A research team, led by Professor Cheolhyeon Kwon in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UNIST has been honored at the 11th F1TENTH Autonomous Grand Prix. This prestigious competition, held from May 29 to 31, 2023, at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2023 in London, showcased the incredible capabilities of autonomous racing technology.
The competition is a race format of fully autonomous 1/10th-scale F1 Race Cars, which compete against each other to finish first on a given racetrack. To solve this challenge, each team needs to implement advanced autonomous software and algorithms to find the perfect race line while simultaneously avoiding colliding with other cars.
The HMcar team, consisting of HoJin Lee, YoungIm Nam, SangHun Lee, and KwangRok Kim, achieved an impressive 5th place ranking in this year’s F1TENTH Autonomous Grand Prix. Success in this competition relies on creating a safe and efficient autonomous driving system capable of navigating obstacles swiftly.
This year’s competition attracted 41 teams from the United States, Europe, and Asia. In the preliminary round, teams were evaluated based on completing laps without collisions within a specified timeframe. The top 22 teams advanced to the tournament-style finals where they competed against each other for faster completion times.
Professor Kwon’s team secured sixth place in the preliminary round, advancing them to the quarterfinals where they ultimately finished fifth overall. The championship title was claimed by Team Froza ETH from ETH Zurich in Zürich, Switzerland—a formidable opponent faced by Professor Kwon’s team during their quarterfinal match.
Expressing gratitude towards his team’s achievement, Professor Kwon acknowledged their annual preparations for this competition through their participation in ‘Creating Autonomous Vehicle Systems,’ a project related to POL (Project-Oriented Learning) course. He also extended appreciation towards UNIST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and College of Engineering for their support throughout this endeavor.
