Way back in 1985 was the ‘First World Micromouse Competition’. This was not actually the first competition, nor was it really the first ‘world’ competition in the sense of having entries from around the world. Nonetheless, it was a major event. Just posted on YouTube is some video from that event.
Although I believe the first ALl-Japan micromouse contest took place in 1981, the ‘First World Micromouse Competiton’ was held in Tsukuba, Japan in 1985. Mazes were sent to a number of countries around the world in order to encourage entries. A wide range of mice from all over the world competed. The following three videos from the event are remarkable for a number of reasons. One is that everything seems really big and relatively slow compared to today’s lighting-fast, tiny micromouse robots. Another is that, if you look carefully, you will see some familiar faces of people still involved in the contest but 27 years younger. The top six places were taken by Japanese entries. Seventh was Dave Woodfield from England with Enterprise – a mouse that I last saw run somewhere around 2002 when it was still a good performer.
Anyway, grab a cup of tea and sit back to see how things used to be done.: