The Fastest Maze-Solving Competition On Earth

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.

Whoever does the animations to accompany the explanations for these videos deserves a raise! Those were top notch and absolutely vital to the effectiveness of this video!

Ive never once studied robotics but it seems to me that this sort of thing would be a great introductory course to the subject

A circular maze would be fascinating! Really adding cool maze shapes

The "Strategy" illustrations of how the mouse could reach its goal are fantastic. And all the explanations from the narrator, start to finish, are also excellent and easy to follow. Fascinating video.

As an F1 fan, I got extra excited once I saw the tape cleaning the tires. The way they interact with the track surface in various disciplines (shown very well here!) is fascinating.

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

I just spent 25 minutes engrossed in a video about tiny robots trying to solve something you find in the Sunday paper. This channel continues to amaze.

I got SO excited when you got to the part about turning forces, and I guessed right before you said it that they were creating vacuums to hold the mouse. I’m not usually a very mechanically minded person, and it was really a joy to have an AHA! moment organically like that. I am so appreciative of the ways that you can share other’s passion in such effective ways. I didn’t know or care about robotics in the slightest before this video, but now I’m excited to see what the future holds for micromouse optimization.

Very cool production and supporting animations. Feels like the next level for these competitions would be to make the maze multi-level with multiple ingress and egress points to the different levels, along with non standard shapes like "circular" rooms and hallways.

This could be a truly incredible education tool. A simple version of this could get kids an absurd amount of basic STEM skills. (A mixture of guides and some of the hardest stuff pre-built, but with a lot left intentionally unclear forcing kids to experiment and look at examples outside their class and figure out why things work the way they do.)
But what's more brilliant is that I'd bet it would be pretty easy to get kids amped up and competitive so they want to do it instead of being made to do ot.

Great episode, thank you for doing all the research behind it. Love the explanations you gave, the algorithms behind it and the special moments over time :)

It’d be cool to see a maze with different elevations throughout.

I’ve watched these clips for a couple years now and always thought it was interesting but you absolutely nailed the writing on this!! Awesome story and I now have a deeper love for this competition.
I race cars and I always looked at this like a programming competition. Now I see it much like Formula One or Battle Bots. The drive to innovate for an advantage is compelling. Well done!

Humans are absolutely beautiful. Both the people competing and over 12 million people on Clip-Share are invested in the idea of making a tiny robot solve a maze and it’s so random and came from just one person and now it’s huge. Sometimes I need things like this to remind me humans are pretty neat sometimes

I'd never heard of this before - thanks for the excellent video explainer, really impressive to see the innovations and speeds they achieve!

When you got to the mice that used fans for down force I was sure that you would mention the Chapparal 2J race car by Jim Hall. It used two big fans to remove the air from the boxy, skirted body. So effective that the concept was banned for the next season.

Impressive and scary how quick and accurate they can move.

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

This is really cool, I like stuff like this. Love how you explained how they solved the mazes, fascinating.

never herd of such a race, but was rather interesting to learn about it. Thank you for this little nugget of information.

This is so interesting!! I didn’t even know they had such competition but glad I got to know this exists!!

never knew about this but saw the competition 100 times in social media, pretty good explanation and looks fun to try on my own when I continue my bachelor in AI.

My Computing Science teacher made this an assignment in the first semester even when we barely learned how to do loops. It's such a simple to understand yet complex problem which sparked my interested in the CS field.

Once you understand what goes into mouse navigation, this goes from appearing as odd nerd behavior to something genuinely impressive.

My favorite cameo for Micromouse came from an early episode of the long-forgotten but groundbreaking sci-fi TV show, Max Headrom. Micromice competitions were a part of the curriculum of a school for gifted youngsters that were involved in the plot of an episode.

Wow, I was completely entranced by every part of this video. Who knew that these little mice and their inspiration for creativity and ingenuity would be so fascinating? 😊

I stumbled upon this video by chance and now I am completely enthralled by this Micromouse thing! Thank for you for a very informative video! :)

I forgot all about this competition, I knew about it back in the 80’s when I first got into the computer industry. Did not follow it as it was out of my area of specialty. So seeing this and seeing how far it has come in such a short time span is mind boggling. Will have to keep an eye on this, there are some really competitive people out there and it’s astounding how the whole field can change over night just from one person thinking outside of the box.
Seeing all of the major jumps in the technology over the past 50 years is outstanding. Seeing the first time out of the box to what are being used now is crazy, no wonder it’s gained traction over the past 20 years.

One of the first complex programs we assigned to beginning programmers was a maze solver. These are amazing little robots.

Absolutely fascinating, waaaay over what even a nerd like me expected. Many thanks!

This was absolutely fascinating. I never knew this existed. Thanks.

I commend whoever did the script for this. Precise explanations and never a dull moment.

