An updated micromouse competition

The original micromouse competition in which miniature robots compete for the title of best speed and intelligence was first started around 1978. Over the years it became one of the few student competitions among engineering schools around the world. Nevertheless, the participation rate had never reached a significant level. Furthermore, since the competition's debut, no major changes on the game rules which were designed around the technology almost 20 years ago had been made. In this paper an updated micromouse competition is proposed. The updated game is designed to achieve the following goals: (1) Generating high participation rate from engineering students; (2) Promoting multidisciplinary undergraduate engineering activities; (3) Encouraging the use of current technologies; (4) Lowering the overall costs an managing the competition by engineering schools and on building the micromouse by students. This paper presents an updated micromouse game plan and competition rules. A micromouse design example developed at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) for the new game is also included.