten minutes of access to the maze. This time starts when the contest administrator grants access to the contestant. Any time used to adjust the mouse between runs is included in the ten minutes. Each run shall be made from the starting square. The operator may abort a run at any time.
If the operator touches a mouse during a run, it is deemed aborted. Once the mouse crosses the finish line, it may be removed without affecting the time of the run. If the mouse is placed back in the maze for another run, a thirty second penalty will be added to the mouse’s next run time. After the maze is disclosed, the operator may not feed information on the maze into the mouse. However, switches may be adjusted. The illumination, temperature and humidity of the room shall be those of an ambient environment (40 to 120 degrees F, 0% to 95% humidity, non-condensing). No assumptions should be made about the amount of sunlight, incandescent light, or fluorescent light that may be present at the contest sight.
