Selcar Team, which is focused on smart car engineering, received the grand prize at the 2019 International Student Car Competition. A competition held in Hwaseong K-city was organized by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority and the Korea Auto-vehicle Safety Association. 45 universities in Korea participated in the competition to show off their creative automobile technology. The Selcar Team surprised jurors and spectators by performing various self-driving missions, including recognition of lanes and traffic lights, obstacle-avoidance driving, and automatic parking. CBT met the team leader of the Selcar Team, Lee Jeon-hyuk (’15 Dept. Electronics Engineering).-Ed

1. Can you introduce your team?

  Selcar refers to a self-moving car, so our team name is the abbreviation Selcar. Our team is made up of thirteen students from the Departments of Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.

2. The team is made up of students from three departments. Why did various members get together to participate in the competition?

  After entering university, I wanted to participate in meaningful activities such as extramural activities, volunteer services, and clubs. Last year, I was lucky enough to participate in this competition thanks to my senior’s recommendation. This year, I became the team leader as a result of my previous experience. I recruited other students who were interested in this competition and made a team. Many schools participated in the preliminary round of this competition. There were also many brainy students. I think additional points are very important to win this competition. The organizers announced that, if a team is composed of students from various departments, they would be given additional points. Thus, my team included students from three departments. Of course, the additional points are one of the reasons why the students from different departments gathered, but we also came together to make the perfect car. The students who are majoring in Mechanical Engineering produced the frame of the car, students who are majoring in Electronic Engineering designed the car sensors, and students who are majoring in Electrical Engineering were responsible for setting the current for the laptop batteries connected to the car.

3. Please explain briefly about the car your team designed for the competition.

  We made the car using four different sensors: a camera, radar, a GPS, and an IMU. The camera uses artificial intelligence to convert traffic signals to specific symbols after detecting traffic signals. The radar shoots a laser that rotates a full 360 degrees, and we calculate the time the laser bounces back from an obstacle. GPS and IMU are used as sensors to locate the vehicle and to indicate suggested actions.

4. What was the most memorable moment in preparing for the competition?

  We suffered from the effects of a typhoon most of one day .We even practiced on the day of competition. We repeatedly moved a car weighing nearly 300 kilograms to a tent because it couldn’t get wet. I also remember having a hard time when the car fell into a stream during practice. It was too heavy to lift it out. Many members were unfortunately injured while trying to rescue the car without damaging it. The moment was hard, but when I thought about it after the competition, it became the most memorable moment. Maybe it's because it was such a hard time for my team.

5. Compared to Hongik University, which was given second place, the score gap was quite big. What was the secret of your team's victory?

  The organizers opened the practice site four times a week. Our team and the Hongik University team always practiced four times a week. Hongik University had ranked first for 2 years in a row. They had more people and better equipment than our team. As we watched the Hongik University team, we were energized and became more absorbed in preparing for the competition. However, we had a problem on the eve of the competition. The GPS did not designate Hwaseong as the venue for the event but designated another area. We were so embarrassed to have such a problem. However, we stayed up all night to solve the problem and finally competed without any problems. Unfortunately, Hongik University had the same GPS error our team had experienced and received a penalty during the competition. I thought we were lucky to experience the problem before the competition.

6. Do you have any tips for CBNU students who are preparing for this competition?

  I went to Hwaseong and practiced driving for four days a week and then came back to school, and I spent 3 days correcting data and other equipment. I went to Hwaseong at 6 a.m. and came back to school on the last bus. I repeated this routine over and over again during the vacation. Therefore, I had a hard time physically, and it was difficult to prepare for the competition and study at the same time. Of course, I was very thankful that the team members came along with me and were all focused on the competition. Thus, I want to tell the students to make zealous efforts.

By Lee Dong-ah  l da39@cbnu.ac.kr