The maze is 16 cells by 16 cells. Each cell is 18cm by 18cm(7 inches by 7 inches). The walls of the maze are 2 inches tall and 0.5 inches wide. The passageway through the maze is 6.5 inches, because the wall thickness is included in the cell size. The start of the maze is in one of the four corners of the maze, which will have 3 wall located around it. There is at least one wall at every lattice point, which is where 4 cells meet. The floor of the maze is black, the sides of the walls are white and the tops of the walls are red. There is at least one wall at every cell meeting location.
The mouse is self-contained and will not include outside power sources. The mouse is only allowed to be 25cm by 25cm (9.8in by 9.8in) at any given point. This is wider than the passageway through the maze, because this allows for the sensors to go over the walls of the maze. There is no height restriction for the mice in this competition. The mouse is not allowed to drop anything in the maze. Even if these components are then picked up, the mouse will be disqualified. The mouse is also not allowed to any destruction to any of the walls in the maze. It can be disqualified for this as well.
The fastest run time, which is the time it takes the mouse to get from the start cell to the center cell, will win the contest. The mouse has 15 minutes to negotiate the maze. It may have many run times in these 15 minutes. Once it reaches the center, the mouse can be lifted out of the maze and placed at the center, or it may continue on in the maze. Once the maze is shown to the competitors, no more programming will be allowed into the mice. A mouse may be restarted at the start cell if the mouse has malfunctioned and the judges allow it. There will be a time penalty.
The official rules can be seen here.