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Micromouse is a competition based on the construction of miniature robots controlled by a microcontroller.
The mouse has to find its way through
an arbitrary maze. It competes with
other mice to see which one finds the center of the maze within
the least amount of time. The Micro Mouse competition is held
once a year in Spring around April It includes a design contest,
a paper contest and Micro Mouse. Students can enter the competition
individually or with a group.Participants are required to be
members of IEEE.
Mark Miliano, the Micro Mouse officer and the
instructor of ECE191 (Micro
Mouse design & construction), says he would recommend
students who are interested in Micro Mouse to take ECE186 and
ECE285. However, those two courses are not necessary as long
as they can build a Micro Mouse by using the knowledge they
have. Here is the picture of Mark Millano's Micromouse.
Spring 2003
Truong Pham took first place with the slow but steady Turtle
Spring 2002
Jatin (Jay) Patel secured first place in the Micromouse competition
with a time period of 29 seconds.
Omar Fathallah secured first place in the Design Contest.
Spring 2001
Dustin Hess secured first place in the Micromouse competition
competition with a new record time of 23 seconds.
Aaron Lager secured third place in the Design Contest.
Links to Chico State Micromouse Help and History
General Links
Maze Generators
+ Thanks go out to Lifeng Jiang and Pete Sullivan as well as
Mark Milliano and Quing Wang for their input
1.0 OBJECTIVE
The objective of the Design Project Contest is to demonstrate
good engineering design and individual or team effort in the
construction and demonstration of a design project. A design
project will, in general, result in a piece of hardware; e.g.,
a product prototype, an experimental apparatus, etc. There will
be a single contest for both individual and team entries. The
rotating trophy is presented to the school represented by the
first place winner in the contest.
2.0 ELIGIBILITY
An individual or team is eligible to compete in the Contests
by meeting the following requirements:
2.1 All contestants must be undergraduate
students at a Region 6 Central Area school with an IEEE Student
Branch at the time of entry in the Branch Contest. A student
graduating after competing in the Branch Contest still remains
eligible to compete in the Area Contest.
2.2 All contestants must be IEEE Student Members
or must have submitted an application for membership prior to
entry in the Branch Contest.
2.3 All team members must be able to demonstrate
a significant contribution to the Project.
2.4 The Branch Contest winner from each school
is eligible to compete in the Area Contest. More than one entry
per school may be allowed if there are less than six entries
in each contest. This determination will be made by the Central
Area Student Activities Coordinator four weeks prior to the
contest. Due to the limited Central Area travel budget, only
one entry per school will have their expenses paid for travel
and meals.
3.0 BRANCH CONTESTS
Each student branch is responsible for scheduling a Branch
Contest at its campus. Entries for the Area Contest are limited
to the winners of the Branch Contests.
4.0 AREA CONTESTS
Each entry will be given a display space consisting of a table
approximately 3 feet by 5 feet. Space shall be provided all
around the table so that both team members and spectators can
move freely. The host school shall supply display space information
to all contestants at least four weeks before the Area Meeting.
The display and judging of the entries shall take place over
a period not to exceed four hours.
5.0 JUDGING GUIDELINES
The following shall be considered in judging the Student Design
Project Contest:
5.1 Neatness of construction.
5.2 Use of good electrical engineering design
and design practices demonstrated in electrical design, layout,
component placement, wiring, construction, testability, maintainability,
appearance and human factors.
5.3 Each team member shall have made a significant
contribution and shall be able to demonstrate the appropriate
knowledge of both his/her contribution and the overall project.
5.4 As a team the contestants shall be clearly
able to demonstrate their entry to the judges and to answer
all the judges’ questions.
5.5 A paper is not required; but good engineering
documentation, such as schematics, parts lists, assembly drawings,
wire lists, inter-connection diagrams, state charts, program
listing and program flow charts, is required as appropriate.
Posters and signs that indicate the operation, function, purpose
and general utility of the project are highly desirable.
5.6 Priority will be given to a "working"
project.
