First-year integrative project for computer and software engineering students at Polytechnique Montréal

This paper presents the most important aspects of the first-year project for students in computer and software engineering at Polytechnique Montréal. A small robot is used to introduce students to hardware and software concepts of a complete and autonomous small computer. A custom robot was designed for this course and this gives the flexibility to introduce some concepts in a specific way. The fact that both software and hardware are considered makes it particularly challenging for the students but also for the teaching team. The robot itself is described but also the project structure and how students can progress in this context. The evaluation and the support offered to the students are also explained.