Re: Walls and Slots - was Re: APEC Rules

[Duncan Louttit <duncan@swallow.co.uk>]

Hi Everyone,

         I don't really mind how the maze is constructed or what the gaps 
are, as long as the rules define the range of measurements that can be 
present. New mousers will only be put off if their mouse is stopped by a 
"feature" that doesn't appear in the rules. It must be possible for them to 
make up a section of "real" maze to test their mouse on without having to 
come along for several years to find out about actual mazes.

         Regards,

         Duncan

At 21:46 20/07/04, you wrote:


>David Otten wrote:
>>"see".  Since the post is the last thing the sensors see before an open 
>>square, there is a chance that the slot confuses the mouse if the 
>>designer is not thinking about it.
>
>And that is the key (so to speak) The plastic maze walls available in SE 
>Asia and now in the UK and elsewhere have these large slots in them.
>
>Slots between walls and posts of up to 1mm or so [as in the rules] are 
>pretty well inevitable unless you can construct a maze to extremely good 
>tolerances. Actual slots may wel be bigger.
>
>I worried for a while about making a really good maze until I realised 
>that it was pretty pointless. If I could not get my mouse to run in a 
>rough and ready maze, I would be designing it for an ideal, controlled 
>environment that may exist nowhere else in the world.
>
>When testing, I sometimes just stand walls up deliberately out of place, 
>or at an angle or even place another wall inside the existing walls to 
>create a kind of chicane.
>
>It is the designers responsibility to try and make the beast work under 
>the worst possible conditions. There is no fun or gain in complaining 
>because a mouse did less well due to the gaps being 0.25mm over size.
>
>As they stand the rules make no mention of the slots, only gaps between 
>walls. But be honest - how many of you can detect the slots anyway? Tony 
>had trouble with resonant cavities for ultrasound. Dave mentioned a tiny 
>beamwidth for his sensors but still only shows the slots as a drop of a 
>few percent. My sensors throw an 8 degree beam which would be 15mm across 
>at the wall - I cant tell they are there. In any event, you should have 
>some idea where you are - compensate for when you expect to be looking at 
>a post or gap.
>
>Take the issue of steps between parts of the maze floor. Fail to take them 
>properly into account and your mouse could be left with its wheels in the 
>air. My current mouse can handle a 1mm step [as in the rules] but gets 
>stranded on a 1.6mm step. That will have to be improved before I run in a 
>'real' maze - just in case.
>
>Pete Harrison
>http://micromouse.cannock.ac.uk/