Students win the Self Driving Challenge
The student team representing the University of the North won this year’s Self Driving Challenge, organized by the RDW (Netherlands Vehicle Authority). The finale took place on 16 June, where ten student teams competed against each other with their own self-driving cars. They had to complete a course featuring obstacles such as traffic lights and crosswalks as quickly as possible, without errors. The winning team consisted of students from the University of Groningen, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, and Noorderpoort.
The race day
The teams had to be at the racetrack early in the morning at 8 a.m., after which the day began with presentations by the RDW. The team leaders also introduced their teams. Each team had its own 15-minute time slot to complete the course. Outside of the competition, demos, talks, and activities were organized for entertainment.
Worth the effort
Constança Damásio, one of the team members representing the University of the North and also a student at the University of Groningen, was confident. 'Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous since all the work had already been done beforehand, and we were just showing it to the other teams in the competition. The challenge was to prepare the car as well as possible for our turn. During the first attempt, we drove over the lines and stopped too far from the traffic light. So we did our best to avoid that on the second attempt, and it went much better. We reached a maximum velocity of 10 kilometers per hour. Our goal was to increase our speed without losing stability and smoothness, and we succeeded!'
Constança’s family came to the Netherlands to be at the race, which made it an even more special day for her. 'It was fun to participate and see the results of our hard work. I’m very proud and happy that the effort we put in as a team was worth it. Next week, we’re going to celebrate our victory together.'