5.7 A brief description of the Design Project
shall be presented to the attendees prior to the judging. The
purpose of the presentation is to make those present aware of
the types of designs exhibited. The presentation should take
no mo re than two minutes and will be given prior to the Student
Paper Contest. For the team entries, one individual shall act
as spokesperson for the team. Judging may occur during the Student
Paper contest and, hence, anyone entering the Student Paper
Conte st may not be able to participate in the Design Contest.
However, a person entering the Student Paper Contest can be
a member of the design team entry.
5.8 The Design Project will be displayed to
all attendees following the Student Paper Contest.
Adopted: August 1969
Revised: February 1982
Revised: October 1984
Organization of Contents:
Section A: General Guidelines
Section B: Conduct of Regional Contest
Section C: Conduct of Area Contests
Section D: Conduct of Branch Contests
Section E: Written Presentation Format
Section F: Oral Presentation Format
Section G: Guidelines and Criteria for Judges and Judging
A. General Guidelines
- Purpose:
The IEEE Student Paper Contest offers the undergraduate IEEE Student Member
opportunities to exercise and improve both written and verbal communication
skills. Throughout an engineer"s career, he/she will constantly be
called upon to communicate ideas to others. Researching, writing, and
presenting a paper provides a student with invaluable early experience in
expressing ideas related to engineering. Since the paper contest"s
primary function is to improve the engineering student"s communicative
skills, no student should be discouraged from entering the contest due to a
requirement of technical sophistication.
- Overall organization:
A Student Paper Contest shall be conducted annually within Region 6. The
Contest shall consist of competitions at the Branch, Area, and Region
levels. A Section Contest may be held in lieu of or may be supplementary to
a Branch Contest.
- Eligibility:
An entrant must be an undergraduate student at a Region 6 school at which
there is an IEEE Student Branch at the time of entry at the Branch Contest.
(Note: A student who is an undergraduate at the time of his/her Branch
Contest remains eligible even if he/she graduates before the Area or Region
Contest.) (At his discretion, the Student Activities Chairman may authorize
an entrant from a school not having a Student Branch if exceptional
circumstances exist.)
An entrant must be a member of IEEE or must have submitted an application
for membership prior to entry in the Branch Contest.
An entrant must write his/her own paper even when the project was performed
in collaboration with others. The author’s contribution must be clearly
defined from that of his collaborators.
- Subject matter:
Papers should cover technical, engineering, management, or societal aspects
of subjects reasonably within or related to the areas with which the IEEE is
concerned, and with which the entrant is familiar, either from courses,
hobbies, summer employment, or other similar experience. An entrant may
report on his/her original work, work performed within a group of which
he/she is a member, or the results of research of the literature. In any
case, the author shall delineate his/her sources according to accepted
practice.
B. Conduct of Regional Contest
- Place and date:
The Regional Contest shall normally take place on or before September 30, at
a site specified by the Student Activities Committee. (Note: The Contest is
usually scheduled as a special session of the WESCON Professional Program in
Los Angeles or San Francisco)
- Entry requirements:
Contest entry shall be restricted to the winners of those Area Contests with
three or more contestants, and winners of Area Contests with less than three
contestants upon recommendation from the Region Director, Region Student
Activities Committee Chairman, Region Student Representative, and written
recommendation from the Contest Judges.
- Roles:
Contestants may freely edit and revise their papers, but papers must be
submitted on special manuscript paper by July 10, according to instructions
in the WESCON speaker"s kit provided to each contestant, Written and
oral presentations shall be as specified in Section G.
- Prizes and expense reimbursement:
The Institute Life Member Fund provides $525 prize money, which shall be
allocated as follows: First place, $300 second place, $l50: third place,
$75. Additional prize awards, if available, may be offered at the discretion
of the Contest Chairman, such As those donated by industrial supporters of
IEEE student activities. Additionally, the top three winners will receive
certificates and their schools a duly inscribed plaque. Travel expense
reimbursement for each entrant (and his Branch Counselor, when available
funds permit) must be applied for according to instructions provided by the
Region Student Activities Chairman. IEEE Form A-95 or the WESCON expense
report form will be used depending on SAC instructions.
