Because a Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

DISCLAIMER: These pictures are not mine. I simply used the internet to find examples for you all

Arrow Maze

See. It has arrows as mentioned that must be used to get solve the maze. You would start at the gray block and follow the arrows until you found your way to the chekerboard center

Block Maze

I know we have all played this game. You move the blocks until you clear a path for  your freedom. This is actually a block maze. Who knew? Remain silent if you actually did so that I may have the credit.

Logic Maze

This maze is using basic math as a set of rules for getting through the maze. I don't know the rules for this maze though it interests me. Next update I shall share with you all how to get through this.

Unicursal Maze

This maze has only one pathway. It is near impossible to get lost in. As such, it is a labyrinth.

Multicursal Maze

I know that we probably all know at this point what a multicursal maze is. There is no need for an example. However, to keep consistency with the rest of my blog, I have provided a picture anyways.

Multiply-Connected Maze

and

Simply-Connected Maze

As you can see, the multiply connected maze has many areas where it is possible to make a circular path. To keep the concept simple and easy to understand, I found the most basic of pictures to demonstrate the idea.

Take it a step further and we get a Braid maze. See how it has no dead ends? Makes your head hurt doesn't it? Multiply connected mazes are used more often then one might think, such as in the case below. 

Pacman is a perfect example of a multiply connected maze. Many video games with around the corner suspense also use simply connected mazes (or mazes in general).

Weave Maze

Like stated, A weave maze has many passages that go over and under each other like bridges and tunnels.

Number Maze

For this particular maze. You start at the yellow number block. You can only move the number of spaces that is indicated on the block in a strait line. You keep jumping around using these rules until you find your way to the finish block. Personally, I can only do these types of mazes by starting at the finish and moving to the start. 

Planair Maze

This is a simple planair maze. Notice how the maze was made on the surface of a stack of cubes. They can be made on all types of surfaces to achieve  a variety of interesting  layouts.

There is so Much More to Know

There is so much more to know about mazes. Let's start off with the types. I'll try to keep it interesting.

Arrow Maze

This is a type of logic maze containing some passages that may only be followed in one direction (denoted by the arrows). All mazes can be reduced to an arrow maze.

Block maze

A maze that cannot be solved without clearing the maze pathways of movable blocks is called a block maze (who knew?).

Logic maze

This maze must be navigated by following logical rules in addition to following its passages. One type may be a maze containing different colored symbols that must be passed in a certain order, or a maze that has some passages that may only be followed in one direction (like the arrow maze mentioned before).

Unicursal maze

A maze with a single path (like the labyrinth I discussed before).

Multicursal maze

A maze with at least one junction or more than one path (aka, not a labyrinth).

Multiply-connected maze

A multiply-connected maze contains one or more passages that loop back into other passages, rather than leading to dead ends. A well-designed multiply-connected maze is  difficult to solve because maze solvers will  spend a very large amount of time going around in circles. To take it a step further, a multiply connected maze can have no dead ends at all thus leaving a lot of solvers very irritated. This is called a Braid maze.

Weave maze

A weave maze has pathways that go under and over each other. They are three dimensional mazes because it exists in more than two dimensions. For example an outdoor maze that has bridges or tunnels is a partial weave maze. If it is drawn on paper, we are just looking at it from directly above.

Number Maze

This maze uses numbers (or letters or other symbols) by which the maze solver can jump to other areas in the maze by following the numbers, avoiding the usual walls. In other words, it is a teleportation maze.  For instance, a number maze with the letter "A" in two places would allow you to jump from one "A" to the other. Because of the teleports, these mazes are also partial weave mazes.

Planair maze

A mind-bending maze whose underlying topology is unusual (non-Euclidean) and which has edges that connect with one another. This is the technical term, to put it in plain English: A planair maze has a weird geometry. The edges are connected in more than abnormal ways. For example the maze might be made on the surface of a cube or ring.

Simply-connected maze

Simply-connected mazes have pathways that never re-connect with one another, so every path you choose either leads to another path or to a dead end. These mazes are easy because there is only one solution to a simply-connected maze, and it can always be found by following the "left hand rule.” You walk forward, keeping your left hand on the wall at all times and voila, the maze is solved.

Maze vs. Labyrinth

What is the difference between a maze and a labyrinth?

A labyrinth has a single through-route with twists and turns but without branches. It is not designed to be difficult to navigate. It may be long but there is only one path. Therefore, it is known as a unicursal maze. A labyrinth has only one entrance that also serves as the exit. There is just one path from the entrance to the center. Getting lost in a labyrinth is almost impossible. All a person would have to do is turn around and keep walking until they reach the entrance/exit again.

A maze on the other hand is a confusing pathway that has many branches, choices of path and dead-ends. A maze is a tour puzzle and can be designed with various levels of difficulty and complexity. It can have pathways that go over and under each other, obstacles that must be moved to continue on paths, teleports, symbols, and many other variations that make a maze complex and interesting. A maze can also have one entry and exit or multiple entry and exit points.

