Engineering students compete in a track-following race.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phuoc, Head of the Mechatronics Department at Cao Thang Technical College, said that this year's competition attracted 33 teams of first-year students and 22 teams of second-year students. Students formed groups (maximum 4 people) to design and program robots capable of automatically navigating and overcoming obstacles on a model race track.

"This is how the school combines theory and practice. Through the competition, we will stimulate students' creative thinking, programming skills, and teamwork skills, thereby discovering those with aptitude and passion for scientific research," Dr. Phuoc emphasized.

Students must program the race cars to follow the exact course specified by the organizers.

This is the second year that Cao Thang Technical College has organized the "Road Tracking Race" competition.

This year, the competing teams' racing cars featured significant innovations and improvements. The Holy Swordsmen team from class CD CDT22B showcased a racing car with a path recognition system using analog sensors, enhancing its navigation capabilities.

The MMT Team from class CD CĐT22A impressed with their clever design and a race completion time of 16.8 seconds (breaking the previous year's record of 37 seconds). This was the only team with only one member participating, and they excellently won first prize.

Pham Truong Viet Hoang, a student majoring in Mechatronics and the champion of this year's competition, said he designed an additional sensor system on both sides to help the robot car recognize when it deviates from the track, and combined this with efficient programming to enable the robot to make quick and accurate decisions.

"This is my second time participating in the competition. This year I feel I've improved a lot. I spent over two months preparing my ideal race car, costing about 700,000 VND. The competition has given me many experiences and taught me how to apply my knowledge to real-world situations," Hoàng said excitedly.

The dramatic knockout round for second-year students took place on the afternoon of May 24th.

According to Dr. Phuoc, the racing cars must follow a pre-determined route, using sensors to detect and handle situations such as turns, obstacles, and dead ends. The maximum time to complete the race route is 2 minutes. The width of the track the car must follow is 28 mm, and the total length of the track is 20 m.

"Next week, the school will hold the final round of the 'Route-Following Car' competition for first-year students. The results of each team will contribute 20% of the points for the Microcontroller course for second-year students and the Programming Language course for first-year students, thus encouraging their learning and research participation," Dr. Phuoc observed.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/sinh-vien-ky-thuat-tranh-tai-dua-xe-do-duong-196240524190331793.htm