MICROMOUSE CONTEST RULES CENTRAL AREA, REGION 6 October 26, 1991 1.0 OBJECTIVE The contestant or team of contestants design and build small self-contained mobile robots (micromice) to negotiate a maze in the shortest possible time. 2.0 CONTESTANT ELIGIBILITY FOR CENTRAL AREA CONTEST 2.1 All contestants (team members) must be IEEE student members at a Region 6 school with an IEEE student branch and/or chapter at the time of entry into the micromouse contest. A student graduating after competing in the local contest still remains eligible to compete in succeeding Area, Region, and higher contests as an undergraduate student. Gradutate students are allowed as provided in section 3 below. 2.2 A contestant must be an IEEE student member or must have submitted an application for membership prior to entry in the student branch and/or chapter contest. 2.3 The micromouse entry may be the effort of an individual or a team. In the case of a team, it should be possible to demonstrate that each individual made a significant contribution. 2.4 A team may consist of up to 5 people. 2.5 All entrants to the Area contest must declare their intention to enter the contest six (6) weeks before the date of the Area contest. If the total number of declared mice for a given contest is less than twelve (12), all shall be eligible to race in the Area contest. However, only the entrants with the winning mouse of a student branch contest will have their expenses paid for travel and subsistence to the Area contest (if funds are available in the Region 6 budget.) Two mice of the same design from the same school will be disallowed. However, a single design team may enter more than one mouse of a different design. The Central Area Student Activities Coordinator shall be the final judge on duplicate designs. If there are more than twelve (12) declared mice for a particular contest, then the number of entries per school shall be limited for that Area contest according to the discretion of the Central Area Student Activities coordinator. In the case of multiple entries from any one school, the school shall hold a branch and/or chapter contest, selecting their best mice for asvnacement to the Area contest. 3.0 NOVICE AND ADVANCED CONTESTS 3.1 NOVICE CONTEST 3.1.1 OBJECTIVE - The objective of the novice contest is to allow first-year entries or dramatically modified mice from previous years to compete. The maze shall be solvable by a wall-hugging algorithm. The intent of this contest is to allow the student to focus on construction of the mouse as opposed to emphasizing software algorithms. 3.1.2 ELIGIBILITY - Any mouse that has not competed in a prior contest may enter the novice contest. A mouse from a previous contest may enter if its runs were greater than two minutes. Up to two graduate students may participate per team of four to five while only one graduate student may participate if the team consists of two or three people. 3.1.3 NOVICE SPECIFICATIONS - The specifications as descibed in sections 5, 6, and 7 will hold for the novice contest. For this contest, the maze will be configured such that both right and left wall hugging algorithms will solve the maze. Commercial predesigned kits will not be allowed in the novice contest. 3.1.4 PRIZES/TROPHIES - There will be a cash prize and a certificate awarded to the top four finishing times in this contest. In addition, the winning entry will receive a rotating trophy to be kept at the winning school until the next Central Area contest. 3.2 ADVANCED COMPETITION 3.2.1 OBJECTIVE - The objective of the advanced contest is to provide an open contest that requires advanced software algorithms to solve the maze. It is also the intent of this contest to approximate the international rules for micromouse contests. 3.2.2 ELIGIBILITY - Any mouse may enter the advanced contest. There are no restrictions on the number of graduate students on the team. 3.2.3 ADVANCED SPECIFICATIONS - The maze used in the advanced contest will be more difficult than the novice contest and may contain loops around the final destination square. Otherwise, the maze will follow the specifications of section 6. 3.2.4 PRIZES/TROPHIES - There will be a cash prize and a cerificate awarded to the top four finishing times in this contest. In addition, the winning entry will receive a rotating trophy to be kept at the winning school until the next Central Area contest. (There are currently no funds available for this trophy - it does not exist.) 4.0 OTHER CONTESTS 4.1 The first place winner of the advanced contest will be the official representative of the Region 6 Central Area in all other IEEE sponsored sontests. However, other mice may also be permitted to represent the Central Area with the permission of the Central Area Student Activities Coordinator. 4.2 Any Central Area mouse may enter any open contest. 5.0 MICROMOUSE SPECIFICATIONS (International rules) 5.1 A micromouse shall be self-contained (no remote controls.) A micromouse shall not use an energy source employing a combustion process. 