As with most programming courses, the instructor reserves the right to fail any student who does not make a good faith effort to complete the project.
If you have problems with completing any given part of the project please talk to Dr. Hugue immediately- do not put it off! While the TA enjoys failing students, Dr. Hugue does not, so please be kind and do the project. A submission that gets only 20 or 30 points is considerably better for you than no submission at all.