50 University Teams to Vie in Autonomous Driving Technology, with 23 Million Won in Prizes

[Financial News] A competition will be held in which university students use autonomous driving technology they developed themselves to pass through signalized intersections and avoid unexpected obstacles. This year, a new category will let participants compete on software performance in a virtual environment, without the burden of building a vehicle.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 28th that it will hold the 2026 University Student AI·SW Mobility Competition over two days, from the 30th to the 31st, at K-City, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority's Automotive Research Institute in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province. Fifty teams of university students from across the country, with around 500 participants, will compete.
Launched in 2010 and now in its 17th year, the competition was established to give university students experience implementing autonomous driving technology and solving problems during testing and validation.
The competition will have two categories: “Self-Built Autonomous Vehicles” and “AI-Integrated Autonomous Driving.” In the self-built vehicle category, teams will drive vehicles they have built themselves through signalized intersections, around obstacles and along other parts of K-City's roads, where their driving performance will be evaluated.
The AI-integrated autonomous driving category, newly introduced this year, will take place in a virtual environment recreating K-City. It is designed to reduce the costs and equipment burden of building a vehicle, allowing participants to focus on developing algorithms and improving performance.
Teams will tackle challenges such as responding to conditions that distort visual information, including fog and changes in sunlight, and avoiding unexpected obstacles in GPS-denied areas. Outstanding teams will be selected based on factors such as task success rates and completion times, and will receive 14 certificates of award, including the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Award, as well as a total of 23 million won in prize money.
From the preparation stage, the ministry provided basic training in autonomous driving, instruction on using simulations, and technical advice from experts. K-City was also made available free of charge as a practice venue, and teams were given examples of failures and point deductions from previous competitions to help them improve their technology.
A next-generation VILS (Vehicle-in-the-Loop Simulation), which links K-City's road communications infrastructure with a virtual environment in real time, will be demonstrated at the competition venue. The competition and the participating teams' challenge process will be livestreamed on YouTube.
[email protected] Choi Ga-young Reporter