Micromouse

The micromouse project is to design an autonomous robot that can freely navigate through a random 16 by 16 grid cell maze. In that maze there is a 2 by 2 block which is the center. The micromouse needs to have an algorithm that helps it map the maze, then find the shortest path to the center. This project was strictly designed to feel like an engineering project. This meant that the teams were in full control of the project and how far they went depended on how much time they put into it. There were two parts, software and hardware. The hardware involved designing the body and circuit of the robot. Software was calibrating the mouse and creating the algorithm to find the center.

I felt I was proficient in both software and hardware, so I decided to work on both. Therefore I helped build the mouse and write its software. For hardware, there are three main components. The brain(microcontroller), legs(motors) and eyes(sensors). I helped research each part and pick which was best fit for our robot. Then I assisted our hardware member in building the body and solder the circuit together. As for software, my software member and I calibrated the mouse, so it can free navigate through the maze, and design it’s algorithm to find the center.

This project has given me a taste of how it’s like to work on an engineering project in the aspect of having an idea and making it into reality.

To learn more about the history of micromouse in UH click on the link.