This project was developed as part of an academic robotics challenge with the following core requirements:
- 4-wheel vehicle (Ackermann or differential drive)
- At least one PID-controlled system (velocity or orientation)
- Modifiable velocity reference
- Autonomous square trajectory (X meters per side, 5 m < X < 20 m)
- 10-second stop at each waypoint
- Return to starting position
- Telemetry transmission to an external system
- Battery-powered operation
- Clean mechanical presentation
Although the challenge did not require designing the vehicle from scratch, our team decided to build the car completely from zero for learning purposes.
This included:
- Mechanical chassis design and assembly
- Motor and driver integration
- Sensor architecture definition
- Multi-microcontroller firmware development
- Inter-board communication
- Control system implementation
The objective was to understand the system at a full engineering level rather than relying on pre-built platforms.
Project documentation organized by development phase:
- research → references and background study
- design → system architecture and decisions
- testing → validation results
- reports → academic deliverables
- media → images and videos
- development-history → progress tracking
Embedded software for each microcontroller:
- esp32 → high-level control, navigation logic, telemetry
- stm32 → magnetometer acquisition and sensor interface
Each subfolder contains board-specific configuration and build instructions.
Physical system design files:
- cad → mechanical design files
The final system integrates:
- Sensor acquisition (STM32)
- Control and navigation logic (ESP32)
- PID control implementation
- Autonomous trajectory tracking
- Telemetry transmission
- Fully battery-powered operation
The project fulfills the academic requirements while extending the implementation to a complete custom-built embedded system.