TEKNOFEST is Turkey’s biggest and only aviation, space and technology festival organized by the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology. It hosts several activities such as technology competitions, air shows and events with an aim to increase the interest in technology in society.
TEKNOFEST held their first competition in 2018 engaging thousands of young individuals and international teams. In the previous year of 2020 amidst the pandemic, 20,197 teams and 100 thousand young people from 81 provinces and 84 countries applied to the technology competitions held in 21 different categories, hosted by Gaziantep. The event continues its journey of inspiring the youth and this year it is scheduled on September 21-26, 2021.
The Robotaxi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition is organized within the scope of TEKNOFEST. The aim of the Competition is to encourage participants to gain competence in autonomous vehicle technologies, original design, algorithms, and reporting.
NUST Automotive Group
NUST Automotive Group (NUSTAG) is a group of engineering students at College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, NUST. We aim to learn, implement, and share automotive knowledge. We focus to innovate and blend new designs carefully thought by talented students under the supervision of our highly experienced faculty being supervised by Dr. Fahad Mumtaz Malik, HOD EE, and Dr. Raja Amer Azim. Over the years, our constant efforts have made it possible for us to participate at international competitions and NUSTAG is honored to have raised Pakistan’s flag at international platforms multiple times.
Team NUSTAG is honored to have been qualified for finals for the Original Vehicle Category of Robotaxi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition. In the final stage of the competition, the designed vehicle is expected to perform various tasks autonomously in a real track environment. The main purpose of the competition is the development of autonomous driving algorithms.
Vehicle Features
Realizing the overwhelming hype around autonomous driving technologies, NUSTAG has developed an Autonomous Electric Vehicle. The development constitutes of generating state-of-the-art self-driving algorithms, complex integration of sensors and electrical equipment including battery and power systems components as well as the development of the mechanical and control systems architectures of the vehicle. The autonomous vehicle is a multi-disciplinary project and shall stand as one of the earliest autonomous vehicles of Pakistan. The Autonomous Electric Vehicle features are highlighted below:
Below is the demonstration video of NUSTTAG Self-Driving Car:
Standing in Teknofest Within the scope of the competition, 4 different stages have been qualified by NUSTAG:
- Preliminary Design Report: Our team accomplished the given task in a simulation environment and prepared a Preliminary Design Report containing the simulation results.
- Preliminary Design Presentation: We were invited to present our design in front of judges and the simulations are demonstrated in front of the panel in real time.
- Critical Design Report: The complete design of the vehicle and in-depth component detail along with autonomous driving algorithms was provided in the report.
- Vehicle Test Video: A video demonstration of an autonomous run of the vehicle was submitted to validate the design, and the submission was well received.
This year among thousands of applicants, and 150+ applicants in Robotaxi Competition, NUSTAG ranks among the top 10 teams in the world, with its placement at 8th position.
The author is a student of Electrical Engineering, Batch 17, at NUST College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (CEME). He can be reached at abasit2399@gmail.com.