Mazes and labyrinths can be traced back to Greek mythology and Paganism, where they were regarded as mystical. Some labyrinths have a spiritual significance. They signify the complex and long path to reach God. Mazes were often used as a place to run off to in secrecy. Lovers would often pick spots in a maze where they could meet in an isolated area. They were also used for defense to keep out unwelcome visitors and to confuse enemies. It wasn't until recently that mazes were made for fun puzzling adventures.

So what is the bottom line?

Mazes were created to confuse and disorient you where as labyrinths were created with the purpose of taking nice, long, and pleasant walks 

After the Break

This week has been mellow in terms of projects. After many congratulatories for our 2nd place win at the robotics competition, we found that we no longer had a purpose in the club. Josh decided that we should build water/soda bottle rocket launchers and water boats to race in the pond. As you can probably tell, my programming skills will be of little use for the rest of the semester. Therefore, my coding career has come to a stand still.

I was sent out to find a design for the water rockets that will keep possible cases of injuries to a minimum.  The water rockets will launch due to a build up of pressure within the bottle. When a certain level of pressure is reached, the water is forced out causing the bottle to shoot up. Josh wants a launcher that will automatically shoot off after a certain amount of pressure has been reached. This however leads to a shorter height and fly time. I, along with the rest of the club members, will most likely want to build a rocket where we control when the rocket shoots. We could then increase the pressure as high as we wanted as long as the bottle did not explode. This allows for much higher launch heights. Of course, it also increases the chance of pressure induced explosion harming a (or multiple) member of the club. As such, Josh wishes to not build this version. To keep students from being harmed, he himself would have to pump up the bottle. As it turns out, his fear of explosions is greater than his desire to see a water/soda bottle being projected 70+ feet in the air. He has however decided to consider alternatives if the club can manage to build the safer version without any incidents. My guess is that we wont ever get to see a bottle launched up 70+ feet in the air at Phoenix College.  Oh well.

For the past week I have been working on mazes and honors projects. I have been writing a paper that describes the derivation, importance,  and impact of Newton's universal law of gravity. I never knew it was possible to write a paper on math and physics. So far, I have 6 out of 10 pages single spaced. Wish me luck. Next week is all about mazes. I will keep you posted.

ASU is A Go Go

Alright.

So, as much as I was secretly hoping for the ASU competition to fall through so that we would not be destroyed, they replied with a confirmation. To top that off, we will be going against Scottsdale Community College and ASU. To top that off further, we will also be going up against Embry Riddle. I DO NOT want to be destroyed by them. They will secretly hold it against us for years to come. I keep being told that this will be "a great learning experience." I already know that we will be destroyed. There is nothing to learn if I'm already aware of it. Secondly, you learn nothing from being annihilated. It just leaves an awful failure feeling in the end. As such, I am super nervous. Even more so because I am being peer and mentor pressured into attending the competition. I am not even allowed to contemplate on my own. The only comfort I have is that our t-shirts will be the most awesome shirts at the competition.

Now to recap on this week:
1 robot is officialy in working condition. Woo! It is stable the buttons and motors work. Everythings okay. I almost cried. The other robot however is in a half alive state. It can drive if it wanted to and it has potential. But is it anywhere near proper operating condition? No, not really. As the last day comes upon us, I really wonder if we can make this happen. This will have to be a cooperative effort, which we are not the best at. I wish I could tell you guys more. However the secrecy factor prevents me from saying much of what has gone on. Tune in next week to hear the results of our match. Send positive thoughts!

Next week I'll be working on mazes.

I Apologize

In all honesty I completely forgot to post for the last two weeks. I have, however, been making tremendous progress in robotics. I set out to design a lift for our robot. Without mentioning any specifics, I can say that my first design was thrown away. I was a little sad but it wasn’t as versatile as we needed to be. Plus, we only had 15 inches height wise to work with. So, I scrapped that idea and decided to move onto another lift design.
 

This did not come easily. Because I am new to the vex world, I had absolutely no idea of where the possibilities of lifts lie. I turned to the internet and, with Josh's help, found a variety of lift ideas. Again I can't provide details but after a whopping 6 hours of work, I had a lift. I was very proud of my accomplishment. However, after going to robotics club I found that my lift was extremely difficult to mount to a chassis. On top of that, I had already used up the allotted 15 inches for length. This makes it very hard to build the rest of the robot. So, we decided that building a new chassis around the lift would be best.
 

That is my most significant accomplishment over the past 2 weeks. I also helped fortify our other robot but in the end, we took it all down and restructured it. It has been frustrating.  The most frustrating event of all however is that ASU has yet to co tact us confirming the competition. This means that my hard work may have all been for naught. I am sad.
 

Also, my progress with the mazes has come to a halt. I have been doing nothing but building this whole time so I suppose I'll have time if ASU falls through.

This is actually a maze