General > General Technical Chat
Veritasium explains The Fastest Maze-Solving Competition On Earth
(1/1)
BrianHG:
The robot mice maze race competitions:


hans:
Amazing, they even got downforce to increase the load on the tyres to generate more grip.

There seems quite a bit of software going into that. Choosing the fastest instead of shortest route requires a decent model of the mice motion plans&costs in advance, especially with the complete freedom of which turns to take.

I don't think these competitions never ever get "solved". Sure the initial intent of route planning on a robot is "done". But the competition brings the clever tactics to get a slightly faster mice. And at some point the rules or mazes get changed which would present new challenges or design freedom.

It would be next level if they would use different surfaces with different grip levels as well, and have the mice account for that during each run. Similar to how a racing driver would account for dry/wet driving lines where in dry you want to race on the rubbery stuff, but in wet you want to avoid it all costs.

If a mice could scout 3 routes, e.g.: shortest but lots of turns, longer with straights, and some middle ground, and then throw in some grip variable. Then have it decide which one to take based on it's best knowledge :)
I'm sure the software of those bots is full of carefully tuned closed loops to keep it on its desired route. Maybe adding some trickery could throw some mice off and require it to be even more clever. The scout run seems ideal to plan the 'ideal' route, but going slow wouldn't allow for measuring slip. You'd probably get some crazy solutions like adding a 5th wheel that's driven at some power, have the other motors regenerative break for a net zero acceleration force on the mice, and then measure the loss between the 5th motor and the power that's regenerated that's due to friction on the surface.

Anyhow, I will stop daydreaming aloud now. Was a fun watch, and looks even more fun to build one.
coppercone2:
it should just jump into the air and go into the colored spot, this is what a more smart animal then a mouse does (squirrel)
Navigation
Message Index
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod