“With the rise of self-driving, autonomous cars today, I decided to take on the challenge of making one of my own. This project also served as my capstone project in my Engineering Design and Development and Robotics classes and received an award for best autonomous vehicle at a high school STEM competition.
Instead of starting from scratch, I opted to use an RC car that we already had and paired it with a RedBoard Arduino Uno board. I chose the Arduino due to its relative ease of use and programming.
For those wondering, this car has a Redcat Racing 03061 Splash-Resistant ESC with a brushed motor. The ESC was already programmed using the controller that came with the car. I have not tested this with a brushless motor since we do not have one on hand, but anyone is welcome to try this project with a brushless motor.
In brief summary, this car collects data from (5) HC-SR04 Ultrasonic sensors. This data goes back to the Arduino, where it makes decisions on how to move. The Arduino then controls the steering servo and motor accordingly. The program uses the standard Arduino servo library to do so, and no additional libraries are necessary.
The car is capable of variable speed control via a potentiometer and backing up from a wall when it hits one. In addition, the car can correct itself if it drifts too close to a wall by easing itself away.”