Assignment: Autonomous Car to Navigate Obstacle Course

This paper outlines a course designed for electrical and computer engineering undergraduate students, emphasizing the importance of microcontrollers and embedded systems.Initially, the course included a project as the final assessment where students developed self-driving vehicles [1] using toy car bases and light sensors.However, to adopt new technology, the course was overhauled in 2020 to incorporate ARM Cortex M4 [2] microcontrollers, transforming the project focus to obstacle avoidance vehicles.This enhancement required significant updates to both the course content and the project structure, including the integration of new sensors and motor drivers, transforming the final project into a completely new assignment.The paper highlights the evolution of the project over the years, noting the addition of new sensors and the impact of component quality on vehicle performance.It also presents student feedback, which indicates that the hands-on project helps develop problem-solving skills and confidence.The project is comparable to a final exam but without written components, still demands significant effort and time commitment from students and the instructor.