Maze-solving Robo Mouse

Looking for something to build that will be challenging and interesting to laypersons at the same time? Take some inspiration from this maze-solving robot mouse. It take the idea of a line-following robot, and makes it infinitely more cool. The tiny rover uses sensors to map out a physical maze. Once it figure it out, you put it back at the beginning for a speed run to the finish. We’ve embedded the video below showing the whole process. Looks like the speed-run is completed in just under five seconds.

Now that you’ve enjoyed a virtual mouse in a real maze, check out a real mouse in a virtual maze.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzBwnsnxFGU]

[Thanks Bemental]

18 thoughts on “Maze-solving Robo Mouse

  1. I’d like to see some more specs on that mousie. Like what type of sensors it uses, how it handles slip etc during its SLAM process (it almost has to be using Simultaneous Localization and Mapping to be able to build a map to solve the maze faster).

  2. @Dex They’re climbin in your windows, they’re snatching your people up.

    Yes this made as much sense as your post.

    Amazing computational ability in such a little package. Ahh makes me sad i can only build something 7 times as large, uses 4 times more power, wheighs 10 times as much and has 1/10 of the quality *sniff*.

  3. Guide to making a Japanese robot:
    1. Take something small and make it smaller.
    2. Give it an animal shape OR name it after an animal.
    3. Add the most obnoxiously-cute beep sounds and tones.
    4. Make a YouTube video of it.

  4. There used to be actual contests for IRL robot “mice” to solve actual physical mazes 20-30 years back (the “mice” were sometimes almost R2D2-sized). Whatever happened to those contests?

  5. We had a similar course in my Uni, Interactive Media Dedesign. Basically the students were taught how to use the ARDUINO and blink LEDs and such.

    Not to mention that they all looked like the kind of people that would write their novel on their macbook at Starbucks.

  6. Interesting that it has no spatial awareness what-so-ever. A simple “spin out” and it’s completely lost – even though it’s in a area it’s completely mapped out before

  7. A traditional maze can be solved by constantly hugging the right-hand wall. If there’s an intersection, follow the right wall (by turning right). You will always reach the exit.

  8. @AJ Robins: Here you go: .

    My uni team is competing in this event next April at RoboGames. We’re wrapping up the planning stage and will start building soon. I hope to document the process and maybe submit it here if there’s any interest.

Leave a Reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.