#battelle

Moonlight Flash (1979) by Art Boland and Ron Dilbeck of Battelle Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Wash, and Phil Stover of WED Enterprises, Glendale, Calif. Moonlight Flash (pictured in the third photo above, with Moonlight Special and Moonlight Express) is "an optical right-wall-hugging micromouse entered by the Battelle team. Moonlight Flash won the grand prize of $1000 with a first run of 30.04 s, beating out Harvey Wallbanger, whose first run was clocked at 41.68 s. Although the Moonlight Flash was not considered "intelligent," compared with the Moonlight Special and Moonlight Express - two other micromice designed by the same team - it did incorporate an 8748 microprocessor and memory that gave it just enough intelligence for the winning margin. For example, three forward optical sensors mounted on extended arms were used to provide "look ahead" capability to cut corners where possible. The microprocessor and optical sensors optimized the Moonlight Flash's turns at corners to cut down on running time. Whereas an ordinary wall hugger would make a turn at a corner, often slowing in the process and sometimes bouncing off walls, the Moonlight Flash did not require contact with the walls while rounding the corners and did not slow down." – The amazing micromice: see how they won, by Roger Allan, IEEE spectrum September 1979.

Moonlight Express (1979) by Art Boland and Ron Dilbeck of Battelle Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Wash., and Phil Stover of WED Enterprises, Glendale, Calif. Moonlight Express is "an improved version of the Moonlight Special, a smart micromouse that had demonstrated its learning prowess at previous time trials of the contest as well as at the finals. The major difference between the Express and the Special was in their forward speeds: the Express had stepping motors with four times the torque used on the Special. Top motor speeds of 52.07 cm/s for the Express vs 20.32 cm/s for the Special were made possible. In addition the motor-drive circuitry for the Express was strengthened to handle the increased load of the new motors, and the Special's gear train was entirely eliminated. Some of the hardware used in the Special - for example, interrupt logic was eliminated by the use of IC devices that were exclusively from the Z-80A family of components (the Express was based on the Z-80A microprocessor, as was the Special). This represented only a slight modification of the earlier electronic circuitry in the Special." – The amazing micromice: see how they won, by Roger Allan, IEEE spectrum September 1979.

"The 'Micromouse', shown on the front cover [final photo], is an intelligent robot with a microcomputer 'brain' and an ability to work out how to traverse a maze after just two trial runs. On the third run it goes from start to finish without bumping into a wall, or making a wrong turn. In this respect it is more intelligent than human beings and robot designers are working on how this type of robot can be used in a more sophisticated way — perhaps domestic robots to vacuum carpets and even run household appliances. The Micromouse was built by researchers at Battelle's Pacific Northwest Laboratories in the USA. Its grey glass fibre body houses about £100's worth of parts — but it took something like 500 man hours to assemble and debug' this super-rodent so that it could make 33 decisions each time it ran its 20-foot-square maze. The mouse glides along on two main wheels driven by stepping motors — or motors which rotate the wheels an exact distance for each electrical pulse supplied them. The 'brain' counts the pulses to keep track of the distance covered. Infra-red beams from light emitters on the underpart of the body are aimed at five sensors attached to arms extending from the upper body. The computer 'brain' stops the mouse when approaching walls or obstacles that interrupt the light beams. On the first and second runs through the maze, the 'memory' capacity of the brain gathers data about the maze boundaries and identifies and enters the location of all obstructions. This is then processed' automatically to ensure an error-free run on the third attempt, because the 'brain' also has a capacity to work out how to respond under given conditions. For example, it signals left turn' if the mouse encounters a wall in front and a wall on the right. The `brain', in other words, teaches itself the correct programme to follow." – Robots and Robotology by R.H. Warring (1983).

"At the first time trial, MS-I was found to be sensitive to the strong incandescent booth lights and those of the local CBS television videotaping crew, which emit heavily in the infrared region and blinded its optical sensors. The sensors have now been AC coupled and modulated to provide better immunity to such light." – Three amazing micromice: hitherto undisclosed details, by Roger Allan, IEEE spectrum November 1978.

Battelle Awarded US Navy Contract for Brain Computer Interface Development Defense contracts valued at $7 million and above MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is being awarded a sole-source, cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus fixed-fee contract. 

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