An assembled micromouse kit in the cardboard maze
The complete kit we delivered to students, enclosed in a custom laser-cut box
The PCB I designed with an empty breadboard ready for prototyping
A close up of the breadboard after wiring up the motor driver and infrared sensors to detect walls
Project information
- Category: PCB Design, Sensing, Teaching
- Completion date: Summer / Fall 2020
- Technologies: PCB Design, STM32, Infrared Sensing
Details
My second year at UCLA, I led the "Micromouse" project where I taught 40 students to create a maze-solving robot. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I had to transition the traditionally hands-on and in-person curriculum to a remote format. To make this happen, I, along with my co-lead, designed a brand new micromouse kit with the following components so that students could complete the project without needing the sometimes expensive tools we usually utilize on campus.
- New PCB with integrated STM32 microcontroller and breadboard for students to build the circuitry themselves
- Hardware components to complete the assignments on power, sensing, motor control, and more
- A reconfigurable laser-cut cardboard maze for testing
Over the course of the 2020-21 academic year, I wrote and delivered 5 lectures and 10 assignments with my co-lead. We even hosted our end of year competiton, AAMC, and delivered donuts to participants.