‘Unidentified Object Collection Robot’ Wins Grand Prize at KOREATECH Graduation Project Competition

The Korea University of Technology and Education (KOREATECH) (President Yoo Gil-sang) held the 2024 KOREATECH Graduation Project Competition on October 16 (Wednesday) at the Student Integrated Support Center. The team GADGET from the Department of Mechatronics Engineering which presented the Unidentified Object Collection Robot won the grand prize.

This robot is equipped with a thermal imaging camera a radiation measurement module and a gripper (the part that picks up objects). It features a foldable leg design enabling it to easily overcome obstacles. A unique aspect of the robot is its integrated leg and manipulator (a mechanical device that mimics human arm movements). Additionally operators can intuitively control the robot through joint mapping with a master device supported by an assistance program for added convenience. The robot received high praise for its practicality in addressing social issues such as handling North Korean propaganda balloons.

KOREATECHs graduation research projects are a representative engineering education program where 3rd and 4th-year students work in teams to design and produce projects that can be applied in industrial settings thereby enhancing their technical skills and problem-solving abilities based on their academic knowledge.

The graduation project competition is an annual event aimed at recognizing outstanding graduation projects created by students using their knowledge and creativity. This year a total of 240 projects were submitted from seven departments. Sixteen excellent projects recommended by each department were selected for the competition organized by the Center for Engineering Education Innovation and the LINC 3.0 Project Group. Based on criteria such as creativity technical completeness and social contribution one grand prize team two gold prize teams two silver prize teams three bronze prize teams and eight encouragement prize teams were awarded with a total prize fund of 9 million KRW.

Lee Sang-jun a student from the GADGET team said I’m grateful to the team members with whom I worked for the past two years to build the robot. I’m proud of what we achieved by overcoming technical issues and conflicts and added I also sincerely thank Professor Chun Byung-sik and other professors from the Mechatronics Engineering Department who generously provided advice whenever we sought help.

This robot also won first place and a 10 million KRW prize at the 2024 24th Korean Intelligent Robot Competition hosted by Gyeongsangbuk-do and Pohang City in September. It was exhibited at the KOREATECH LINC 3.0 Project Group booth during the Digital Innovation Festa 2024 held at COEX Seoul from October 10 to 12 drawing significant attention from visitors.

In addition to the competition the 2024 Fall Graduation Research Project Exhibition was held from October 16 to 17 in the lobby of the Damheon Silhak Hall on campus. The exhibition featured 74 projects from the Departments of Mechatronics Engineering Energy & Chemical Engineering and Industrial Management showcasing creative works incorporating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving which attracted great interest from attendees.

This exhibition followed the graduation research project exhibition in June which involved five departments and the Design Engineering graduation project exhibition held at Nodeul Island in July making it the third event of its kind this year.

President Yoo Gil-sang said I am very proud that students are gaining practical experience and realizing their creative ideas through their graduation projects adding I hope that these competitions will help nurture talented individuals who will continue to grow and contribute to various industrial fields.

Meanwhile the top two teams will represent the university in the 2024 Creative Integrated Design Competition where 73 engineering universities nationwide will participate.

Website: : http://www.wip-news.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=25654