Final Thesis

If you plan to write a bachelor’s thesis under my supervision, please take into account my area of expertise and interest, which lies in the fields of highly automated and autonomous vehicles, mobility concepts, control units, sensor technology, and signal processing. I am unable to provide academic supervision for topics that fall far outside these areas.

Before our initial meeting regarding your proposed thesis, please send me a synopsis (1–2 pages) containing the following information:

• Current state of the art/research
• Bibliography
• Derivation of the research question and hypothesis
• Proposed investigation, methodology, experimental setup (including justification)
• Timeline
• Company, primary advisor, secondary advisor

If you would prefer to write your bachelor’s thesis at the university rather than at a company, I can suggest topics in the fields of analog circuit design, embedded systems, control unit development, and autonomous driving. For example, there are topics related to the vehicle platforms shown below. We can finalize the exact title and refine the content once you’ve identified a topic that interests you.

a) Control unit for an autonomous model car (control units, embedded systems):

• Review and revision of an existing µC PCB
• Further development of base software for the XMC
• Control of motor and steering (PWM)
• Speed controller
• Reading sensor data
• Interface to the remote control
• Interface to control buttons and status display (LEDs)
• Bidirectional communication via UART

b) Lane keeping and distance control for an autonomous model car (autonomous driving, algorithms):

• Modular software concept (on Raspberry Pi)
• Image processing and lane detection
• Trajectory calculation
• Obstacle detection and object classification
• Distance control
• Bidirectional communication via UART

c) Parking assistant for an autonomous model car (autonomous driving, algorithms):

• Integration into a modular software concept (on Raspberry Pi)
• Sensor evaluation for parking space detection
• Trajectory calculation
• Parking in a single maneuver
• Exiting a parking space on command
• Parking in multiple maneuvers
• Bidirectional communication via UART

d) Uninterruptible Power Supply (Control Unit Development, Analog Circuit Technology):

• Concept development for a 20W UPS
• Design of a charging circuit for Li-ion cells
• Design of a power supply circuit
• Charge level and status indicators
• PCB development and manufacturing
• Design of an enclosure
• Commissioning and measurements

e) Power supply board for an autonomous all-wheel-drive platform (control unit development, analog circuit technology):

• Review and redesign of a PCB
• Power supply for µC, Raspberry Pi, and sensors
• Voltage measurement and battery disconnection
• Interface to control buttons and status indicators (LEDs)
• Optional: Current measurement of the motors
• Optional: Bridge circuit for motor control 

f) Object detection and trajectory planning for an autonomous all-wheel-drive platform (autonomous driving, algorithms):

• Modular software concept (on Raspberry Pi)
• Image processing and object detection
• Trajectory calculation
• Evaluation of distance sensors
• Obstacle detection and object classification
• Braking in case of danger
• Bidirectional communication via UART

g) Software development for an autonomous Micromouse (Embedded Systems):

• Review and setup of existing hardware (microcontroller PCB)
• Review and adaptation of existing base software for the XMC
• Reading and checking the sensors
• Motor control (PWM) and speed and distance controllers
• Algorithm for maintaining the center of the path during uneven driving
• Algorithm for pathfinding through the maze

h) 20W solar lamp with battery (control unit development, analog circuit technology):

• Concept development of a 20W LED spotlight with rechargeable battery and solar charging
• Design of an MPPT charging circuit for Li-ion cells
• Design of a power supply circuit
• Charge level and status indicators
• PCB development and manufacturing
• Design of a housing with heat sink
• Commissioning and measurements