After all the frantic preparation over the last few weeks, I was really relieved to have a working (I think) micromouse again. Normally, I leave two evenings to gather all the bits, arrange the packing and make sure I am actually ready to go. This time, I had only one…
The Taiwan 2012 micromouse and intelligent robot contest is only five days away. I have spent a huge amount of time in the last few weeks trying to turn my latest code re-write into a working mouse. This could all have been a lot less stressful if I had done…
Not many of us have the luxury of developing a micromouse in a laboratory environment. Although, thinking about it, some of the very best mice do indeed enjoy that benefit. Like most, I work in a spare room at home. Technically, it is a spare bedroom and so it is…
For a few weeks now, I have been struggling with strange behaviour on the micromouse. This version is Decimus 2C. It is the build that ran (poorly) at the UK contest in the summer of 2012. It did not do well so I have been trying to get it all tidy for the Taiwan contest next week. (more…)
Please note that the Meeting for September 3rd will not take place. Normal service will be resumed from October 1st. See you there.
Don't forget - there will be a club meeting on August 6th at Millenium Point. As it is holiday season, can you get in touch with Tony Wilcox if you are going to be coming along - or leave a comment on this post so that we can be sure…
The line following contest at the annual All Japan Micromouse event is an exciting event. Simple rules, brutal timing constraints and a long, challenging course make for a great competition. While I already knew there were plenty of other robotic contest in Japan, I had not realised there was a whole line following event separate to the one I had seen. (more…)
A while ago, I posted a way to calculate the position of the centre of mass of your micromouse. One or two people wondered why I might care so much. A couple of calculations with Decimus 4 illustrated why it might be important. (more…)
Good, free running wheels are an essential part of the drive train on your micromouse. Not only is there little point in wasting power driving inefficient wheels but it is important to make both sides as similar as possible to avoid any natural tendency to wander off to one side.…
The 2012 National Schools and Colleges Micromouse competition took place on Saturday 16th June as part of the TechFest event at the Technology Innovation Centre in Birmingham. Good numbers of competitors in each event guaranteed keen competition amongst the ever-enthusiastic juniors and it was pleasing to see the trophies spread…