UIW Engineering Students Compete in 2024 American Control Conference Self-Driving Car Student Competition

UIW engineering students from the University's Autonomous Vehicles Systems (AVS) Research and Education Laboratories traveled to Toronto in Ontario, Canada to participate in Quanser's 2024 American Control Conference Self-Driving Car Student Competition, held July 12-14.

Quanser is an organization whose mission is to "partner with universities from around the world to develop engineering platforms that accelerate research and transform educational experience." Its American Control Conference Self-Driving Car Student Competition welcomes engineering students from across the globe to program self-driving vehicles as an opportunity to gain leading-edge knowledge and develop critical problem-solving skills that will benefit them as they continue to grow into the next generation of researchers and engineers.

The first stage of the competition required the 40 participating teams to participate in a virtual simulation where they programmed a vehicle model that was able to effectively comply with a number of routine road standards such as staying within road lines, completing a single lap within a minute and accurately reacting to a number of common road signs and lights.

UIW's team, called QCARdinals, placed in the top 11 performing teams, earning them a spot in the finals, where they transferred their code into a physical car, adjusting their code so that the car operated more efficiently. They then operated and showcased their car during the in-person competition in Toronto. QCARdinals was one of only two teams comprised of undergraduates, as most final round teams consisted of graduate level and doctoral participants.

"They moved on because of their merit," expressed Dr. Michael Fyre, professor of Engineering, who accompanied QCARdinals. "There were no waivers. I think that in and of itself is exceptional! UIW and the QCARdinal team was able to compete with some major international powerhouses."

QCARdinal team members, Jesus Cavazos, Gabriel Davila, Adam Gower, Gabriella Luna and George Sikazwe worked together to fine-tune the functionality of their self-driving vehicle. Additionally, post-baccalaureate student Logan Nijland, and graduate student Eulises Franco helped with the embedded controls and software integration. They paid special attention to essential factors such as "feature extraction," which enables the car to detect where it is on the road and "binary detection," which allows the car to identify signs so that it can react appropriately. They also had to factor in new rules and testable material they had been given by Quanser days before the competition.

In the end, the QCARdinals placed sixth place in the overall competition. The team returned home feeling proud for having been a part of the experience as the first ever UIW students to participate in the competition.

"It was amazing to say the least, especially with being one of the few all-undergraduate teams to compete in an international competition," shared Gabriella Luna, undergraduate Engineering student and QCARdinal team member. "For me, the most impressive thing is still to think about the fact that there were 40 teams in the beginning, we made the top 11, and then we placed sixth overall. Considering we were juggling multiple things, it feels really good as a first-year student that we did so well."

The QCARdinals also garnered attention from engineering professionals from aviation and aerospace company Boeing. The company's representatives were at the competition to recruit PhD level students for their research programs but were so impressed by QCARdinals standing a one of the only teams of undergraduates, that they approached them to exchange contact information and discuss potential future opportunities for the students.

"I'm very proud of QCARdinals and how they represented the University," said Dr. Frye. "They put in a lot of time and effort to perform the way that they did. They competed against some of the best organizations in the world and PhD level engineering students. They really got to pat themselves on the back on their notable accomplishment and opportunity."

QCARdinals will return to compete in the 2025 American Control Conference Self-Driving Car Student Competition set to take place in Denver, Colorado with Gabriella Luna as their team captain.

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