INTEGRATION OF MICROMOUSE PROJECT WITH UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM - A LARGE-SCALE STUDENT PARTICIPATION APPROACH

This paper describes a successful integration of the Micromouse projec t with regular undergraduate courses at California State University, F ullerton. A micromouse is a computer controlled autonomous mobile robo t which can find a predetermined destination when placed in an unknown maze. The goals of this paper are to report a complete design example suitable for large-scale student participation and to discuss the ben efits of the program from an educator's view point. The Intel 8088 mic roprocessor was chosen to make the mouse compatible with the PC system s which are universal available. Two stepping motors and eight optical sensors are used to complete the system. Software is written in C and Assembly language with over 2000 lines. Seven micromice have been bui lt since 1990 and several of these mice have won several awards in the IEEE Region Six Southern California competition. Integration of the p roject with the conventional curriculum has been very successful in mo tivating students and keeping their interest high. Students show great er enthusiasm for classroom activities and many continue to participat e in the project after the semester is over.