- Winning paper publication:
Each year the top three winners in each region have their papers published
in the hardbound book, "IEEE 19xx Student Papers," a document
distributed to Student Branches and engineering libraries throughout the
world. The three authors must provide a 2"" x 3"
black-and-white reproducible portrait and a brief (about 100-word) biography
by September 30. The Region Student Activities Chairman will forward the
winner"s nets, address, portrait, biography, IEEE member number, and
WESCON manuscript to IEEE headquarters by October l0.
- Contest Chairman responsibilities:
The overall conduct of the Contest is the responsibility of a Regional
Contest Chairman, appointed by the Student Activities Chairman. Specific
duties of the Contest Chairman include:
a. Notifying in advance Area Student Activities Coordinators of the planned
Region Contest.
b. Arranging for all needed facilities and services in cooperation with the
Director of Education, WESCON Staff, ECI Inc., beginning by early January.
c. Soliciting and properly charging judges.
d. Collecting written presentations from entrants (WESCON manuscripts) and
distributing then (copies of the WESCON Session Record) to judges.
e. Chairing or arranging for chairing oral presentation portion of the
Contest.
f. Arranging for the presentation or delivery of all prizes, plaques, and
certificates.
g. Promptly notifying the Student Activities Chairman as to the Contest
outcome (the SAC then has the responsibility of notifying the Student
Services Manager at IEEE Headquarters, B.5 above, and requesting the Student
Paper Contest prize money and certificates).
h. Submitting an itemized expense statement to the Student Activities
Chairman for expense reimbursement.
C. Conduct of Area Contests
- Area definitions:
a. Northeast: Utah, Montana, Southern Idaho
b. Northwest: Washington, Oregon, Northern Idaho, Alaska
c. Central: Northern California, Nevada, Hawaii
d. Southern: Los Angeles vicinity
e. Southwest: San Diego vicinity, Arizona, New Mexico
- Place and date:
The 5 Area Contests are conducted as part of the respective Spring Area
Meeting on a date and at a site proposed by the Area Student Activities
Coordinator and approved by the Region Executive Committee. Cooperation and
coordination in advance (by the preceding Autumn Area Meeting) between the
ASAC and EXCOM particularly through the Area Chairman and the Region Student
Activities Chairman, will maximize participation and minimize costs of the
meeting. On-campus Area meetings enhance student-professional interaction.
- Entry requirements:
Contest entry shall be restricted to one participant from each Student
Branch, normally the Branch Contest winner.
- Rules: Written and oral presentations shall be as
specified in Section E and F. Judges and judging criteria shall be as
specified in Section G.
- Prizes and expense reimbursement:
The Regional Student Activities Committee budget provides $750 prize money,
$150 allocated to each Area as follows: First place, $75; second place, $45;
third place, $30. Additional prize awards, if available, may be offered at
the discretion of the Contest Chairman, such as those donated by industrial
or other supporters of IEEE student activities. The top three winners will
also receive certificates. The Regional Student Activities Committee budget
includes funds for reimbursement of reasonable travel expenses, limited to
reimbursing one entrant per Student Branch, the Branch Chairman, and the
Branch Counselor. In many oases, car-pooling, Branch or Section cooperation
and support, etc., can help considerably to enhance student participation at
minimum cost. Reimbursement must be applied for by completing a standard
IEEE Regional Expense Report, Form A-95, and sending it promptly to the
appropriate Area Contest Chairman. The report must conform to "Region 6
Policy for Reimbursement of Travel and Living Expenses," as revised for
the year of the travel. Each person qualified for reimbursement must submit
his/her own expense report. Nothing is to be charged directly to IEEE.
