GIST Hosts 2021 Creative Convergence Competition

GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology) held a competition to significantly enhance practical convergence education required in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Photo by GIST.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Cho Hyung-joo] GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology) held a competition to dramatically enhance practical convergence education required in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

GIST Convergence Technology Institute (Director Professor Park Chan-ho) announced on the 24th that it hosted the '2021 Creative Convergence Competition' and conducted two tracks: the 'Table Tennis Robot Contest' and the 'Campus EMS* Development Contest.'

This competition was organized to provide participating students with an opportunity to develop teamwork and collective creativity required in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution by conducting joint research in teams of three to four members.

This year, 32 GIST undergraduate students formed a total of 11 teams and devoted two months, giving up their summer vacation, to focus on developing innovative table tennis robots and algorithms.

The 'Table Tennis Robot Contest' was conducted in a format where participants competed in ranking by completing challenge problems, including hitting table tennis balls launched from a table tennis machine with a table tennis robot and playing table tennis matches between the robot and participating students.

The 'Campus EMS Development Contest' was a contest to develop load forecasting algorithms, solar power generation forecasting algorithms, and electricity bill minimization algorithms based on data provided by the organizers. Rankings were determined by calculating load forecasting error rates, solar power generation error rates, and electricity bills used.

The championship went to the team 'Table Tennis King Kim Takgu.' Composed of students Kim Irum and Song Chaehoon, the 'Table Tennis King Kim Takgu' team won the grand prize by achieving the highest score in the 'Table Tennis Robot Contest' category.

Professor Yoon Jung-won of GIST's Convergence Technology Interdisciplinary Department said, "This event was conducted as a competition using convergence research topics combining artificial intelligence and hardware (robots), which greatly increased students' enthusiasm and interest." He added, "We expect to provide a new educational platform that can nurture the spirit of challenge and convergence-type talents needed in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution."