Project Poster
Charlie Barsan, Audrey Kekstadt, Kyle McKee, and Kura Njie
Notre Dame EE Senior Design 2025–26
The Rat Czars project is an autonomous micromouse robot designed for the IEEE-style Micromouse competition. The robot is intended to navigate an unknown 16 x 16 maze using distance sensors, motor control, and real-time mapping. The goal is to search the maze, build an internal map, and find an efficient path through the maze within the competition time limit.
The robot uses an ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N8R2 module. This microcontroller was chosen because it provides enough processing capability, memory, and I/O support for sensor reading, motor control, and maze-solving algorithms.
The design uses three VL53L0X time-of-flight distance sensors. These sensors help the robot detect walls and maintain position while moving through the maze.
The robot uses Pololu brushed DC micro metal gearmotors. A DRV8847 dual H-bridge motor driver controls the speed and direction of the left and right motors independently.
The mechanical design includes two wheels, 3D-printed components, and a top-oriented battery holder. The chassis was designed to fit the micromouse maze constraints while supporting the required electronics.
The Rat Czars software was developed using PlatformIO in Visual Studio Code with the Arduino framework for the ESP32.
The team explored multiple maze-solving algorithms and selected flood-fill as the primary mapping and path-planning approach.
Forward motion is controlled using encoder counts and side sensor feedback. Turning is performed using zero-point turns based on encoder counts.
PID control is used to improve straight-line movement and reduce drift while the robot moves through the maze.
Testing focused on validating the robot's major subsystems: sensor readings, motor control, encoder-based movement, turning behavior, and maze-navigation logic. Individual hardware and software components were tested before being integrated into the full micromouse system.
Project report, poster board, and hardware design files
Final Report Poster Board Main Board Hardware ToF Hardware