Hang Yin

MS in Robotics @ Northwestern

Inspired by Mario’s motorcycle style from the beloved Mario Kart game, I took on the task of designing, building, and programming a line-following motorcycle of my own. The project made use of a Raspberry Pi Pico W to interpret images captured by a camera and identify the center of a line. Steering control was implemented through a servo, which was governed by a PIC microcontroller, and two additional drive motors facilitated forward motion.

mario-motorcycle

Main Components

  • PIC32MX170F256B
  • Raspberry Pi Pico W
  • Adafruit CP2102 Friend
  • ST7735 1.8” 128x160 TFT LCD
  • OV7670 640x480 Camera
  • DRV8835 Dual Low-Voltage H-Bridge

PCB design

I further enhanced the project by designing three custom Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) using KiCad:

PCB

Recognition

The effort was well rewarded during the 2023 Northwestern Tech Cup, where the Mario Motorcycle was recognized with the “Best Design” award. In a tongue-in-cheek nod to the perennial runner-up, the Luigi counterpart to my creation won the “Luigi is Always Second” award.

mario-brothers