公益財団法人ニューテクノロジー振興財団 NTF -New Technology Foundation-

Micromouse Contest is a contest which an autonomous robot runs through a designated 
maze to compete for intelligence and speed. A robot participating in this contest is termed 
Micromouse. 

1. Rules for Micromouse Classic 
1-1. Micromouse must be autonomous. It is not allowed to use an energy source given by 
combustion process.
1-2. Micromouse must not have any hardware or software added, deleted, replaced or 
modified by the operator during the contest. It is however permitted to make minor repairs.
In some contests, battery changes may be allowed. In such case, the battery must be the 
same specification.
1-3. Micromouse is not allowed to leave any of the parts on the maze.
1-4. Micromouse is not allowed to jump over, climb, scratch, damage or destroy the walls. 
1-5. The projection of the Micromouse on the floor must be contained within a square of 
each sides in 25 cm. This must be satisfied even when the shape of the Micromouse 
changes during the contest. There are no restrictions to the height of the Micromouse. 

2. Rules for the Maze. 
2-1. The side of the walls are white, and the top of the walls are red. The floor of the maze is 
painted in black.  It is made of wood, finished with non-gloss black paint. However, top of 
the walls for the finish zone and the starting point are painted in yellow.
2-2. The maze are composed of 18 x 18 cm unit squares. The maximum number of squares 
will be 16 x 16 squares.The height of the walls are 5 cm and its thickness are 1.2 cm (see 
Fig. 1 for details). 
2-3. The starting point of the maze will be located at one of the four corners of the maze. 
Micromouse starts in a clockwise direction. The finish zone is located on the center 4 
section. 
2-4. There are Small square zones, each 1.2 cm x 1.2 cm, at the four corners of each unit 
square. This zone is called lattice points, and a maze are built so that there are at least one 
wall to a lattice point except for the interior of the finish zone (see Fig. 1 for details). The 
entire maze will be completely surrounded by exterior walls (see Figs. 1 and 2). 



3. Rules for the contest 
3-1. The fastest lap from the start to the finish zone will be recorded as its official time. 
Micromouse Contest will be evaluated on the fastest lap and its independence. The criteria 
for evaluation and the rules for awarding prizes are determined at each contest. 
3-2. After the maze is open to public, the operator is not allowed to feed any maze 
information to Micromouse. During the contest, the operator is not allowed to change any 
maze information gathered from the search run, using switch or its kind. 
3-3.  Micromouse begins its run from a starting point and ends when it came back. The run 
will also finish when Micromouse stops for 2 seconds or it is approved by chairperson. 
3-4.  When Micromouse returns to the starting point and beings another run automatically, 
the Micromouse must stop for at least two seconds at the starting point. 
3-5. The operator is not allowed to touch the Micromouse during the run unless instructed or 
given permission by a tournament chairperson to do so. The tournament chairperson 
accepts an operator's request to discontinue its run if an apparent malfunction is found in 
his/her micromouse's run. For the cases in which a request to discontinue is made for any 
other reasons, permissions will be made on the condition which all memory of the maze is 
erased. 
3-6. The time limit for one competitor is basically 10 minutes. This limit will change to 7 or 5 
minutes depending on the tournament. Micromouse is permitted to make up to 5 runs. 
3-7. Micromouse is considered to have completed the run when the entire lower portion of 
its body (defined as its portion up to 5 cm above the floor level) has entered the finish zone. 
However, elapsed time are measured from the moment the sensors placed at the starting 
point senses the Micromouse and to the moment the sensor located at the entry point to the 
finish zone senses the same Micromouse. 
3-8. The lightings, temperature and humidity of the room in which the maze is located will be 
those of an ambient environment. Requests to adjust the lightings will not be accepted. 
3-9. The tournament chairperson has the rights to ask to the operator about  the 
Micromouse if it is appropriate. The tournament chairperson also has the rights to stop a run, 
declare disqualification, or ask for instructions if it is appropriate. 
3-10. Prizes and evaluation criteria will be set individually for each competition. 

［Attention］
1. Contestant is not permitted to load programs or replace ROM during a contest. It is also 
prohibited to send any information to Micromouse from development unit or console box that 
is independent from the main Micromouse unit. 
2. Contestant is permitted to remove dust and debris on the tires during a contest using 
adhesive tape, etc.; however, no solvents and likely may be used for the purpose of 
increasing friction. 
3. In each of its runs, Micromouse may continue its search even after it has reached the 
finish zone. In such a case, the elapsed time when Micromouse has reached the finish zone 
for the first time will be recorded. 
4. If Micromouse returns to the starting point and begins another run within two seconds, it is 
assumed that the next run has begun. However, this run will be invalid. 
5. Except for the run, Micromouse may not be placed for adjustment or other purposes in 
any part of the maze other than on the starting point. 
6. Dimensions of Micromouse
The size of the lower structure of Micromouse is constrained by the size of the maze despite 
the provisions of article 1-5. 
7. Structure of Maze 
The maze is made in a sensible accuracy. So that there will be errors to the maze dimension 
to some extent. As the maze is designed to come apart for preservation, it may produce 
gaps or difference in level of approximately 1 mm between sections of the walls or the floor. 
There may be non-uniform coloring, discoloring and stains. 
8. Type and position of the Sensors for recording 
Type: Transmission infrared sensors.
Optical axis placed 1 cm above the floor. (See Fig.1)
Position: Start sensor: At the boundary between the starting unit square and the next unit square.
Goal Sensor: The entry point for the finish zone. (See Fig.2)

9. In the 4 section of finish zone, there will be no walls or poll