I never knew this was a thing and...wow... This is sick. Great video as always! Thanks

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.

What an awesome video. I came into this knowing nothing about the subject. It was informative and educational while being very engaging without patronising me for my ignorance. I cant help but wonder if they can navigate an analogue maze.

Had no idea about any of this. What a gem! So interesting and very well made!

Claude Schannen also modified Boolean Algebra which was invented by George Boole.He used gates in a circuit that time which are called as switches now.This also has an application in Java in the form of a chapter called as Logigates.Its because of him that helped electronics engineer to simplify complex ciruits into simple ones.A brilliant man in truest sense.

This is one of those things that perfectly demonstrates the difference between simplicity and difficulty. The concept is simple, get through the maze quickly. Doing it the quickest is difficult.

What a great little documentary. I enjoyed it from beginning to end and learned about something totally new to me. Nice job.

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

I would have enjoyed some more speculation on what might change in the future of the micromouse robots.
I can't think of anything obvious that I would improve. Maybe make the algorithm more speed-aware: Tight corners won't slow you down much when you're already going slowly. But honestly, they probably do that already with their fancy path-planning algorithms. Maybe you could do some sort of statistical analysis to uncover common patterns in how the maze is set up and incorporate that knowledge for even faster in-expectation exploration.
On the hardware side, no idea. Maybe mainly increased reliability of all components? Improved wheel materials? Even more weight savings?

Some of the most interesting science videos EVER! ❤

It could be interesting to add areas where the floor is elevated into a type of corkscrew with curved corners (imagine a slinky stretched lengthwise down a path) to make good use of the suction and some extra flair

There is something in these old videos and their voice overs that make them look so iconic

The sections / structure / narrative of this video, in order to be exhaustive about the evolution and multiple aspects of that sport. Once again, second to none. Great content, sponsors very much on point, and at the end of the video. Amazing channel.

I'd love to see a 3D micromouse maze with all sorts of walls and ceilings and loops to drive on, using vacuum fans to stick to the surfaces

Love this! Thank you for spreading nuanced truth and science!

this is way more fascinating than I thought it was gonna be.

I love when i stumble upon a sport or a whole ass competition that been around for many years, but i had no idea about 😂. I used to think subsections like this was just a bunch of weirdo's, but it's genuinely cool to see people so interested in something so niche that it grows into something that brings like minded people together to just be themselves. Learned something new today

Thanks for this very interesting video.
Many years ago, Richard Browne, who worked as a technician for Bell Telephone, had seen an article published in the company newsletter that described and showed pictures of Claude Shannon's electronic mouse. Knowing that the mouse used telephone relays to control its motions and solve the problem and having access to scrapped telephone relays, he restored some relays and set out to duplicate the whole thing. The original published article did not detail how it was all done, so my friend figured it out for himself. I remember that the memory for each of the 25 cells of the maze area required two relays which recorded the direction the mouse had last left that cell.
Near the end of this machine's life ,somewhere around the late 1970s, I met and became friends with Richard. I saw the machine myself and was thrilled by how well it worked. Later, Richard went on to build marble machines, intricate wooden machines that allowed a marble to pass through various gravity-driven paths. Sadly, Richard passed away in 2013, but you can still see his videos about some of his marble machines. Although never completed, his grandest machine, called Marble Machine 3, was one of his creations described by Richard in videos here on Clip-Share.

Perfectly made video! It serves the purpose of educating and entertaining both.

Whenever I get a notification for his video, I try to wrap up all work and find 30 minutes of spare time to savor his content. Perhaps my favorite creator at the moment. Many creators came and get, this guy never fails to educate, intrigue and entertain. I've been following him for like 10 years or so.

I REALLY want to believe that Masakazu Utsunomiya's "Red Comet" mouse is a Gundam reference haha. A mouse that reaches the goal 3x faster than an ordinary mouse

I just had a thought, I'd make one to split in 2 in order to map out the maze, maybe that would be interesting, not sure if it'd make it any faster for the last run. The 2 parts would communicate via blue tooth.

its wonderful to see the passion and creativity people have for solving problems

The fan vacuum concept had to have come from the Chaparral 2J (built in 1970), which was a race car that used two engines; one of which was to create suction for downforce. Rules were ultimately changed to disqualify it from racing and the suction fan would blow a bunch of road debris at competitors behind it. Anyway, it was interesting to see it cross over into this event.

All I can think of is what motivates these people? I'm so confused. I really wish my brain sort of 'got' it because this looks like a really invested and commited community.

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.

Awesome 🎉 It was such an enjoyable episode!!

okay, now... i want to see ramps and levels (like a clear plexi bottoms so you can see the level below). I want to see traps (like magnet delays or rotating spots). I want to see two competitors at once. Make it happen!

