21-Day Challenge

Build a Self-Driving Car.
Discover If Robotics Is For You.

No hardware. No setup. No experience needed. Just 20-30 minutes a day for 21 days.

Stay consistent, complete it free. Miss a day? Simple accountability fee applies.

You Feel It, Don't You?

That spark when someone mentions robots. Self-driving cars. Drones navigating on their own. Mars rovers making decisions millions of miles from Earth.

You want that. You want to understand how it works. You want to build it yourself.

But then the voice starts: "That's too complex. That's for people with PhDs. That's not for me."

Here's What I Know After 15+ Years in Robotics:

That belief is the only thing stopping you.

Robotics isn't impossible. It's not reserved for geniuses. It's absolutely within your reach. You just need someone to show you it's possible — and give you a clear path to prove it to yourself.

What You'll Experience in 21 Days

Small daily steps. Big transformation.

🚗

Build a Working Self-Driving Car

Watch it navigate, avoid obstacles, and make decisions. In simulation. Right in your browser. No hardware, no complex setup, no excuses.

💡

Understand How It Actually Works

No jargon. No assumptions. Every concept explained in plain language. By the end, you'll know exactly how autonomous systems think and move.

🎯

Discover If This Is Your Path

21 days is enough to know. You'll either catch the bug and want more, or you'll realize it's not for you. Either way, you'll know with certainty.

Build a Daily Learning Habit

20-30 minutes. That's it. Research shows daily practice beats weekend marathons. Small bites, big results.

🏆

Prove You Can Do This

At the end, you'll have a working project. You built it. You understand it. That's proof — to yourself and anyone else — that you belong here.

🎓

Learn From a PhD Roboticist

I've spent 15+ years building robots at Carnegie Mellon. I know where beginners get stuck because I was one. I designed this challenge to eliminate those barriers.

How the Challenge Works

Designed for maximum accessibility and accountability

1

Daily Lessons in Your Inbox

Every morning, you get a lesson. Read it. Try it in the simulator. 20-30 minutes. Done. No logging into platforms. No hunting for materials. It just arrives.

2

Custom Browser-Based Simulator

I built this simulator from scratch specifically for this challenge. Runs in your browser. No downloads. No dependencies. No "works on my machine" problems. Just open and build.

3

Program in Python

The most popular language in robotics. If you can write basic Python (or any programming language), you're ready. If you can't, you'll learn enough along the way.

4

Get Support When Stuck

Questions? Post them in the Slack community. Get answers from me and fellow learners. You're not alone in this.

5

Compete for the Prize

At the end, we run a competition. Best performing car wins 15 days free access to the High-Tech Career Mastermind (normally $220/week).

Here's the Deal

I want to make this accessible to everyone. So the challenge is free — as long as you stay consistent.

All you have to do is read your daily lesson and respond to the daily check-in email. That's it. Show up, engage for 20-30 minutes, you're done. Do that for 21 days straight, and you complete the challenge without paying a cent.

But Here's the Accountability Part

Technical material is hard. Your brain will resist. You'll want to put it off "just this once."

To fight that temptation, there's a simple accountability fee if you miss a day:

$49
If you miss a day in
Week 1
$79
If you miss a day in
Week 2
$79
If you miss a day in
Week 3

I'm setting the bar intentionally low. You don't have to master the material. You don't have to build a perfect car. You just have to show up and read the lesson every day.

The accountability fee isn't a punishment — it's a commitment device. It keeps you honest when motivation fades.

Think about it: for the price of staying consistent, you get:

  • A working self-driving car you built from scratch
  • 21 days of expert instruction from a Carnegie Mellon robotics PhD
  • A custom browser-based simulator (that doesn't exist anywhere else)
  • Community support and competition
  • Absolute clarity on whether robotics is for you

All for free. If you just show up.

Is This For You?

✓ This is for you if:

  • You feel curious when someone mentions robots or self-driving cars
  • You want to understand how autonomous tech actually works
  • You have basic programming knowledge (or willingness to learn)
  • You remember high school geometry (circles, angles, basic trig)
  • You can commit 20-30 minutes every day for 21 days
  • You're tired of wondering "what if" and ready to find out

✗ This isn't for you if:

  • You want to passively watch videos without building anything
  • You can't commit 20-30 minutes daily
  • You expect to become an expert roboticist in 21 days (this is a gateway, not a degree)
  • You want hand-holding at every step (you'll need to be willing to problem-solve)

What You'll Actually Learn

Every concept broken down. No jargon. No assumptions.

How robots see the world

Sensors, perception, and making sense of messy real-world data

How robots make decisions

State machines and autonomous decision-making logic

How robots move precisely

Control systems, feedback loops, and smooth motion

How robots avoid obstacles

Collision detection, path planning, and reactive navigation

How to debug robot behavior

Testing, troubleshooting, and iterative improvement

How it all connects

The big picture of autonomous systems and how the pieces fit together

Each lesson is designed to feel easy on its own. But when you put them all together over 21 days, you get the "aha" moment — suddenly it all clicks and you understand how autonomous systems actually work.

My Promise to You

You will be surprised at what you learn. In 21 days, you'll go from wondering if robotics is possible for you to having built a working autonomous system.

You will be proud of what you accomplished. This isn't watching videos. This is building something real. You'll finish this challenge with proof that you can do hard things.

You will know if robotics is for you. 21 days is enough time to know. Either you'll catch the bug and want to dive deeper, or you'll realize it's not your thing. Both outcomes are valuable.

Ready to Find Out What You're Capable Of?

Join the 21-Day Self-Driving Car Challenge. Show up daily, complete it free. Miss a day, pay the accountability fee. Either way, you'll learn what you came to learn.

FREE
if you stay consistent
Accountability fees: $49 (Week 1), $79 (Weeks 2-3) if you miss a day
21 daily lessons delivered to your inbox
Custom browser-based simulator (no setup required)
Slack community support
End-of-challenge competition with prize
20-30 minutes per day (that's all)

Challenge starts January 2, 2026