Team 'Lord of the Roads' second at RDW Self Driving Challenge
The University of the North team 'Lord of the Roads', in which students from educational institutions Noorderpoort, Hanzehogeschool and the University of Groningen collaborated, came second in the RDW Self Driving Challenge (SDC) with their self-made car. The team competed in the open category, for which they modified a supplied car themselves. The team is proud and happy with the achievement. 'This second place feels like a first place,' says team co-leader Laura María Quiros.

Self-made car
The team was given a Renault Twizy by sponsor robotTUNER to work with. For the challenge, the car had to be able to travel a fixed route. Along that route, the car had to be able to react to traffic signs, traffic lights, people crossing the street and a stationary car. It was up to the team to make sure the car could do that.
Sunny images
In the weeks leading up to the challenge, the team struggled with their car's light recognition. 'We had limited time, and the sun was blinding the car's camera,' Quiros says. 'The sun hadn't shown itself in the days before the challenge, so we didn't have sunny images to train our model with.' But: during the first round, the car responded correctly to the traffic lights. A triumph, says Quiros. 'In previous weeks, we haven't been able to live up to that before. We are very happy with our team's efforts and we know that next year's team will be able to improve significantly in their performance with our legacy,' Quiros concludes.
Further reading
Last modified: | 16 June 2025 08.35 a.m. |
More news
-
07 July 2025
Master’s student Industrial Engineering and Management Ana Lazar wins GUF 100 Prize
At the UG Ceremony of Merits on July 4, Ana Lazar was awarded the GUF 100 Prize, making her the best student of the Faculty of Science and Engineering 2024-2025.
-
03 July 2025
Erik Heeres receives RUG Impact Innovator Excellence Award
During the RUG Ventures Innovation Day, Prof. Erik Heeres of the Faculty of Science and Engineering (RUG) was awarded the Impact Innovator Excellence Award.
-
02 July 2025
€ 30 million investment for UG spin-off Portal Biotech
Portal Biotech, a pioneer in nanopore-based protein identification and sequencing technology, has raised € 30 million in Series A funding. The funding will support commercial rollout and team growth.