CSU, Chico Student’s Robot Mouse Solves Maze In Record Time
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2001
Joe Wills
530-898-4143
CSU, Chico Student’s Robot Mouse Solves Maze In Record Time
A California State University, Chico engineering student won a regional competition earlier this month by designing the fastest and smartest “micromouse.”
Dustin Hess, a computer engineering major, won the annual micromouse maze contest sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) on May 5 his small robotic mouse negotiated a table-top-sized course in 23 seconds, a record for the competition.
Hess received $450 for winning the event, and an IEEE trophy came to CSU, Chico’s College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology.
Ten robotic mice from Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii universities were entered in the event, held in Sacramento.
The IEEE competition also includes a computer engineering design contest and research paper contest. CSU, Chico computer engineering student Aaron Lager received third place and $100 for his design of a radio-controlled rocket launcher.
“We thank Dustin and Aaron for the tremendous effort they put into their projects to represent our university,” said Ben-Dau Tseng, professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Dustin had so much confidence that he volunteered to be the first one to put his micromouse in the maze. We are proud of his record-breaking achievement.”
To take part in the competition, students must be members in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Entries often constitute a student’s senior project. Tseng said Hess’s mouse was a senior project, but Lager’s design was his own project.
Since 1998, 12 CSU, Chico students have placed in the top five in the IEEE competition.
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