This class is weird. The lectures, homework, labs, and projects relate very loosely to one another. I could barely pay attention during the lectures but I dont think I missed anything of importance. Most of the homework is chill and if you don't know how to do something there are plenty of videos online explaining all the content in the class. The labs in the first half in the quarter are free points once you get past the confusing directions. The project is like 30 minutes of coding then an aditional 1-2 hours of tweaking values until the car works. The quizzess are usually near identical to a hw or practice problem and the final is basically 7-8 quizzess combined. Briggs offers extra credit which I recommend doing as it bumped by raw score of a 91 to an A. Overall, Briggs is a chill guy and he gave me an A so I fw him.

This class is a joke. This class should be waived for transfers because it is so incredibly easy for us. I did not study one bit for this class and that is not an exaggeration. If you have taken a circuits 1 equivalent then this class should be a breeze. I can’t speak for the people who haven’t, but I can only imagine it would be the most boring and slow-paced class offered here. All the quizzes, homeworks, and even the final exam was just basic KCL/KVL and circuit principles. This class felt like a gen. ed because of how little I cared and paid attention in it. The only thing that might be a concern is the final project, which is worth 30% of your grade. However, even having no experience in Arduino, this project wasn’t that bad. It’s pretty easy to score well in the report and he gives a ton of extra credit even if your car doesn’t complete the track. Briggs isn’t a good professor and the structure of this class is straight up silly.

This class won't really test your brain but more your patience lmao. I feel like the amount of content we actually learn isn't much: node analysis, lab equipment, AC DC circuits, op amps, and PID controls for the car -- but topics relating to the car project aren't even on the exams or quizzes. However, the 8 am quizzes, tediously debugging and fine-tuning Arduino code for the car, and writing a report the week of finals just made this class feel like a chore. It didn't help that I took 3 upper divs and this class this quarter too, so this class was always something I would forget about and have to catch up on last minute. All in all, not a fun class but not very hard

The lectures have always been at 8am with a quiz in the first 10 mins, but the timing and Dr Briggs' slow pace of lecturing meant that half the class would leave the lecture after the quiz to watch the recording later. The class is super manageable throughout the quarter, but do be prepared to spend the entire Week 9 weekend on the project, and possibly attend office hours if you get stuck on the homework question. The project instructions are unclear, but Dr Briggs is helpful outside of lectures (i.e. during labs and office hours), and so are the TAs (shoutout Alexiy!) and IEEE student mentors. Knowing how to code in Arduino and about RC circuits is definitely helpful for this class.

Dr. Briggs is so helpful and he cares about every student. GREAT professor to take class with.

It really helps to know Arduino before going into this class, though I think it would be manageable to survive if you have no experience with it. Taking Physics 1B before this is recommended, since Briggs will expect you to know how RC circuits work right off the bat. I didn't take Physics 1B before, and it was a struggle on the quizzes. You can fail some of the quizzes and still get an A, since the quizzes aren't worth too much. The first few weeks will be fast, but once you start working on the car, the class gets a lot easier. This quarter, he screwed over a lot of the class by changing his grading distribution (for example, you needed a 92 for an A-) and not following his syllabus (he didn't drop a quiz when he said he would) because I think he didn't want to curve down.

Should have a prerequisite of Physics 1B and possibly CS30/31 (the main project involves simple code). Briggs actually didn't believe me when I told him Physics 1B was not a prerequisite for the class. Having never taken physics before, the material was difficult, but if you've taken Physics 1B then I'm pretty sure it would all be quite easy. The main project is essentially worth 60% of the grade, 30% for completing the project and 30% for the report, neither of which is very difficult. There were quizzes at the start of every class, which were not hard. Briggs is not an engaging speaker, so lectures move extremely slowly. I would not recommend taking it with him if you can avoid it. I would recommend Xin Li as a TA, if he's there.

Professor Briggs is old. He is unhelpful and disrespectful in office hours. He refused to help me with the homework and did not teach me anything. The class is easy and I was able to figure things out anyway. I got an A- because he gave me a C- on the final project report. The grading for this report is completely arbitrary and the instructions were unclear. This class is required and it shouldn't be too hard, but don't bother trying to get anything out of the professor. Figure it out with classmates or TAs.

The class is not beginner friendly at all. Professors' lectures are not good, and it feels like he explains how to plug and chug rather than actually understanding why things work the way they do.
Additionally, the project is not structured well for students without much experience. He gives a lot of instructions and you don't know why you are following them. PID control was taught and we were told to not use I, and while he explained P I and D, the intuition was not well explained. Similarly, other concepts in the class are never explained and do not make sense.

Attending 8 am lectures is hell. Now adding a quiz in the first 10 minutes is devilish.