The SZEnergy Team at Széchenyi István University is a student racing team working under the mentorship of the Automotive Industry Research Centre to develop and build electric vehicles. It is a regular participant in one of the world's largest student competitions, the Shell Eco-marathon, where it came 4th in this year's World Autonomous Programming Competition.

The competition was held online, and every day for nearly a month, students from Győr competed against 25 of the world's top college and university teams. The SZEnergy Team managed to beat famous participants from European, Asian and American institutions, such as the University of California, Berkeley.

Participants of the ceremony at the Automotive Industry Research Centre of Széchenyi István University (Photo: Csaba József Májer)

"The performance of the students from Széchenyi deserves all the respect, as the competition included professional components that can be called the focal points of today's autonomous vehicle research: automatic route tracking, dynamic obstacle avoidance, energy optimisation. These are a serious challenge for professional researchers and engineers, let alone for the students, who have solved the complex tasks with high-quality solutions," said Dr József Bokor, Head of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Széchenyi István University and member of the Board of Trustees of the Széchenyi István University Foundation, who also personally congratulated the members of the Győr team. As he said, the young people have reached a very high professional standard, which, in addition to theoretical knowledge, also shows a considerable practical preparation. The professor also pointed out that students of Széchenyi University should take advantage of the opportunities offered by the institution, as being part of a team, solving innovative tasks and competing at international level would be a huge advantage on the labour market.

In the autonomous programming competition, it is important that students solve challenges relevant to the industry using the latest technologies. This time, the challenge was to find 15 pre-placed targets in an urban simulation environment using a virtual vehicle, in the shortest possible time and distance, minimising the vehicle's energy consumption. They also had to make sure that all traffic rules were respected during the race.

Dr József Bokor, Head of the Automotive Industry Research Centre at Széchenyi István University and member of the Board of Trustees of the Széchenyi István University Foundation congratulated Máté Miklós, leader of the SZEnergy Team, on his excellent result. (Photo: Csaba József Májer)

"The fourth place is a great achievement for us, we worked hard for it, but we also learned a lot and gained a lot of experience," said Mátyás Mesics, developer of the autonomous unit of the SZEnergy Team. He added that they are happy with the success, but they are already focusing on the next task, as another international competition is coming up in July.

"The competition in France, which will involve teams of students from Europe and Africa, will no longer be an online event, but a face-to-face one. There we will compete in our own real vehicle and will have to prepare for challenges such as autonomous tracking, autonomous parking and obstacle avoidance," said the computer engineering student from Széchenyi István University.

Access the autonomous programming competition online:

https://www.makethefuture.shell/en-gb/shell-eco-marathon/2022-programme/virtual/autonomous