EggTorte is the creation of engineer Kato-san, who wanted to create an even smaller mouse-sized micromouse, a maze-running mechanical mouse.
(Eggtorte)
Take a look in this video to see how the robot learns the maze, and then puts the speed on.
(EggTorte mini micromouse)
I really like the speed of this little learning robot; it reminds me of the golden shuttles from the 1941 short story The Mechanical Mice.
...there came a very tiny, very subtle and extremely high-pitched whine. Something small, metallic, glittering had shot through one of the rat holes, fled across the floor toward the churning monstrosity. A trapdoor opened and swallowed it with such swiftness that it had disappeared before I realized what I'd seen...
SF readers may also recall other similar versions of this idea: Ray Bradbury's robot mice from The Martian Chronicles (1950) and dustmice, tiny robot detectives from Greg Bear's Queen of Angels (1990).
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'