Within the scope of TEKNOFEST Aviation, Space and Technology Festival, Robotaksi Passenger Car-Autonomous Vehicle Competition, which aims to support technology development activities in the field of unmanned vehicles, started on the track created in Gebze Bilişim Valley.
Within the scope of TEKNOFEST Aviation, Space and Technology Festival, the exciting adventure of the teams in the Informatics Valley, which completed the software of the vehicles they produced with their own ideas, began in the Robotaxi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition, which was held under the leadership of Informatics Valley, HAVELSAN and TÜBİTAK. President of Defense Industry Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir, Chairman of Kocaeli Chamber of Industry and Board Member of Informatics Valley Ayhan Zeytinoğlu, HAVELSAN General Manager Dr. Mehmet Akif Nacar and TÜBİTAK Vice President Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yozgatlıgil shared the excitement of the competition among the youth. Visiting the teams one by one, Mr. Demir listened to the students’ experiences during the preparation process and got information about the technical features of the vehicles they designed. Among the 146 teams that applied to the competition, in which high school and university students and graduates participated, 31 teams that qualified for the finals will drive their self-driving cars to the track after a long preparation process. The competition, which will continue until September 17, will be held in an exciting environment where all teams will be able to race their vehicles autonomously on the test track within the framework of traffic signs and determined competition rules.
Turkey’s Future is Bright…
President of Defense Industry Prof., who examined the work of the young people on site and congratulated all the teams for their success in autonomous vehicle technologies. Dr. İsmail Demir said, “There is an exciting effort by the teams here. We see that each student has a unique experience in the competition areas. It makes us proud to see that our friends, who are divided into various branches as a team, come together in the company of consultant teachers. Here, the product, the competition itself is a physical event, but the spirit and atmosphere are something else. Feeling this here creates a separate added value for us. In order to trigger these, it is very important to show a competition atmosphere, a target and walk towards it. The most important thing is to gain important experience about what we should do on the way to that goal, what measures we should take and how we should work. While talking to our friends, we focused on the diffusion of this effort. We will continue our support in rewarding this effort of our young people.” used his statements.
Driverless Cars of the Future Are Driven to the Track
The contribution and importance of autonomous vehicles, which minimize human error in traffic, to traffic safety is increasing day by day. In the competition, which aims to develop autonomous driving algorithms, a single-person vehicle is expected to perform various tasks without a driver in a real track environment. Robotaxes, which operate on a track that reflects the full-scale urban traffic situation, will compete in two categories, the Original Vehicle Category and the Ready Vehicle Category added this year. While the teams involved in every stage from the production of the vehicles to the software are expected to compete in the Original Vehicle Category, TEKNOFEST is expected to provide a fully equipped electric ready vehicle platform to the teams in the Ready Vehicle Category, and only develop autonomous software and complete the tasks on the track. Within the scope of the competition, the first prize in the Original Vehicle category will be worth 75 thousand TL, the second prize will be 50 thousand TL and the third prize will be 35 thousand TL. In the Ready Car category, the winners of the teams that are successful and ranked will receive a prize of 40 thousand TL, the second prize of 30 thousand TL and the third prize of 20 thousand TL. The winning teams will receive their awards at TEKNOFEST, which will be held at Atatürk Airport on September 21-26, 2021.