- Contest Chairman responsibilities:
The overall conduct of an Area Content is the responsibility of an Area
Contest Chairman. The Area Contest Chairmen are appointed by the Student
Activities. Specific duties an Area Contest Chairman include:
a. Arranging for all needed facilities and services, in cooperation with
the Area Chairman.
b. Soliciting and properly charging judges.
c. Promulgating Contest information to all Branches in the Area.
d. Collecting written presentations from entrants and distributing them to
judges.
e. Chairing or arranging for Chairing the oral presentation portion of the
Contest.
f. Arranging for the presentation or delivery of all prizes and
certificates.
g. Collecting, endorsing, and forwarding to the Region Student Activities
Chairman expense reports submitted for travel reimbursement.
h. Promptly notifying the Regional Contest Chairman of the names, mailing
addresses, phone numbers, IEEE member numbers, Branch, and paper titles of
winners.
D. Conduct of Branch Contests
- Date:
Branch Contests should take place at least 3 weeks prior to the respective
Area Contest. Contest dates are selected by the Branch Executive Committee
and Counselor. The Area Contest date is available from the Area Student
Activities Coordinator or the Region Student Activities Chairman.
- Entry requirements:
All Students meeting eligibility requirements A.3 are eligible to enter
their Branch Contest. There shall be no limit placed on the number of
entrants.
- Rules:
A Branch Contest may be held in accordance with the written and oral
presentation and judging requirements of section E, F, and G, or, at the
option of the Branch Executive Committee and Counselor, local rules may be
followed.
- Prizes and expense reimbursement:
Any prizes or expenses incurred are at the discretion of a Branch and
involve Branch funds only. Suitable certificates are available for those
Branches wishing to use them, however.
- Contest publicity and entrant solicitation:
The Branch Executive Committee and Counselor are jointly responsible for
adequately publicizing a contest and making the benefits of participation
known to their membership.
E. Written Presentation Format
- General format:
All papers must be typewritten, double spaced on one side only on standard
8-1/2 by 11 inch paper. An equation or symbol that cannot be typed in may be
written in. Authors prepare original copy to assure legible, sharp
reproduction of texts figures, photographs, computer listings, plots,
sketches, schematic diagrams, etc., maintaining required margins. Margins
should be 1-1/4 inches right and left on all pages (entire body not more
than 6 inches wide), top margin 8 lines, bottom 4 lines above page number.
Page number centered 1 inch from bottom of the pegs. The pages must be
numbered consecutively, starting with the Abstract as page number 1. The
main portion of the paper (Introduction through Body and Conclusion, plus
Tables and Figures) may not exceed 15 pages. The entire paper (Title page
though Appendices) may not exceed 24 pages. Appendices should not be used as
artificial extension of the paper. Each copy of a paper submitted for
judging should be securely stapled. Binders or protective covers are
optional.
- Organization of paper:
All papers shall include the following components, in the order listed
(except Appendices are optional).
a. Title page: The title page lists the title of the paper, the name(s) of
the author(s), the IEEE membership number of the principal author (write
"IEEE Student Member No. xxxxxxxx" or if membership has been
applied for but processing is not completed, write "IEEE Student
Membership pending), the name of the institution, and the approximate date
(month and year) when the paper was written. The paper title should
consist of the minimum number of key words necessary to portray accurately
the contents of the paper.
b. Table of Contents: The Table of Contents consists of a list of the
parts of the paper and their page numbers, in the order in which they
occur
c. Abstract: An Abstract is a very brief summary of an entire paper. It
appears by itself on a separate sheet of paper. The Abstract should not
describe the paper, but should give a brief statement of the problem or
objective and a concise summary of the results or conclusion, touching
upon methods or other details only if they are unique or if they are of
some particular significance. The Abstract should be no longer than 1000
words.
d. Introduction: The Introduction should lead to the development of the
subject, so that the reader may obtain a clear understanding of the
significance of the paper or article prepared. This can often be done by
briefly giving the state of the art as background and then by bringing out
the added advantages of the method of approach and emphasizing the
importance of the results or conclusions.
e. Body: The main argument of the subject is carried out in the body of
the paper, complete with supporting data. The argument should proceed in a
logical sequence according to a prepared outline. The writing should be in
the third person. References should be cited an appropriate in the text by
number, (See (h) below.) Every figure should be cited in the text. Support
data and results can be presented most effectively as curves, charts, or
tables. Main equations as they are developed should be numbered
consecutively, with the number in the right margin. Standard graphical
symbols and abbreviations should be used on all drawings. (Ref.
