The goal of this contest is to encourage inventors of all ages and levels of skill to develop an autonomous fire-fighting home computer-controlled robot that can find, and put out as quickly as possible, a fire in a model house. The fire-fighting robot must navigate a maze (8 ft. by 8 ft.) that consists of four rooms. Rooms are surrounded by walls except for an 18" entrance. A single candle is randomly placed in one of the four rooms. The goal is for the mobile robot to explore the maze, locate the candle, and extinguish the candle in the minimum time. Robots must be within 12" of candle before extinguishing candle. The layout and dimensions of the maze and rooms are fully known to all contestants prior to the contest. For the advanced divisions, the hallways and room may be covered with carpeting, and there is a small staircase located within the maze. Bonuses are earned for returning to the start position after extinguishing the candle and allowing obstacles to be placed in the rooms. Participants are permitted to use any combination of building materials and computer technology.