Category Archives: Micromouse

Pinion interfering with the tire

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Harjit Singh

When I applied power to the motors on Zeetah VI (ZVI) for the first time, the motors seemed to struggle and the PWM value to get the wheels to rotate seemed higher than usual. Since this was my first four … Continue reading →

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Backlash Measurement

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Peter Harrison

Having seen quite a lot of variability in the output from the encoders on my micromouse, I got to wondering how much backlash there really is in the gear train. Finally, I figured the easiest way to measure it would be … Continue reading →

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Japan micromouse contest 2011 video streams

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Peter Harrison

You could be forgiven for thinking that a micromouse contest – particularly the All Japan micromouse contest – is one of the most photographed and filmed events there are. All day there are cameras going. Pretty well all of the … Continue reading →

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Rocking out of control

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Peter Harrison

A wheelchair configuration micromouse has the wheels in the middle and skids at either end. Those skids cannot both be on the ground at the same time or, when the mouse encounters a step in the maze surface, the drive … Continue reading →

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Finishing the new maze floor

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Harjit Singh

The walls and posts arrived and so it was time to finish the maze floor.

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Comparing the ADXRS610 and ADXRS642 gyros

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Harjit Singh

Analog Devices recently release new vibration rejection gyros which seemed a perfect fit for use on a micromouse. Since I was using the ADXRS610 on Zeetah V, I temporarily mounted an ADXRS642 to ZV to compare the two.

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Soldering the gyro

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Harjit Singh

Finally, a way to solder the Analog Devices ADXRS610 gyro… The last time we attached a gyro, we overheated the board and the board delaminated. This time, we use a skillet and avoided that problem.    

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Choosing an emitter for micromouse sensors

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Peter Harrison

Most commonly, micromouse reflective sensors use Infra Red LEDs as the emitter component. That is all very well and suits many, or most, phototransistors. the thing is, you cannot easily see where they are pointing and what kind of illumination … Continue reading →

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Sensor Alternatives to the TSL262

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Peter Harrison

The TSL262 sensor has been popular with a number of micromouse builders. It is compact, easy to use and results in a low component count. A common alternative is the use of a simple phototransistor in an emitter foloower configuration. … Continue reading →

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Making the floor

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Harjit Singh

Now that I had the layout, the next step was to cut and drill the plywood. While there are many techniques for doing this, I ended up getting help from a friend who has access to water jet cutters to … Continue reading →

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