Maze Mouse

This dissertation discusses fundamental issues in the development of a micromouse,
utilizing the knowledge in electronic circuits, sensors and the microcontroller. The
objective of this project is to develop a maneuverable micromouse that hasthe capability
to navigate in the maze and find its way out of maze. A detail design of the micromouse
systems is presented. A maze solver for demonstrating the maneuverability of the
micromouse has also been developed.
A micromouse is a miniature electro-mechanical robot, typically consisting of three main
subsystems: the drive system, an array of sensors and the control system. To illustrate the
integration of the three systems in the micromouse, a general block diagram has been
constructed. The first block is the sensory systems which generate the input to the
microcontroller systems. The selected sensor is the IR detector that uses the reflective
motion in order to detect the mouse position. This kind of sensor is sensitive enough for
the project and commonly used for IEEE Micro Mouse Competition .The second block
is the microcontroller systems that obtain the input signal from input pins and determine
the appropriate algorithm for the output systems. The chosen microcontroller is Intel
8031 and had to be programmed by using the ASM51.The third block is the stepper
motor. The reason for choosing the stepper motor is that we can easily adjust the
direction and the speed by programming. The final product is the combination all the
three block systems.
This report describes on the fundamental concepts required for micromouse design which
are the infrared sensor systems, Intel 8051 microcontroller system and stepper motor
drive systems. Focus of the project is primarily on the infrared sensor system and maze
solving algorithm which are the critical part ofthis project.