Little MEC team in white uniform, Somphong (far left), Chaiyaporn (looking backward), Chirdpong (looking at floor)
Two teams from AIT’s Mechatronics Field of Study, School of Engineering and Technology (SET) won 1st and 2nd rank in the preliminary round of the inaugural Thailand Intelligent Vehicle Challenge, Thailand Championship, organized on 21 March 2007 at Bangkok Racing Circuit.
The first winning team, named “Little MEC”, had three members: Chirdpong Delertpaiboon, Somphong Thanok, and Chaiyaporn Silawatchananai; their vehicle ran 471 meters automatically, the longest distance in the competition. Little MEC was followed “Aerotronix I”, which covered 421 meters and was the work of another AIT team consisting of Sukon Puntunan, Saranakom Cheecharoen, and Keeradit Angsutornrangsi. Both teams were supervised by Dr. Manukid Parnichkun.
Each team built an autonomous unmanned vehicle which had to run on a predefined curved road. Numeous techniques were employed to navigate the course in the competition including road tracking with GPS and maps, a CCD camera, counting the number of wheel revolutions, and measuring range with a laser, among many others.
Aerotronix I team members in white uniform, Sukon (yellow cap), Keeradit (with sunglasses), Saranakom (far right)
The preliminary round had the participation of 17 teams from 13 universities in Thailand. The nine teams that will proceed to the final round of the Thailand Intelligent Vehicle Challenge are:
1. Little MEC, Asian Institute of Technology, 471 meters
2. Aerotronix I, Asian Institute of Technology, 421 meters
3. Jack-O-Lantern, Chulalongkorn University, 207.30 meters
4. BART LAB Vehiculum, Mahidol University, 145.45 meters
5. ICS, King Mongkut Institute of Technology North Bangkok, 121 meters
6. Dark Horse, King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi, 120 meters
7. Capucino, Naresuan University, 117.80 meters
8. Black Knight, Naresuan University, 117.30 meters
9. Real, Prince of Songkhla University, 57.70 meters.
The first 8 teams will receive 50,000 baht each to improve their vehicles. The remaining team will receive 30,000 baht.
For the final round to be held on 23 May, each team has to improve its autonomous vehicle in order to run on a road that contains randomly placed obstacles. The vehicles must obey traffic signs including directional signs and traffic lights. Thailand’s champion will receive a 200,000 baht award and have a chance to observe Urban Challenge in November in USA. The first runner up will receive a 100,000 baht award. Three additional awards of 50,000 baht will be made for excellent technique, excellent creativity, and excellent artwork.
The Thailand Intelligent Vehicle Challenge is co-organized by the Thai Robotics Society, Asian Institute of Technology, Seagate Technology (Thailand) Ltd., and Thai Society of Automotive Engineering.
The event was featured in the evening news on TV Channel 11, ASTV and several publications as follows:
- Krungthep Turakij newspaper on 22 March 2007
- Thai Rath newspaper at:
http://www.thairath.co.th/news.php?section=technology03b&content=41100,
- Manager Daily newspaper at: http://www.manager.co.th/Motoring/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9500000034123
- Kom Chad Luek, 26 March 2007, at: http://www.komchadluek.net/2007/03/26/h001_101131.php?news_id=101131
- Technology Promotion magazine in April-May issue.