5.2 A micromouse shall not leave any part of its body behind while negotiating the maze. 5.3 A micromouse shall not jump over, fly over, climb, scratch, cut, burn, mark, damage, or destroy the walls of the maze. 5.4 A micromouse shall not be larger, either in length or in width, than 25 centimeters. The dimensions of a micromouse which changes its geometry during a run shall not be greater than 25 cm by 25 cm. There are no restrictions on the height of a micromouse. 5.5 The total cost of the mouse (in materials; labor is assumed to be free) may not exceed $600. This is judged on the actual cost and market value of all materials (including donated materials) used in the mouse. Contestants should be prepared to present a list of materials and their market values to the judges upon request. Since market values vary from source to source, contestants should be prepared with catalogs or quotes to confirm unusually low prices. The judge's decision shall be final in these matters. 6.0 MAZE SPECIFICATIONS 6.1 the maze is composed of multiples of an 18 cm by 18 cm unit square (measured from the center of one wall to the center of another.) The maze comprizes 16 x 16 unit squares (see examples.) The walls of the maze are 5 cm high and 1.2 cm thick with a 5% tolerance. The outside wall encloses the entire maze. 6.2 The start of the maze is located at one of the four corners. The mouse shall begin negotiating the maze in a clockwise direction. The start square is bounded on three sides by walls, with the exit facing clockwise. At the center of the maze is an inner square, comrised of four unit squares. This inside square is the destination. At the center of this square is a red post, 20 cm high and 2.5 cm bu 2.5 cm. This post may be removed if requested by the contestant. The destination square ahs only one entrance. The start line will be between the first and second squares, and time will start as the mouse exits the first (corner) square. 6.2.2 The Central Area maze will have dimensions of 12 x 12 unit squares. To conform to international rules, the destination will still be located at the center of a 16 x 16 maze. Also, the 25 cm post will not exist. 6.3 Small square zones, each 1.2 cm bu 1.2 cm at the four corners of each unit square are called lattice points. The maze is so constructed such that there is at least one wall at each lattice point, except for the destination square. 6.4 The sides of the maze walls are white, the tops are red, and the floor is flat black. The maze is made of wood finished with non-gloss paint. 6.5 The maze may consist of any combination of "L", "T", "J", "+", and striaght "I" sections. There may be unit square not bounded by walls, allowing crossing paths with the "+" combinations. 6.6 Multiple paths to the destination square are allowed and are to be expected. 6.7 Gaps between the walls and posts are to be expected up to 2 mm. A gap may also exist between the sheets of wood forming the floor (up to 2mm.) 7.0 CONTEST RULES 7.1 Each contesting micromouse is subject to a time limit of 15 minutes. Within this time limit, the micrmouse may try to make up to 10 runs. The mouse shall be allowed to finish a run if the 15 minute time limit expires while negotiating the maze. The minimum time recorded to negotiate the maze shall be the official time. First prize is awarded the the mouse with the shortest official time, second prize to the next shortest, etc. 7.2 Each run shall be made from the start. The operator may abort a run at any time. If an operator touches the micrmouse during a run, it is deemed aborted. When an operator aborts a run, the mouse must be removed from the maze immediately. If a mouse has already crossed the finish line, it may be removed at any time without affecting the time of that run. 7.3 After the maze is disclosed, the operator shall not feed information about the maze into the micromouse. The contestant is allowed to change batteries between runs, set switches to alter algorithms, adjust sensors, change speeds, and provide general repair. The contestant may not load new programs by changing the ROM. Also, a contestant may not tamper with the mouse in a manner which alters its weight (such as to remove a bulky sensor away after mapping the maze.) 7.4 The illumination, temperature, and humidity of the room shall be those of an ambient environment (40 to 120 degrees F, 0 to 95% relative humidity, non-condensing.) 7.5 The timer will start when the mouse crosses the start line and finish when the mouse crosses the finish line. Teh start line is at the boundary between the starting unit square and the next unit square. The finish line is at the entrance to the destination square. 