Tentative Project Timeline
Feb 21: Signup open for students
Feb 28: Finalize Teams and Tracks
March 1: Start Safety Training for Hardware Teams
March 4 and 6: Project Pitch Presentation
TBD March 28 or April 4: Midpoint Check-in
TBD May 2, May 6 and/or May 15 (our final exam period): Final Presentations
May 7: Team evaluation form due [link will be made available towards the end of semester]
Check lectures for details on what to develop for each of tracks!
Check Campuswire for detailed guidelines and examples for th, final presentation, mid-point check-in, and pitch presentation!
Grade breakdown
The team project is worth 25% of your total grade. The breakdown of the grades is below.
PROJECT PITCHES (15%)
In class, you’ll be giving a high-level pitch of what you would like to focus on for your project. Here is a template for your presentation.
MILESTONE CHECK-IN (20%)
Choose any 15-minute slot during <date TBD> Discussion Sections to discuss your progress with TAs.
It will be a combination of Group progress + Individual Questions
FINAL PRESENTATION (65%)
In the last full week of class, you will be giving a presentation
ECE484 Spring 2025 Presentation Guidelines
- You must provide a motivation and introduction to your project, a description of the overall system, methods you have used, and your results thus far.
- You will be graded by the course staff on your (1) pitch / motivation; (2) clarity of the system description; (3) novelty of the method; (4) thoroughness of (proposed) analysis and results (if finished); and (5) presentation style.
- A rubric will be posted soon.
1. GEM (Hardware) Track
Description.
Our GEM vehicle has several software modules for autonomous waypoint following, LIDAR, camera, etc. Please carefully read and get familiar with GEM vehicle resources. More details to come.
Requirements.
- A few people in your team must have a valid driver’s licenses
- Highly recommended that your team has a car (you will have to get to the highbay often—201 St. Mary’s street, Champaign)
First steps.
Get lab DRS Laboratory Safety Training and DRS Fire Extinguisher Training from here. Generate the training certificates and wait for further instructions. More in-person trainings for the highbay will be necessary.
2. GRAIC (Simulation) Track
GRAIC is an open international autonomous racing competition to be held by the end of this semester(exact date to be announced). Your team will compete in this race and have to develop the software for autonomous racing in the environment with pedestrians, complex tracks, and other vehicles. Perception is not going to be a big part of the competition, but if you like, you can create your own version of the race and develop the perception pipeline.
First steps.
- Familiarize yourself with the GRAIC simulator and software
- Sign-up on their mailing list
3. F1-tenth Track
In the F1-Tenth project, you will be tasked with implementing an autonomy stack to enable a small car with the ability to follow a line as fast as possible. You have a suite of sensors including an RGBD-camera, LiDAR, and motion capture system at your disposal to complete the project. You will be able to test your software on F1-Tenth cars in CSL Studio.
First steps.
- Familiarize yourself with the F1-Tenth hardware
First steps.
Get lab DRS Laboratory Safety Training and DRS Fire Extinguisher Training from Generate the training certificates and wait for further instructions. More in-person trainings for the highbay will be necessary.