“What a piece of junk!” That was Mr Choo’s first comment when he saw the micromouse aptly named Ground Zero. To this rather uninspiring comment came Mr Loy’s reply. “Well, it may not look like much, but it’s got all it takes. I made a lot of special modifications myself.” In many ways, Ground Zero represented the cavalier attitude of Mr Loy. Chiefly speaking, it refers to the micromouse’s reckless speed and aggressive nature.

Ground Zero was the team’s first project. Its sensor board was jointly designed and made by Mr Cheng. The construction was carried out by Mr Loy and Mr Cheng, while Mr Choo and Mr Leong did the preliminary testing. Its control program, written by Mr Loy, was called MYFIRST, as it was his first and probably last micromouse control program that he would write himself. The development of MYFIRST resulted in the myriad technologies that would be incorporated in all of the team’s micromouse.

The HELPER technology improved Ground Zero’s performance tremendously, but the micromouse was often hampered by connection problems that were never really solved till much later. In the April ‘97 competition, Ground Zero, now named ‘Yahoo’, after the primitive and barbaric humans in Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”, did not perform well, as connection problems developed at the last moment and caused the motors to behave erratically.

Despite an inauspicious beginning, Ground Zero redeemed itself in SRG ‘97. Even though serious connection and roller problems afflicted the micromouse, causing it to be able to do only 2 consecutive curve turns, the team decided to send it in for competition anyway. With CT_LIMIT at 2, the micromouse did its exploration credibly and completed just one fastrun. It crashed on its way and was immediately withdrawn. Fortunately, the final score was good enough to land it in the 2nd placing after Wappumouse.

After its successful performance in SRG ‘97, Ground Zero received a new make-over. Its successor was named Outrider. Now placed under the overseeing of Mr Leong, it stands ready to emerge from the shadow of its former self.

Outrider

The Outrider is the new name of the micromouse formerly known as Ground Zero. Aptly named, Outrider personified many of the qualities of its Star Wars counterpart and its pilot, Dash Rendar. Fast in its own way, extremely reckless and not exactly totally reliable, as well as highly modified.

The Outrider had some hardware alterations that distinguished it from its predecessor. Firstly, its wheel rollers were replaced with ball bearing rollers. Secondly, the driver board was connected to the main board via a cable and not directly plugged on as was the case in Ground Zero. These changes were possible only with the technical skills of Mr Choo and Mr Tan.

Other than hardware improvements, changes were made to the control program. The original program of Ground Zero was upgraded and interfaced with the much vaunted MMADS technology. All the modifications were intended to improve its stability and reliability, as well as to present a more effective strategy. However, the updated program will still be named MYFIRST, as Mr Loy has no intention of renaming it ‘MYSECOND’ or something equally foolish.

Untested in competition, the Outrider will face its first challenge in April ‘98, when it enters the Open Category. As the worthy inheritor of the legacy of Ground Zero, the Outrider looks set to become a valued member of the  team’s arsenal as the next millenium approaches.
 
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