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Micromouse - the early years, 1981-a

Euromicro brochure
February 1981

MICROMOUSE MAZE CONTEST
EUROMICRO '81
PARIS 7-10 SEPTEMBER 1981
Dear Contestant,
The British Heat of the Euromouse Contest will be held in the Wembley Conference Centre 30/31st July and 1st August, 1981, at the On-Line 1981 Microcomputer Show. Eliminations will take place on Thursday, 30th with the finals on Friday, 31st July, whilst on Saturday, 1st August the prizes will be presented and the winners may be required to make a tour of honour.
So that the event can be planned could you please complete the following questionnaire and send it to me as soon as possible.
I hope that the prizes will include trips to France for the Euromicro Finals on the 7th and 8th September, (eliminations University of Jussieu) and the finals on the 9th September in the Palais de la Decouverte. Until now the prizes have been much greater than the mice deserved - a French mouse at Microexpo won an Apple Computer just for wandering about! Nick Smith won a Sharpe computer for a 3 1/2 minute successful run. It is just possible that at Wembley the mice will out-number the prizes but somehow I rather doubt it. Please be sure to turn up at Wembley with something that moves -even if only just!
Best wishes and good luck.
John Billingsley

1 I intend to take part in the Wembley Contest YES/NO

2 My mouse is complete/almost complete/has made a trial run/mechanics and guidance complete- but strategy not finished/ strategy complete but mechanics not finished/still at the ideas stage.

3 My mouse will be ready in time - definitely/probably/possibly/perhaps.

4 I can be contacted and talked into coming at the last minute on Telephone No.

5 My mouse will /will not perform a virtuoso display Its requirements for this will be:

6 The names of the mouse builders are:

JB/APS
15th May, 1981.
Department of Electrical Engineering, Portsmouth Polytechnic, Anglesea Road,


Department of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Anglesea Building
Anglesea Road
Portsmouth P01 3DJ
Telephone Portsmouth (0705) 827681
Portsmouth Polytechnic    
Extension 509
JB/APS
9th July,   1981.

Dear Contestant, Thank you for returning the slip confirming that your mouse will be ready to do battle at the Wembley Conference Centre. Jane Windier of On-Line Conferences should soon be sending you some tickets and details of the Exhibition. The timetable should be as follows: Tuesday, 28th July ------------------ The maze will be set up in the early afternoon. At 6 p.m. there will be a press conference and I hope that any mice in the London area (and perhaps even some further afield) will be able to show off their virtues before the television cameras and have a preliminary wander around the maze. Wednesday, 29th July -------------------- The building will be closed and locked - I hear there is some other event happening that day. Thursday, 30th July ------------------- Exhibition opens 10 a.m. when the maze will be available for practise. Time trials will start at mid-day and go on until the exhibition closes at 6 p.m. Friday, 31st July ----------------- Exhibition opens 10 a.m. One or two of the school teams have told me that they will have great difficulty in attending both days. They are exceptional cases and will have a chance to perform their time trials during the morning (if you really find it impossible to come on Thursday, please give me a telephone call one evening very soon). From 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. the best eight mice will compete for the prizes, which will be presented at 5.30 p.m. Contd./.

Head of Department F Dellow, MPhil(S'ton), CEng, FIFE

				- 2 -
	Saturday, 1st August
	--------------------
	Exhibition opens 10 a.m.  Prize winners should attempt to turn up 
	to perform a few laps of honour for the public. From 11 a.m. 
	mice will compete for the virtuoso display prizes, with a run off 
	between the two leading mice at 2.30.

	Please could you let me know if you will be able to be present at the 
press conference and could you also please prepare a half page press hand-
out describing your mouse - with some good non-technical details too ("had 
to be rebuilt after the dog went mad and savaged it ......."). Also please 
be sure to settle on a good name for your mouse.

	To give you a rough idea of what sort of maze to expect I enclose a 
map of a maze used in London last September.

	Even if your mouse develops total amnesia do please turn up.  It may 
have virtues even as a piece of modern sculpture I  Should the worst come 
to the worst and you find yourself totally unable to come, please let me 
know as soon as possible on Portsmouth (0705) 812466.  Remember that there 
will be many mice there which are much worse than yours!

	Good luck.
						
					John Billingsley
					----------------

Maze used at London Final,September 1980

Micro Computer Show 81

30-31 July, 1 August 1981, Wemby Conference Centre, London
[this page - Euromouse maze Contest]

Seminar


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