I built a really clunky maze solving robot for school decades ago. It was horrible and didn't even solve the maze :P
I love the idea of a competition like this. If I had time and expenses I'd try it too.

Who would have thought this would ended up been one of the most interesting videos in the last 2-3 years in this channel 🤔💭 😁👌👌

As a biologist, I see evolution acting on these machines :) So cool as I never thought I'll be soo intrigued by mechanics, robotics, programming, etc altogether 😅✌️ And the entire credit goes to Veritasium! You remind me my love for science.

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!

I think it would be really cool if they finds an efficient way to pick the mouse back from the track, everytime that dude was leaning into the maze to recollect it, I was getting panic attack.

This competition is a good example of what the 12 parsecs Kessel Run could mean.

this is old but never heard of it.. this is incredible. PS: hats off to the animator ~

Anyone remember Veritasium’s video about robots that jump really high? I wonder if a similar system could be used to “bounce” off walls, especially to get a lot of starting speed off the starting square.

This was freaking AWESOME. NO idea this existed.

You kept saying "shortest path, shortest path" and me, a past courier driver, kept screaming at the monitor "THE SHORTEST PATH IS NOT ALWAYS THE FASTEST PATH!!"
Lo, at 11:00, you made my day! Ladies and gentlemen: Derek Muller, never afraid to challenge dogma.

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.

With the suction motor it actually got even more mousey by being able to climb walls. 😂

I'd love to see an aerial version of this

when i was like 4 my sister and parents always took us to Hedge maze's you couldn't see over them or under them. I always got lost and had a panic attack thinking i would never get out. I always had to come be found in the middle :) i hate mazes to this day lol. nothing more panic-inducing then not being able to find your way out.

This is what the internet is all about. Some crazy thing I would have never imagined, a whole world. Fascinating

Excellent! also Gordon Murray designed an F1 fan car for Brabham in the 70s that was banned but I would think the fan on the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed winner the McMurtry Spierling' is closer to this. Check out the record breaking run up the hill from last year, amazing..

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.

I remember seeing this when I was young in school and its wild how advanced its become.

This reminds me of something similar called code space although the goal is something different the objective is to score points by collecting your assigned colour and dropping them off at a drop off point and the robot is also autonomous and at the end of the round who ever has the most points wins

1:32 I love how everything was wood back in the day. I remember, as a kid, the mono-TV with 1 TV-channels I had to watch (1/2 an hour or so of "child-TV" in the week days, 2-3 hours on Saturdays, that included something "cool" for the teenagers) was plastic made to look like wood I think. Or perhaps something between plastic and wood.

First thing I was wondering was how are they able to go that fast and not flip or fly off during a turn. So its a fan. Interesting innovation.

Very interesting, learning about the various strategies. So ingenious!

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

Next Micromouse challenge might have uneven floors, banks, reflective and mow-through walls, varying friction with sand, and maybe even step squares.

I wonder if they could design one with variable fan speed for straights so there is less resistance and they can get a speed boost on acceleration and then brake boost on de-acceleration. It could potentially save a few ms over the larger courses.

The applications for this after (considerably) further development are very cool. Imagine these being refined further from micro-mice to nano-mice... something that instead can traverse liquid... and viola... diagnostics in medicine. Or, something that can navigate complex terrain... search bots for people/animals trapped under rubble in disaster zones. While it's certainly useful to have large or complex mobile robots that can do the saving / transporting of life-saving materials or methods... having search/diagnostic/mapping robots are equally important, particularly where time is of the essence. One further application could be in darker cases where people disappear (by natural or nefarious means) and need to be found quickly to be saved.

Maybe moving forward by backward and backward by forward, could be a great strategy if the micromouse has diagonal back sensor and front sensor, that allow them to process more data of the path with multiple intersection without the need to rotate to return to the path

As an Electronics Engineer, I thoroughly enjoyed this.

even including fans for suction? these guys are insane, the amount of work put onto this

Fun fact: That fan technology was initially developed for Formula 1, but was banned for being too effective in generating downforce.
However, the Mcmurtry Spéirling actually uses this technology in an all-electric package. And man, that car’s quick.

This is a metaphor for the many different strategies for navigating life. What a time to be alive!!

No matter how hard I try I can't stop watching this.

This is so cool! I would love to learn more about Micromouse.

I'm wondering if they would ever try to run mice in rounded mazes. I feel like making big leaps in creativity would be to make the mazes less predictable then a tile maze.

This is perhaps the only channel whose videos I wait for

Would love see this competition developed for drones with a cube shaped maze

Combination of different engineering fields working togather in very optimized way in such small robots. So cool... 💥

I love the aero element. Absolutely fantastic!

I wouldn't think I would spend 25 minutes watching mice robot and enjoying at the fullest, thanks Veritasium