On 18 January 2024, the IT space of Agiliway hosted the Roborace winter hackathon, organized by the Department of Automated Control Systems, the Institute of Computer Science and Information Technologies, Lviv Polytechnic.
The event was aimed not only at deepening students’ knowledge but also at helping them gain valuable practical experience in the field of computational intelligence, development of robotics and specialized software and hardware systems. Special attention was also paid to developing teamwork skills, finding creative solutions and shaping engineering thinking.
The hackathon became a platform for unlocking the creative potential of students who demonstrated an innovative approach to creating robotic systems. The participants effectively combined theoretical knowledge with practical skills, developing unique solutions for complex tasks. Using modern programming, electronics and artificial intelligence technologies, students created functional robot prototypes that met the requirements set by the teachers.
18 bachelor’s students majoring in Computer Sciences (Computational Intelligence of Smart Systems) attended the hackathon. The participants independently formed five teams, each of which worked on the development of a robotic platform. During their work, students actively interacted, exchanged ideas and supported each other, creating an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual assistance.
The teams’ work was evaluated based on such criteria as the speed of task completion and the implementation quality of the created systems functionality. All teams successfully coped with most of the tasks, and the winners became those who achieved the best results in terms of both speed and quality of the mini-project:
- First place: Solianka team (Danylo Bokhonko, Vladyslav Pysmak and Roksoliana Kachala);
- Second place: Galician Engineers team (Marta Khabak, Denys Zhyla, Ihor Bychkovskyi and Mark Poplavskyi);
- Third place: Lend Me a New Arduino team (Oleksandr Tymchyk, Valerii Okhmak, Viktor Luka and Vadym Dovhaliuk).
The winners were awarded prizes from the event partners – Agiliway, Vector Software and GlobalLogic. The management of the Department of Automated Control Systems expresses its sincere gratitude to all IT companies for supporting the organization of the Roborace hackathon and emphasizes the importance of further cooperation for the development of future specialists.
The format of events such as this hackathon plays a key role in preparing students for the real challenges of the modern technological world. It allows not only to consolidate theoretical knowledge but also to gain valuable practical experience, which is indispensable in the field of computer science and robotics. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of such events, as they become a bridge between theory and reality. By focusing not only on technological aspects but also on teamwork and creativity, hackathons help students to better understand the requirements of professional activities and become competitive in the labour market.
