Kookmin University (President Jung Seung-ryul) announced that the 2024 AUTORACE competition was successfully held at EXCO in Daegu from November 20 to 22. The 2024 CO-SHOW is a large-scale event where 18 consortia in 18 cutting-edge fields come together. It is a high-tech education show where students can watch competitions and experience hands-on educational programs in various fields, including future cars, artificial intelligence, aerial drones, biohealth, intelligent robots, and biohealth. This AUTORACE 2024 was organized by Kookmin University, the host university of the Future Automobile Consortium of the Innovative Convergence University Project, and was held with the aim of fostering talent who will play a key role in the development of new autonomous driving technologies. A total of 174 students from 39 teams from Kookmin University and six other universities (Keimyung University, Daerim University, Sun Moon University, Ajou University, Inha University, and Chungbuk National University) applied for the competition, and 89 students from 19 teams were selected for the finals. They had a valuable opportunity to develop and verify the core technologies necessary for autonomous driving in a scale car environment.

During the winter vacation, students developed the core technologies of autonomous driving, including perception, judgment, and control algorithms, in a virtual environment and applied them to a 1/10 scale car to verify them.

The competition was held with the aim of fostering talent who will play a key role. A total of 39 teams with 174 students from Kookmin University and six other universities (Keimyung University, Daerim University, Sun Moon University, Ajou University, Inha University, and Chungbuk National University) applied for the competition, and 19 teams with 89 students were selected for the finals. They had a valuable opportunity to develop and verify the core technologies required for autonomous driving in a scale car environment. Afterwards, they competed and verified their performance on a 1/10 scale driving track, which is similar to real-world conditions. Participants were able to learn the programming skills essential for autonomous driving engineers and gain practical experience while performing various missions required in real-life autonomous driving environments, such as driving on roads, recognizing obstacles and traffic lights.

Students participating in this competition received training on the overview of autonomous driving, ROS programming, how to use the simulation environment, sensor data processing, and controller design for five days. After that, they developed an autonomous driving algorithm for about four weeks and practiced using the scale car they developed for one week. Through this process, the students gained a deep understanding of autonomous driving technology and cultivated the ability to solve various problems that can occur in real-world environments. Afterwards, the first final round was held on November 21, followed by the second final round on November 22, where the winner was determined.

Through this competition, the Clothoid-T team from Chungbuk National University won the Minister of Education Award, the Pobongbong team from Kookmin University won the National Research Foundation Award, the Kuuristic team from Kookmin University and the D.A.P team from Daelim University won the Council Chairman Award, the KUUVe team from Kookmin University, the INHARobo team from Inha University, and the SME team won the Business Group Director Award, and the Autosun team from Sun Moon University won the Wigo Award.

Shin Sung-hwan, the head of the project team at Kookmin University, said, “The students demonstrated the autonomous driving technology they learned through theory and practice on the actual track in a short period of time, and I am very proud of the excellent results. I hope that the University of Future Automotive Innovation and Convergence will produce talented individuals who can contribute to the future automotive industry of Korea.” He also expressed his gratitude to Professor Kang Yeon-sik of the Department of Automotive Engineering at Kookmin University, Professor Lee Su-won of the Department of Future Mobility, and WeGo Robotics Co.

Professor Kang Yeon-sik of Kookmin University, who conducted the competition, said, “Every year, the level of autonomous driving algorithms implemented by students is getting higher. This year, many teams solved the difficult missions prepared by the competition without any problems, so I expect them to grow into great engineers in the future.”

Following this competition, Kookmin University's Future Automotive Business Division plans to offer a program that allows students to learn autonomous driving technology online and offline using a virtual environment (Digital Twin) that mimics the real-life driving environment of a scale car during the winter break. Through this, students will be able to experience the differences between the virtual environment and the real environment, and also experience the process of solving and verifying various problems that may arise when applying autonomous driving algorithms to the real environment.

2024 AUTORACE is the third real-world competition to be held this year and has established itself as an important platform for learning and practicing autonomous driving technology. Through this competition, talented individuals who will lead the future automotive industry are building expertise and practical skills in the field of autonomous driving. It is expected that such competitions will continue to be held in the future, leading to the development of autonomous driving technology and the emergence of talented individuals who will lead the way.

AUTORACE 2024 is the third real-world competition this year, and it has established itself as an important platform for learning and practicing autonomous driving technology.

Through this competition, talented individuals who will lead the future automotive industry are building expertise and practical skills in the field of autonomous driving.