7.6 Every time the mouse leaves the start square, a new run begins. Up to 10 runs are allowed within the 15 minute time limit. If the mouse again enters the start square before entering the destination square, the previous run is aborted, as if the mouse were touched. For example, if the mouse re-enters the start square before entering the destination square on its first run, that run is aborted and it will be on run #2 after exiting the start square again. An obvious malfunction resulting in the mouse moving into and out of the start square will not count against the maximum number of runs. 7.7 The mouse may, after reaching the destination square, continue to navigate the maze. 7.8 If a mouse continues to navigate the maze after reaching the destination square, the time taken will not count toward any run. It will count toward the total allowed time of 15 minutes. When the mouse next leaves the start square, a new run will start. Thus a mouse may make several runs without being touched by the operator. It may make its own way back to the beginning to do so. The 15 minute timer will stop only when the mouse is touched and continue when the mouse starts its next run. 7.9 The referee reserves the right to ask the operator for an explanation of the micromouse. the referee also reserves the right to stop a run, declare disqualification, or give instructions as appropriate (e.g., the structure of the maze is jeopardized by continuing opreration of the mouse.) 8.0 DISCLAIMER - The contestants should expect to find variations among different mazes built to the above rules, such as floor traction, paint variations, etc. Every effort will be made to allow any entry access to the contest maze two weeks prior to the Central Area contest. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE RULES Wayne Amacher, 1088 Ticonderoga Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 Ken Duisenberg, UC Davis, Stanford Univ, (415)497-1173 duizie@leland.stanford.edu Mahlon Heller, CSU Sacramento Joe king, UOP, Stockton Bruce Johnson, UNR Mihesh Rao, UNR Sample Mouse Mazes _______________________________ _______________________________ | _________________________ | | | _________ |_ | | | | _. _ |_ ____________| | | |_ | | _. | | |_| | | | | | |_ _ |_ |_____ _| | | | | | | | | | ___|_| ___|_| | | |_ |_ |_ | | _____| |_ | | | | | | | | | | _____. ___ | | | | |_ |_ |_ |_____. _| _| | | | | | | | | _____. ___ | | | | |_ |_ |_| ._. |_ |_ | | | | | | | _____. ___ | | | | |_ |_ |_____ _| _| _| | | |_| | | | | |_______________| | | ___|_____| | F | | _| |_ | | | _ | | | | F _________ | | | | . | | | ___| _| | | _| | | | | | | | | |___|___________ | | | | | | | |_______| | | |_ | | | | | | | | | | _____. ___ | | | | | | | | | | _____| | | _| | | | | | | _____. ___ | | | | | | | | | | | _____| |_ | | | | | | | | | _____. ___ | | | | | | | | | | | _____| _| | | | | | | | | | _____. _____| | | | | | | | | | | | |_ | | | |_| | | | | | _. | | _ | | | | | |___|___| | | | |___|_____| | | | _______|_| _ | | | | | | | |S|_____________________________| |S|_____________|_______|_______| From: 1990 APEC Maze (L.A. 3/14) From: All-Japan 1982 _______________________________ _______________________________ |___ | | | | | ___ | | ___________________________ | | _ | _|_ | | | | | | | | | _______ ___________ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ___ | | ___ ____ | | | | |_| |_|_|_ _|_____| | |_ | | | | | | | | | |_______ | | _| | |___|_ |_| _|_ |___| | | | | | | | |_______ _| | | | |_| | __ __| | | | | ___|___ | | | | | | | | | ___ |___ | | | | _|_________|___|_|___ | _ | | | | | | | | _| ___ |___| | | _________| F | ___ |_ |_| | | | | | | | | F | | | |_ _| | | _____ | |___|___ | | | |_____| | | |___| | | |_ |_ | | | |_____ | | | | | |_|_ | | | | _| | |_______|___ | | _| | | _ __|___| _| | _ | | | | |_ ___| | ___ __ __| |_ | | |_|_______________|___|_ | | | | | | ___|_______ __ __ __| | |___ | _ | | ___ |_|_ | |_ | _| _______ |_ __ __ | | _ | |___| | __|_______ | | | | | | _| ___ |_ |_ __ __| | | | | | ____ |___ _|_ | | | | _|___ | ___|_ |_____ | |S|_____|_______|_______|_______| |S|___________|_________________| From: Chicago, 1986 (26 sec.) From: British Final 1986 London(34sec.) _______________________________ _______________________________ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | |_______________________ . . . | |_______________________ . . . | | ___ ._____________ | . . . | | | | | ___ | | . . . | | | _ .___________ | | . . . | | |_ | | _|_| __ | . . . | | | |_ | _____| | | . . . | | | | | | ___|_ | . . . | | | | | | | F | | | . . . | | | | | | | | F | _| | . . . | | | | |___|___|___| | | | . . . | | | | _|___| ___| |_ | . . . | | | | | ___________| | | . . . | | | |_| _ | _____| | | . . . | | _| _| _ _| |___| . . . | | | | _| _|_ | |_ ._| . . . | | | _| _| _| | | | . . . | | | _| _| | _| |_ ._| . . . | | | | | | _| |_. | | | . . . | | _| _|_ _| _|_ ._| . . . | | |_________ | |___| | | . . . | | | |___ |_ ___ ___| . . . | | . |_______ ._______| | . . . | | | |_______|_________ | . . . | |S|_____________________|_______| |S|_____________________|_______| From: Central Area Rules-Sample maze From: 1991 Central Area Advanced maze