From August 21 to 23, the national finals of the 21st National University Students Smart Car Race were held at Anhui University. Three teams from Ocean University of China (OUC) advanced to the national finals, securing one first prize and two second prizes. Among them, Team SoberUp won first prize in the Crazy Circuit Division and placed third nationwide, marking the best result in OUC’s Smart Car Team history.
Earlier, at the Shandong regional competition held in Jinan, OUC fielded 22 teams comprising 64 students across eight divisions: Wall-Climbing, Crazy Circuit, Mobile Sign Recognition, UV Trace-Marking, Minefield Flyover, Autonomous Kart Challenge, Wheel-Legged Traversal, and Autonomous Bicycle Orienteering. The teams secured four first prizes, three second prizes, and six third prizes at the regional competition.
The National University Students Smart Car Race is a nationwide exploratory engineering competition for university students organized by the Teaching Steering Committee for Automation Programs in Higher Education Institutions under the Ministry of Education. Guided by the principles of “fostering talent, emphasizing participation, encouraging exploration, and pursuing excellence,” the competition aims to advance holistic education at universities; strengthen students’ ability to integrate and apply knowledge, develop practical engineering skills, and think innovatively; stimulate their interest and potential in scientific research and exploration; and cultivate a rigorous and pragmatic approach that connects theory with practice, together with a spirit of teamwork. Since its launch in 2006, the competition has been held for 21 editions, with OUC participating in 20 of them.
