Demonstrating exceptional skills in robot design, DTU students won a first place award at the "Innovation Tech Challenge 2024," competition held by Samsung Vietnam in collaboration with Junior Achievement on August 29, 2024.
This marks the second time DTU students have won the first prize, following their success in 2023, when they won both first and second place award.
The DTU30 team took home the 1st place award at the 2024 "Innovation Tech Challenge."
As part of the Technology Talent Development Project - Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) for the 2023-2024 academic year, the “Innovation Tech Challenge - 2024” competition was held to train the young generation in Vietnam with high-tech capabilities, aiming to lead the success of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 in Vietnam in the future. Over the course of a year, three technological capacity building courses in Internet of Things – IoT, Artificial Intelligence – AI and Big Data and a course in Basic Coding & Programming Coding & Programming - C&P were offered to youngsters aged 13-22 at 67 schools, including middle schools, high schools, and universities across 13 provinces nationwide, achieving impressive results with nearly 6,400 participants.
To fully support the success of the project, Samsung Vietnam recently set up two "SIC Labs" located at DTU and the National Innovation Center. These labs offer a state-of-the-art learning environment equipped with high-performance computers, along with many laptops and smart TVs. This ensures that SIC participants have the best possible conditions for learning, practicing, and conducting research.
This year's competition, featuring the Micromouse maze-solving robot challenge, saw participation from 9 university teams and 11 secondary school teams from 8 provinces.
In the competition, teams designed a robot inspired by the model of a mouse. The robot is placed in a maze and operates fully autonomously to navigate its way to the finish line within the maze.
The robot's high-precision performance secured the victory for DTU students.
The DTU student team, including Thi Ly Tiem, Dam Gia Nhat Long, Nguyen Thi Ha Trang, and Nguyen Van Thang, designed a robot named "DTU30" (in celebration of the university's 30th anniversary).
Dam Gia Nhat Long shared: "Right after receiving instructions from the Organizing committee, we focused on designing a unique and intelligent robot. To make sure that the robot could accurately navigate the maze, besides selecting the best sensors for measurement and calculation we had to try hard in testing the models and combining algorithms like A* and Left Follow to choose the optimal path for the robot. Our team received the very support from Mr. Pham Quyen Anh, Manager of the STEM & FAB Labs Center, and Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Gia Nhu, Dean of the DTU School of Computer Science, and Mr. Nguyen Quoc Long, a lecturer at the DTU School of Computer Science. We were also able to practice in the STEM & FAB Labs at the university, which are fully equipped with modern machinery, making it much easier for us to develop the DTU30 robot."
“Robots designed by all the teams were very impressive. During the competition, there were quite a few issues, such as robots getting stuck at the finish line and unable to turn back, startup glitches, or robots failing to complete a full lap in the maze, but the teams quickly addressed these problems. The DTU30 robot was the only one to reach the finish line and return to the starting point, completing its laps to score points. We also had some ‘secret’ backup strategies, so the robot ran very smoothly. Our robot completed two full laps and touched the finish line three times, securing an overwhelming victory against the other teams,” shared Nguyen Thi Ha Trang.
The competition consisted of two rounds in the morning and afternoon, with increasing difficulty after each part, selecting the best-performing robots for the awards. The Organizing Committee awarded first, second, third, and consolation prizes for both the university and high school divisions.
Samsung awarded scholarships to the top students
At the event, Samsung also awarded 60 scholarships to the top 60 students of the SIC 2023-24 programme. Six DTU students, namely Dam Gia Nhat Long, Nguyen Thi Ha Trang, Nguyen Van Thang, Nguyen Dang Thinh, Tran Viet Hoang Hao, and Truong Duc Quoc Huy, received Samsung Scholarships in recognition of their hard work and exceptional academic achievements.
Since 2019, Samsung has implemented the SIC program in 36 countries worldwide, including the United States, Germany, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and so on.
(Media Center)