Autonomous Vehicle Technology

Autonomous Vehicle Technology

Begins Spring 2025

This Career Studies Certificate program consists of technical courses, which offer hands-on experience with operation and troubleshooting of robotic vehicles up to and including autonomous vehicles. The first semester of the certificate parallels fundamentals of AC and DC electricity with its use in automated systems. Students will be exposed to industrial sensing, programmable logic controllers. and various robot platforms with online and offline programming. The third class in the first semester will expose students to a variety of programming schemes and culminate in a simple autonomous vehicle.

The second semester of the certificate will focus on the technologies that are present in current autonomous vehicle platforms. These skillsets are informed through consultation with probable employers and will move from a survey of current technology trends to hands-on troubleshooting and analysis of applicable vehicle systems.

Four of these courses count towards the AAS degree in Mechatronics for students who want to pursue further education leading to even more opportunities as a technician, various engineering applications, sales, marketing, or as an entrepreneur. Industry credentials that may be obtained include: NC3 (National Coalition of Certification Centers) certificates in AC/DC Fundamentals and Multimeter Measurements, Sensors and PLC Fundamentals. Additional robot certifications will be available through Universal Robots.

This program was created in partnership with Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and TORC Robotics of Blacksburg, VA.