In this project, you'll be working on a simple RC car, similar to the one shown here:

This particular car is an Xmods car, originally sold by Radio Shack. However, the best place to get them now is eBay. The advantage of this particular set is that the inputs to the drive train and steering are very easy to access.

The following image shows the car with its center control mechanism exposed:

There are two connections that you will want direct access to. The first is the drive motor, and the second is the steering mechanism. For this particular model of RC car, the drive mechanism is in the rear. What you are normally looking for is two wires that will directly drive the DC motor of the car. In this system, there is a connector in the rear of the car; it looks similar to the following image:

In the main control section of the car, you can see that there is a connector that plugs into these two wires, in order to control the speed of...