Virginia Western’s Autonomous Vehicle course has grown into a new program

Roanoke, Virginia – Virginia Western Community College has launched a new Career Study Certificate in Autonomous Vehicle Technology, marking a revolutionary step in preparing students for the quickly developing field of autonomous vehicle technology.

Autonomous vehicles, or AVs, recognize roads, other cars, and objects using a mix of sensors and technologies. Autonomous cars come to mind.

Lane assist and GPS are examples of automotive technologies that are moving toward a fully autonomous future that may extend beyond the roads, according to Dr. David Berry, Head of the Mechatronics Program at Virginia Western Community College.

However, it’s not quite there yet, so before we go completely autonomous, we’re attempting to gradually introduce it and improve the safety surrounding it. Dr. Berry stated, “I hope my students will understand the levels of autonomy and what that means for a driverless future after they receive their certificate.”

A small group of students took Virginia Western’s first-ever course, UMS 140: Survey of Autonomous Technologies, this spring. The first in the Community College System of Virginia.
Adam O’Neal, the Associate Dean of STEM at VWCC, was one of the students in the class.

“This is a fantastic new chance. Since these technological components have existed, it’s a matter of personal interest. However, it involves combining all of those elements and determining how the technology functions as well as the employment opportunities available in that industry. O’Neal said.

The curriculum seeks to give students the abilities and information required to handle the intricacies of autonomous systems, fostering the kind of forward-thinking attitude that will be crucial for the transportation industry of the future. Dr. Berry, who spearheaded the new initiative, stressed how critical it is to stay up with the quick developments in autonomous technology.

“Autonomous vehicles will eventually be available on a mass market. It’s fantastic to be able to design them and build the platform, but someone has to fix them, and at the moment, nobody knows how to do that,” Berry added.

To improve the autonomous technology learning experience, Virginia Western obtained a used MiR 2000 mobile industry robot, also called Minerva, with the assistance of a vendor. Although the shape resembles a box on wheels, it is equipped with sensors like LIDAR, which uses lasers to function similarly to radar. Through the robot’s web-based interface, students may program missions, make maps, and avoid obstacles.

To map the entire course it will take and determine how the sensors interact with the communication systems, you can have it perform a variety of useful tasks. We performed that in class, and then we considered how that would be applied more broadly to an autonomous car on the road,” O’Neal said.

Minerva can navigate factory floors and can be configured to avoid obstructions because it was created for industrial environments. Programmable noises, like a foghorn, are another feature.
“First, we must inform it of its limits, its boundaries, and the places it can and cannot go. We are in charge of letting it know where our safe and important places are. If anything changes after we order it to finish that job, it will either ask us what it should do or reassess and choose a different course of action,” Berry added.

There were no courses at Virginia Western that prepared students for careers in the AV industry prior to the launch of this program. Dr. Berry worked with colleagues at Virginia Tech who contributed their knowledge of the capabilities of mobile industrial robots because they understood the need for a complete strategy.

In particular, psychologists at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute are researching what noise might cause you to look up and pay attention if you were in a car and had to take control of it, for instance. I never considered those things. We consider the technological aspect, but it’s not the only factor,” O’Neal stated.

Students are learning useful skills and becoming ready for a future in which autonomous technology will be essential in many industries as Virginia Western continues to lead the way in autonomous vehicle education.

“Having a foundation that is so widely recognized will make our students highly employable in this market,” Dr. Berry stated.

For the first time, UMS 140 and UMS 162: Applications of Autonomous Systems will be given jointly in the spring semester, and registration is now available. In the summer of 2025, the seven-course Career Study Certificate in Autonomous Vehicle Technology will be offered for the first time.