The Fastest Maze-Solving Competition On Earth

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Thank you to David Otten, APEC, and the All-Japan Micromouse Competition for having us.
Thank you to John McBride, Yusaku Kanagawa, and Katie Barnshaw for their help with Japanese translations.

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References:

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Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:
Emil Abu Milad, Tj Steyn, meg noah, Bernard McGee, KeyWestr, Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Juan Benet, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Sam Lutfi.

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Written by Tom Lum and Emily Zhang
Edited by Trenton Oliver
Animated by Ivy Tello
Coordinated by Emily Zhang
Filmed by Yusaku Kanagawa, Emily Zhang, and Derek Muller
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and Pond5
Music from Epidemic Sound
Thumbnail by Ren Hurley and Ignat Berbeci
References by Katie Barnshaw
Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang

[ARankin]

The section about the mouse choosing the longer but straighter path really struck home with me. Too often in map software, and even games with a GPS system, the "shorter" path will be taken, even though the longer path is actually faster when factoring in deceleration, waiting at stop signs, etc. It's really a fascinating area for optimization.

[cupostuff]

Those turns are unreal, it looks like the mouse is simply teleporting across across certain parts of the maze

[anjayv]

As an electronics engineer this was one of my favorite projects that I have ever done. From the firmware, circuit design, algorithms and mechanical design every part of this robot is just pure absolute joy of engineering.

[davidflores]

Probably this might get lost in the sea of comments, but I just want to say that this video made me choose my first club at my university. We have an IEEE club, and it has a micromouse year-long project. I was so thrilled when I first heard about it. I am a CS major, but I've dabbled a little in electronics. I am exited about how it is going to go for me.

[callmeandoru]

One thing I like about this engineering competition is that, since there aren't heavy financial incentives involved (like pretty much any other engineering project), people are given the chance to try whatever they want and be as innovative as they like.

[xsdash]

Man, seriously.. The guys behind the video editing and simulations in your videos are pure genius. Wish I could meet such guys to learn from.

[pcvsk]

As an electronic engineer, this is one of the most epic electronic engineering vids I've seen. Thanks Veritasium

[wolfywox]

Man, this is fascinating. Initially I thought this was a remote controlled competition, but after seeing how fast they were moving I knew that wasn't possible. It's really impressive what we can do with robotics these days, even on such a small scale!

[みやてゃ]

As one of those who missed the podium of the All-Japan Competition this year, I can tell you that the level at which they are competing for the champion is on a completely different level.
one of them mentioned that he changed the optical rotary encoder disc from plastic to paper, making it 0.15g lighter!

[blenderguru]

Sure the mice are cool, but can we talk about the animations at 8:40? So impressive! No idea how they were made, but it really helped understand the concepts. Hats off to the team behind them.

[TanvirAhmed-xril]

My respect to all the previous engineers of the past whose mouse was really slow, their consistency to push this competition further paved the way for today's modern engineers. This is one of the prime examples of what humanity can achieve while working together generation by generation.

[Jollyjohn]

Wow, this brings back memories. As a student, I helped the IEEE bring the first Micromouse competition to Australia in 1988. Our team (Macquarie University) didn't win that year, but did the next and went to Singapore to represent Australia. I remember we had to use tape differently. We had developed our mouse on a practice maze where the surface had become slippery over time. When we went to the competition maze, which was new, the wheels gripped a lot more than we were used to - so we wrapped tape around the wheels to reduce grip and match actual performance to the motion model the mouse was using. We all learnt a lot about robotics and real-time coding. It was a fantastic tool. (I still have all the photos somewhere...)

[hiselbii]

As someone who has participated in robotics competitions, it's so emotional, it's like horse racing, but you have spent months building the horse with everything you have. Just being there with all these people, seeing their genius solutions to the problem, it's so much fun. I would truly recommend it to anyone

[fareedulhaq]

am i the only one who had a big wide smile throughout the whole video? i am just amazed and fascinated by simplicity of task but the ferocious ingenuity of the competitors. just loved it

[MrKyle]

When the guy you were interviewing said "you come along one day, you see everything and you go "huh. that doesn't look to hard, i could do that, ' but then you find yourself sucked into a deep and rewarding hobby" i felt that in my bones. I got into rc planes much the same way. Honestly watching this micromouse thing made me think the same thing like huh i bet i could make a mouse..

[GlennLittleford]

In 1980 I was 15, bought my first electronics magazine. It had a micromouse article, that inspired me to get into computers. At 58, I'm a software developer for my own business.

[bebeusxl]

It's amazing how such a simple concept as a robotical mouse running in a maze can have so many implications and thought put into it.

[percival]

the way they manage to maintain a perfect distance from the walls, and go SO FAST is insane

[photophone]

20:20 Imagine a giant cylindrical maze where the mice can go upside down. Or even a maze with loops like in Sonic, so the mice will have to account for more than a 2D map of the area.

[slopehoke]

14:16 I love the shocked reactions from the spectators.