Micromouse Online

The maze solver event attracted eight entries in the senior category. In the morning, the heats were run. While we didn't need to eliminate a large field of entrants, the heats give the mouse handlers a chance at the big maze in the conditions of the final. We also use the heats to determine the running order for the finals. Competition in the top three places looked to be pretty close based on the heat results:

Results after the break...

When it came time for the finals in the afternoon, the mouse owners were pretty tense. In the end, an early crash meant that Decimus had no chance of getting the top prize. To be honest it probably wouldn't have anyway but it would certainly have been a lot closer! Here are the finals results. Again, the best score time for each mouse has been recorded. Times are in seconds. The winner is the mouse with the lowest score rather than the shortest run time.

The Junior competition was a bit of a revelation. The teams from Singapore were very good and achieved excellent scores. It should be noted that the mice used are all based on one of two kits produced in Singapore. These are programmed either graphically or in C, using a number of supplied low-level routines. The five mice with the same owner name were, I think, all registered in the teacher's name rather than the operator so if any of the actual operators read this and would like to contact me with their real names, I will be happy to update the lists.

In the afternoon, they were all back for the final except BraveMe. There was a bit of a change in the leaderborad after lunch. Whatever Delvin Goh had done during the break certainly paid off: 

The competition ends with what we call the drag race. This is a simple idea where mice can run circuits around the outside of the complete maze. The idea is to demonstrate the ability of a mouse to perform at the limits of its stability and provide some kind of benchmarks for the performance of maze solvers. This event has no penalties, the winner is simply the mouse that gets around fastest. Since we allow any kind of mouse to enter, this event also acts to demonstrate the ingenuity of the entrants. Yes, Ken, I mean you;)

The consistent times from the Singaporean mice reflect the fact that they are all of essentially the same physical design.

In the senior event, there was a bit more variety. Stability issues with the steering on Decimus prevented it showing its best speed but when it does, I am sure it will beat a mechanically steered racer quite convincingly. There - a challenge!