"Digital Race" opens the door to the automotive software industry

On May 17^th at the gymnasium of Tay Ho district, 8 teams from 6 universities nationwide (Military Academy of Technology; FPT University; University of Technology - Vietnam National University, Hanoi; University of Science and Technology - The University of Danang; Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology; University of Technology Vietnam National University, HCM City) will enter the final of the self-propelled auto contest- Digital race 2017 - 2018.

In the final, these teams will have to use knowledge in the field of programming, image processing, artificial intelligence to move vehicles at the highest speed on the terrain with complex terrain which has nails, lines or dashed lines ...; Identify and avoid obstacles to any shape appearing on the road; Identify and follow the direction of the sign turn left, turn right, stop. In particular, the sign will automatically change randomly through each run to ensure accurate signage awareness of each team. The winner will receive a prize with a total value of 450 million VND, including a visit and experienced trip to Japan within one week, recruited by FPT Software.

Mr. Le Hong Viet, Chief Technology Officer of FPT Technology, said that with the 90% of transition from hardware to software, automobiles will be one of the most revolutionary sectors in the 4.0 revolution. Following that trend, FPT has strongly invested to develop self-operating technology and is aiming to become one of the world's leading companies in software engineering for automobiles. Currently, FPT is implementing a number of projects related to self-propelled technology in particular and automotive in general for about 40 major customers around the world. Not only pioneering in researching and developing of technology for automobiles, FPT also pushes up the research, creation and experience activities of the latest technology in the field of self-prop for the young Vietnamese people through the Digital Race. FPT expects from competitions as Digital Race, in the future, there will be more advanced products in the world developed by Vietnamese wisdom.

Participating in the Digital Race, candidates were provided with self-propelled cars with a ratio of 1/10 the size of real vehicles, basic algorithms help the car run on the curved terrain, avoid obstacles. ... for teams to practice. In addition, contestants were trained and provided technical assistance when needed by FPT experts of photo processing, robotic, and automation. Beginning with zero on programming knowledge of self-propelled cars, up to now, contestants from all 8 final teams have been able to program vehicles to run in a number of roads with or without lane, avoid obstacles, identify and follow the direction of the road signs ...

Mr. Nguyen Minh Chau – Candidate of UET Fastest team said the Digital Race is an opportunity for students to access new technology

As the number one IT service provider in Vietnam, FPT has always pioneered in researching and providing the newest information technology solutions / services to Vietnamese and international customers. In addition, FPT has also pioneered bringing new technologies to Vietnam so that young people can access and practice, thereby creating high quality human resources for Vietnam through technology contests such as Tri Tue Viet Nam (2000-2007), Mobile Lab (2008-2009), Mobile Robot Challenge (2013), S.M.A.C Challenge (2014-2015), Digital Race (from 2016 to present). Theme of technology contests held by FPT is focused on the latest technology in the world such as robot programming, voice control, artificial intelligence ... The technology for self-propelled cars, which is one of the newest technology trend, attracting the participation of many giants in the world such as Google, Tesla, Uber ..., has been chosen as the theme of the Digital Race. FPT aims to reach $ 200 million in automotive sales by 2020, including software, design, analysis and IC design. In terms of human resources, the number of engineers in this field will reach 8,000 persons. Particularly in 2018, FPT is needing to recruit around 500 programmers to work on automotive related jobs.

The Digital Race is an annual technology contest organized by FPT Corporation. The competition was directed by the Ministry of Science and Technology. VTV2 and Vnexpress are the two media sponsors of the competition. Vietnam Airlines is the official transportation sponsor, Lectron is a co-sponsor. Digital Race 2017-2018 takes place from October 2017 to May 2018. This is a self-propelled vehicle technology contest for all university students across the country. Digital Race 2017-2018 is held in all three areas: Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh city with the total value of the prizes of over 4 billion VND.