Team members: Paula Garcia, Toan Le, Ellery Sarquilla, Horacio Delgado
Part 1 Name | IEEE Robotics & Automation Society (RAS) | Date founded | 1984, led by George Saridis, the first RAC President | Location of Head Quarter | Piscataway, NJ | Mission/ Purpose | IEE’s purpose is to foster new and advance technology and excellence for the benefit of humanity | Service Provided | Publishes fundamental scientific papers dealing with all aspects of Robotics and provides technical information for the members and affiliates. | Membership Cost | * Society Affiliate $80 * Professional member $9 * Student member $5 * Membership Includes: All electronic transaction for Automation Science and Engineering and digital delivery on automation magazines. * Personalized gateway to IEE Membership |

We chose this organization because IEEE RAS strives for education in research of robotic and automation that emphasizes efficiency, productivity, quality, and reliability.
Part 2 * Overview of the competition: In the contest, teams must design and build a robotic mouse that navigates through an assembled maze from a specific location to its center in shortest time. * Rules of Competition: 1. Must be an undergraduate IEEE Student 2. Conduct a brief presentation of your micromouse prior to competition 3. Only up to five members 4. Two or more design of mice that are near identical from the same school are not eligible

B. Contest Eligibility
1. All contestants must be an undergraduate IEEE student member at a Region 6 school from within the Area of Region 6 in which contest they will compete at the time of entry in the MicroMouse contest.
2 .All contestaMicromouse Competition

This small robot must navigate a large maze as quickly as possible, using a navigation algorithm. We meet every Friday from 5-7pm in the Undergraduate Hardware Lab (UHL). Anyone from IEEE is welcome, even if you don't have access.
Competition Rules

A. Objective

In this contest the contestant or team of contestants design and build an autonomous robotic "mouse" that negotiates a maze of standard dimensions from a specified corner to its center in the shortest time.

nts must be an IEEE Student Member or must have submitted an application for membership (and have it accepted by their Student Branch Counselor) prior to entry in the Student Branch and/or Chapter Contest.
3. The contestant(s) will submit their design in a document that will include a summary description of their mouse, schematics, layout, Bill of Materials (with associated costs) and code prior to the competition.
4. The MicroMouse entry may be the effort of an individual or a team. In the case of a team it should be possible to demonstrate that each individual made a significant contribution and that they are all IEEE members.
5. A team may consist of up to five people. A team of four or five people may include no more than two graduate students. A team of two or three people may have no more than one graduate student. A team consisting of a single graduate student is not allowed.
6. All entrants to the contest must declare their intention to enter the contest at least 2 weeks before the date of the regional contest.
7. If the total number of declared mice, from all schools, is less than the number of eligible schools to compete in that Area, all shall be eligible to compete in the area contest. will be held in the morning. A qualifying contest might involve, for example, having the mice transverse a specific numbers of cells.

C. Rules for the MicroMouse
1. A MicroMouse shall be self-contained (no remote controls).
2. A MicroMouse shall not leave any part of its body behind while negotiating the maze.
3. A MicroMouse shall not jump over, fly over, climb, scratch, cut, burn, mark, damage, or destroy the walls of the maze.
4. A MicroMouse shall not be larger either in length or in width, than 25 centimeters. The dimensions of a MicroMouse that changes its geometry during a run shall not be greater than 25 cm x 25 cm. There are no restrictions on the height of a MicroMouse.
5. Any violation of these rules will constitute immediate disqualification from the contest and ineligibility for the associated prizes.

