Competition - an efficient method to get students committed

The mechatronics course at Lulea University of Technology is divided into a traditional part with lectures, problem solving, lab exercises, and a project part. During 2002-2003, the project has been to design and build autonomous model race cars. A public race is arranged at the end of the course. The race track is an outdoor track. In year 2002, it was defined by a painted white line on asphalt. In 2003, it was defined by an electrical wire carrying 100 mA of current at 10 kHz frequency. The students had to design and build sensors, amplifiers, filters and interface circuits for the onboard PICI6F876 microcontroller as well as some power electronics to control the drive DC-motor. The race is obviously extremely challenging for the students and as a result, they spend much more time on the course than before.