EE Senior Design - Controller Code

Hi all,

This is my first time using a VESC and I had some general questions about the open source code and how / if to access it.  

For my Electrical Engineering senior design project I am building an electric skateboard.  I was wondering if it is possible to add different functionalities to the VESC by writing new code.  Everything I'd ever need is already implemented in the software already, but I would like to take a stab a making my own or creating some other functionalities just to learn how and design something new. (Like a cruise control or max acceleration.)

Is this possible?

Are there tools to accomplish this?

How is the learning curve?

Thanks!!!