“The programming skills of students participating in the college autonomous driving competition are at 60-70% of the level of experts,” said Seong Nak-Seop, executive at Hyundai Motor Company’s R&D Division. Hyundai Motor Company held the ‘College Autonomous Driving Competition’ at the AMG Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, on the 10th. This competition has been held every two years since 2010.
This year’s event moved away from urban areas and took place at a racetrack. The change in location to the speedway was made to better address the various factors that can arise during the competition compared to a typical urban setting. Executive Seong mentioned, “To establish safer autonomous driving in real road conditions, we hosted this event at a circuit that presents a variety of challenges.”
Perhaps due to the variables present on the circuit, there was a damaged vehicle parked at the pit entrance during the intense preliminary rounds. Executive Seong remarked on the damaged car, stating, “Autonomous driving can still be risky,” but also emphasized, “One damaged car can provide significant information for developing autonomous driving programs.”
In the finals, three teams from Konkuk University, KAIST, and Inha University competed, with Konkuk University winning with a time of 27 minutes and 55 seconds. The runner-up was KAIST with a time of 29 minutes and 31 seconds.
Executive Seong commented on the competition results.
“Creating algorithms for autonomous driving is challenging. I commend the students for developing such programs. There is active industry-academic collaboration, and if they desire, they can be involved in real-world research. In my personal opinion, the current level of students has reached about 60-70% of that of the experts. I look forward to seeing their progress in two years.”
Lee Sang-Jin daedusj@autodiary.kr