"Graphic Symbols for Electrical and Electronic Diagrams," IEEE
STD 315.) Well known abbreviations may be used in the text, but should be
defined where used the first time followed by the abbreviation in
parentheses. (See 7 below.) Generally, the use of abbreviations should be
confined to tables and illustrations. Illustrations and tables should
supplement, not duplicate, text materials; likewise, they should
complement, not duplicate each other.
f. Conclusions: The Conclusions are often considered the most important
part of a paper. They should be stated concisely in a separate section at
the end of the paper. If there are three or more conclusions, better
emphasis can be obtained by numbering each conclusion and setting it off
in a separate paragraph.
g. Acknowledgments: Acknowledgments of assistance should be placed at the
end of the paper. See 4 below.)
h. References: To enable the reader to consult important works used by the
author in the preparation of his manuscript and other related literature
which might be helpful, a suitable reference list should be appended.
References should be numbered consecutively and should follow the form
shown below:
For a periodical: R. N. Hall, "Power Rectifiers and
Transformers," Proc. IRE, Vol. 40, pp. 1512-1518, November
1952.
For a book: W. A. Edson, Vacuum Tube Oscillators, John Wiley and Sons,
Inc., New York, New York, pp. 170-171, 1948.
For an article: B. Lawrence. B. H. Weil, and M. H. Graham, "Making
on-line search available in an industrial research environment,"
Journal of the American Society for Information Science, pp. 364-369,
Nov.-Dec. 1974.
i. Appendices: Detailed mathematical proofs, development of equations and
examples which are subordinate to the main argument in the body of the
paper, but not essential to following the argument, should be treated in
Appendices. The equations, figures, and tables in the Appendices should be
numbered consecutively following the numbers used for the equations,
figures, and tables in the text (such as, if Table IV were last in the
text, Table V would be first in the Appendices).
- Tables and figures:
Each table should normally be typed on a separate sheet and numbered
consecutively using Roman numerals: Table I, Table II, etc. Small
tabulations or listings may be made in the text where necessary for
continuity. Each table should be titled by giving the brief description as a
heading following the table number at the top. Ditto marks should not be
used in tables, but brackets may be used to group information on several
lines.
Figures should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals: Figure 1,
Figure 2, etc. Three types of figures may be used: photographs, oscillograms,
and line drawings. Every figure should include a caption which fully
identifies what is being illustrated, but reading material on an
illustration itself should be kept to a minimum. Portions of illustrations
may be identified by letters and explained in the captions. Whenever
feasible, several curves should be combined on the on the same coordinates.
Their identifying letters or numbers should be in clear spaces between cross
section lines, Readers generally prefer having the figures distributed
through the article, although it is alto permissible to bind them together
at the end.
- Information regarding genesis of project, student"s role,
originality, etc.:
No separate statement regarding the originality of contributions or the
specific contributions of an author is required; however, it is desirable to
include information of this type to enable judges to fairly assess the
content of a paper.
- Biography:
Include a note of information about the author on a final page.
- Submission deadlines and the number of copies to be submitted:
Unless a Contest Chairman specifies that additional copies are to be sent, 3
copies should be submitted. They should be posted so as to be received by a
Contest Chairman at least two weeks in advance of the Contest (oral
presentation) date, and the Chairman should be separately notified that
manuscripts have been submitted.
- Further Information:
"Information for IEEE Authors." IEEE Spectrum. August 1965,
pp. 111-114.
"Supplement to Information for IEEE Authors," IEEE Spectrum.
May l966.
"IEEE Recommended Practice for Units in Published Scientific and
Technical Work," IEEE Spectrum, March l966, pp. 169-173.
F. Oral Presentation Format
- General format:
Each presenter shall be allotted 15 minutes for his presentation, followed
by a 5 minute question period. The order of presentation shall be determined
by lot. During a question period, questions may be asked by judges or by
members of the audience.
