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

Micromouse 2016

Language 2016 Rules Contact Us

[Important Notice Concerning Micromouse Halfsize in All Japan Micromouse Contest]


1. Beforehand information announcement
The overall size of the maze, the location of the entry point to the finish zone (the x-y
coordinates) and time given will be announced two months before the contest.

2. Operating Micromouse
As a general rule, a person or the group which made the Micromouse has to be the operator.

3. Limit of the number of Micromouse to register
In Half-sized Micromouse Contest, the same designer can register only one Micromouse.

However, seeded contestant can register another Micromouse in preliminary round. If the
Micromouse passes the preliminary round, the person can choose which Micromouse are
going to take part in the final round.

4. Preliminary round
In the final round, if more than one Micromouse is registered by the same group exhibiting
technical similarities, only one of them can enter. It should be noted that an operator (as a
general rule, the designer is the operator of the mouse) is allowed to operate only one mouse.

5. Exchanging batteries
Contestants are not allowed to change batteries during a contest.

6. Lighting conditions and the use of flashes for photography in the arena
The basic aim of the foundation in sponsoring this competition is to encourage the
development of robots that move in any given conditions where humans conduct their life to
the maximum extent possible, rather than the development of robots that function only in
controlled environments.

(1)Lighting conditions
In line with the above spirit, the competitions will be held under regular lighting as provided by the arena.

(2)Flash photography
As in the past, there will be an announcement in the arena asking the audience to refrain
from using flashes for all competitions other than the final round of the Expert Class
Micromouse Contest. Please take note, however, that some video and camera equipment
use infrared rays for their auto-focus function, and participants are expected to come up with ideas to successfully cope with these disturbance.

7. Keeping system in the final round
For the final round, the secretariat will keep the robots at a designated location before the
contest. Secretariat will keep the Micromouse until the contest is over. Before the run, each operator must receive his/her own robot at the designated area. After Micromouse complete its runs, the operator must return their Micromouse to the designated area.

8. Automatic entry to the final round of the All Japan Micromouse Contest (Half-sized) from local contests

If 5 or more Micromouse compete in the half-size category in a local or student contest etc.
held during this fiscal year, one Micromouse from each such contest will, upon recommendation, be entitled to enter the final round of the All Japan Micromouse Contest.

Moreover, if more than 15 Micromouse compete, two of them will be seeded. After that, one
seeded Micromouse is added every 15 Micromouse.