Micromouse: An autonomous robot vehicle interdisciplinary attraction to education and research

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to instill in students motivation and interest for what they are studying a little bit further of the theory they learn in classroom. Sometimes students prefer more interactive classes and want to know why the material given in class is helpful in their career. Do we have a solution for this? Autonomous Robotic Vehicle (ARV) projects can be the solution to this problem. This type of project are interdisciplinary and offer students varieties of challenges, while involving different areas of interest like programming, design, assembling and testing. One of the best ARV project is the Micromouse. The Micromouse is a small robot that solves mazes. The basic idea is that the student makes his own Micromouse from scratch using knowledge acquired from different classes and the research done. This project also helps the student to develop teamwork skills and creativity to complete the different challenges and objectives that appear when building a Micromouse. The student learns the importance of working with students from other engineering concentrations, which allows him to experience how a career in engineer will be.