-
Procedures:
a. The Chairman shall explain procedures to the contestants and audience
at the beginning of the Contest.
b. Each speaker shall be introduced by the Chairman before beginning
his/her presentation.
c. The Chairman shall arrange for a timing system which will give a
warning signal at the end of 13 minutes, a stop signal at the end of 15
minutes, and a second stop signal at the end of 20 minutes to signal the
termination of the question period. The Chairman is responsible for the
fair and equitable enforcement of timing rules.
d. The presenter is responsible for recognizing individuals seeking to ask
questions. Judges should always be given priority in the asking of
questions, however. Questioners from the audience must state their name
and affiliation.
e. Each presentation shall be followed by a short break of up to 5 minutes
to allow judges to complete their assessments, and to prepare for the next
presentation.
- Display items and visual aids:
Demonstrations and hardware displays are allowed, but should be appropriate
for a technical presentation. Visual aids such as slides, charts, and motion
picture films may be used. The following equipment shall ordinarily be
available for all oral presentations:
35 mm slide projector, Screen, Over head or view graph projector, Pointer,
Blackboard, Podium
Each contestant is responsible for arranging for any needed visual aids
other than those listed above. When a large audience is anticipated, a
public address system with a lavaliere microphone shall be provided.
G. Guidelines and Criteria for Judges and Judging
- Judges: There shall be 3 to 5 judges employed for both
written and oral presentations. The use of the same judges for both types of
presentations is optional. The judges should have a record of experience in
written and oral communication of ideas. They should be selected to
represent a cross section of various disciplines in electrical, electronics,
and related fields of engineering. Judges are selected and appointed by the
appropriate Contest Chairman. Qualified engineers in local industry are
recommended for judging in order to enhance student interaction with the
profession.
- Judging Criteria:
Papers and presentations will be judged in three categories: The written
presentation, the oral presentation, and the project (or study) itself. Each
of these categories are weighted equally. In making this judgment, the
following factors are considered:
A. The Written Presentation
a. Organization (Logical? Inclusive? Compact?)
b. Content (Interesting? Clear? Articulate?)
c. Language (Grammar, spelling, choice of words)
d. Illustrations (figures) (Pertinent? Clear?)
B. The Oral Presentation
a., b., c. of the above plus speaking effectiveness, audio-visual aids,
and ability to handle well the questions asked from the audience.
C. The Project
a. Usefulness (Does it fulfill a need with reasonable ease and economy?)
b. Originality (Is the idea novel and are the procedures ingenious?)
c. Development (Is the reasoning sound? Are the mathematical processes
pertinent and correct? Are the experimental techniques satisfactory?)
At oral presentations, judges should ask such questions as necessary to
determine the precise role of the author in the project, and they should be
prepared to ask probing technical questions. On written presentations,
originality scores must be based on information included in the paper
itself. Contestants are always highly interested in learning how they fared.
Judges are urged to add comments and constructive criticism to score sheets.
These items can then be returned to contestants at the completion of a
Contest to aid contestants in improving their communication skills. Judges
should preserve their anonymity by not identifying their score sheets,
however.
- Suggested method of scoring:
Assign to each of the categories listed above a score on the scale of 5 to
1. Scores accurate to one decimal point, but not greater then 5 are
appropriate.
5 - Excellent, 4 - Great, 3 - Good, 2 - Fair, 1 - Poor
Each judge will compute a score by adding the scores of the three categories
for each paper. The maximum score would be 15. It is the responsibility of
each group of judges to decide before the contest a fair method of compiling
their individual scores into a final judgment.
IEEE Region 6 Central Area Student
Paper Contest Judging Sheet
Student Name:
Paper Title:
1. Written Presentation
a. Organization
b. Content
c. Language
d. Effectiveness of illustrations
Written score (1-5)__________
2. Oral Presentation
a. Organization
b. Content clear
c. Language
d. Effectiveness of oral presentation
e. Response to questions
f. Audio-visual aids
Oral score (1-5)__________
3. Project
a. Usefulness
b. Originality
c. Development
Project score (l-5)__________
Comments, constructive criticism
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