A group of 4 students from the Vietnamese-French Training Programme of excellent Engineers (PFIEV) of the Da Nang University of Technology and Science have been busy perfecting their joint product to prepare for the final round of the ‘Digital Race’ competition. The contest is scheduled to take place in Ha Noi by the end of this month.

Four students doing their utmost to prepare for the final round of Digital Race

These students are Phan Duy Hung, Tran Gia Khang, Tran Quang Huy and Tran Thi Thanh Hoa.

The group’s leader Hung said that all group members have a great passion for conducting research into digital technology.

After having participated in a recent press conference to announce the ‘Digital Race’ competition at their University, these students immediately registered for the contest.

Duy Hung said they initially faced many difficulties relating to the application of computer artificial intelligence and the use of computer software. Therefore, it took over 2 months for them to learn about, research and choose the optimal solution for perfecting a programming self-driving car.

Gia Khang remarked, “The most challenge facing the group is to how to develop a software to ensure that the self-driving car obey the traffic rules, making them turn left or right, stop, and slow down when a light turns yellow and resume when a light turns to green from red”.

In addition, the car can navigate roads, identify lanes and obstacles on road surface, and change speed without any human intervention.

A camera attached to the top of the car can help the vehicle run in the right lanes and follow the traffic signs in order to obey road traffic rules.

Hung added that in addition to equipment sponsored by the organisers and their University, all group members have to save their monthly living expenses to buy necessary auxiliary equipment including USB Wifi, and to paint road lanes by themselves.

Hung and his friends usually ask for helpful opinions from specialised lecturers to perfect their product.

The talented student and his teammates have given themselves the best chance of experiencing the latest self-propelled technologies and meeting with those who have similar passions when they participate in this year’s competition.

Also, they have the opportunity to prepare necessary knowledge in the current context of Industry 4.0 revolution (Industry 4.0).

The ‘Digital Race’ competition was organised by the FPT Corporation in 2016.

The annual event creates a useful playground for IT students to show their knowledge, programming abilities, and practical technology skills.