D. Rules for the Maze
1. The maze is composed of multiples of an 18 cm x 18 cm unit square. The maze comprises 16 x 16 unit squares. The walls of the maze are 5 cm high and 1.2 cm thick (assume 5% tolerance for mazes). The outside wall encloses the entire maze.
2. The sides of the maze walls are white, the tops of the walls are red, and the floor is black. The maze is made of wood, finished with non-gloss paint.
3. The start of the maze is located at one of the four corners. The start square is bounded on three sides by walls. At the center of this zone is a post, 20 cm high and each side 2.5 cm. (This post may be removed if requested.) The destination square has only one entrance.
4. Small square zones (posts), each 1.2 cm x 1.2 cm, at the four corners of each unit square are called lattice points.
5. The dimensions of the maze shall be accurate to within 5% or 2 cm, whichever is less. Assembly joints on the maze floor shall not involve steps greater than 0.5 mm. The change of slope at an assembly joint shall not be greater than 4. Gaps between the walls of adjacent squares shall not be greater than 1 mm.
6. Multiple paths to the destination square are allowed and are to be expected. The destination square will be positioned so that a wall-hugging mouse will NOT be able to find it.

E. Rules for the Contest
1.1. Each contesting MicroMouse is allocated a total of 10 minutes of access to the maze from the moment the contest administrator acknowledges the contestant(s) and grants access to the maze. Any time used to adjust a mouse between runs is included in the 10 minutes.
2.The starting procedure of the mouse shall be simple and must not offer a choice of strategies to the handler.
3.Each run shall be made from the starting square. The operator may abort a run at any time. If an operator touches the MicroMouse during a run, it is deemed aborted, and the mouse must be removed from the maze. If a mouse has already crossed the finish line, it may be removed at any time without affecting the run time of that run. If a mouse is placed back in the maze for another run, a one-time penalty of 30 seconds will be added to the mouse’s next run time.
4. After the maze is disclosed, the operator shall not feed information on the maze into the MicroMouse however, switch positions may be changed.
5. The illumination, temperature, and humidity of the room shall be those of an ambient environment. (40 to 120 degrees F, 0% to 95% humidity, noncondensing). a. BEWARE: Do not make any assumptions about the amount of sunlight, incandescent light, or fluorescent light that may be present at the contest site.
6. The run timer will start when front edge of the mouse crosses the start line and stops when the front edge of the mouse crosses the finish line. The start line is at the boundary between the starting unit square and the next unit square clockwise. The finish line is at the entrance to the destination square.
7. Every time the mouse leaves the start square, a new run begins. If the mouse has not entered the destination square, the previous run is aborted.
8. The mouse may, after reaching the destination square, continue to navigate the maze, for as long as their total maze time allows.
9. If a mouse continues to navigate the maze after reaching the destination square, the time taken will not count toward any run.
10. The judges reserve the right to ask the operator for an explanation of the MicroMouse. The judges also reserve the right to stop a run, declare disqualification, or give instructions as appropriate (e.g., if the structure of the maze is jeopardized by continuing operation of the mouse).
11. A contestant may not feed information on the maze to the MicroMouse. Therefore, changing ROMs or downloading programs is NOT allowed once the maze is revealed. However, contestants are allowed to:
1. a. Change switch settings (e.g. to select algorithms)
2. b. Replace batteries between runs
3. c. Adjust sensors
4. d. Change speed settings
5. e. Make repairs
12.However, a contestant may not alter a mouse in a manner that alters its weight (e.g. removal of a bulky sensor array or switching to lighter batteries to get better speed after mapping the maze is not allowed). The judges shall arbitrate.
13. There is only one official IEEE MicroMouse contest each year in each Area or Region. All mice, whether or not they have competed in previous contests, compete on an equal basis. All mice must be presented to the judges by the original design team, which must meet all other qualifications.
13.A rotating trophy is awarded to the first place mouse. Verbal recognition and certificates will be given to the top three mice among those that are competing for the first time.
14. If requested, a break will be provided for a mouse after any run if another mouse is waiting to compete. The 10-minute timer will stop. When the mouse is re-entered, the 10-minute timer will continue. The judges shall arbitrate on the granting of such breaks.
15. The decision of the Judges shall be treated as final and binding at all times.

"IEEE Robotics and Automation Society - IEEE Robotics and Automation Society." Home - IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. <http://www.ieee-ras.org/component/content/article/18-about-ras/e-news/14-ras-e-news-march-2011>.
"MicroMouse." Home Page. N.p., 7 Feb. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. <http://ieee.cse.ucsc.edu/micromouse>.