An ongoing project in the MVTHS Robotics & Engineering shop is this Ford Think Neighbor. Three of these non-functional vehicles were donated to our shop and sat outside for 20+ years. The generational goal has been to make them fully autonomous…

This is a project that has been passed down through the generations, starting off with Roman Rice, then to Benjamin Wirz, and now with Jonas Wirz and Miles Hilliard.

Roman took parts from two of the broken golf carts and managed to create a single functioning one. He replaced the motor driver and other important electronics with custom hardware and firmware ultimately bringing the car back to life. Without his effort, this project would not be where it is today. When Ben had the project, he focused on implementing mechanical systems to help control the steering and brake system while also providing the next generations with a very neat and organized electronic system.

Now at the hands of Jonas and Miles, they are working to implement AI into controlling steering, brakes, and acceleration autonomously. This has been coming after their intense work of revamping the whole entire battery system, including a custom build LiFePO4 battery pack.