2024 Chuncheon AI Convergence Competition Event Outsourcing

Now in its second year, the “2024 Chuncheon AWS DeepRacer Championship” finals successfully took place on Sunday, September 29, at 10 AM at Chuncheon Commons Field.

Hosted by the City of Chuncheon, organized by the Gangwon Information & Culture Industry Agency (GIC), and sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS), this national competition for autonomous driving attracted high levels of interest and participation, building on the momentum from last year.

Thanks to the City of Chuncheon’s strong support and AWS sponsorship, the event has established itself as a premier competition that allows participants to directly experience autonomous driving technology combined with cloud and AI. Moving forward, Chuncheon plans to continuously expand its innovative AI education and research ecosystem in collaboration with global companies.

Event Details

• Official Website
• Event Highlights Video

Competition Process

• Registration (August 1–7)
  **60 teams of 2–3 people each, consisting of college students and general participants, were accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Anyone interested in AI or autonomous driving was welcome to join.

• Orientation & Training
  Online training sessions introduced teams to the basics of reinforcement learning using AWS DeepRacer and how to operate cloud-based simulations.

• Preliminary & Main Rounds (Online Simulation)
  • Preliminary: Sixty teams developed autonomous driving algorithms and competed for the best times on a virtual track.
  • Main Round: The top 20 teams advanced, refining and re-training their models for another round of competition.
  • Finally, the top 6 teams were selected to advance to the finals.
• Finals (Offline)
  On September 29, the top 6 teams gathered at the real mini-racing track set up at Chuncheon Commons Field to compete for the final times. All matches were live-streamed on the official Chuncheon YouTube channel.

Final Results and Awards

• Grand Prize (1st Place): Tokyo-Drift (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology)
  • Received the Mayor of Chuncheon Award, prize money, and an opportunity to attend “AWS re:Invent 2024” in Las Vegas later this year
  • The team remarked, “We look forward to combining research and practical experience to benefit the broader industry.”
• Excellence Award (2nd Place): Dibidibideep (Keimyung University)
  • Received the Mayor of Chuncheon Award and prize money
• Merit Awards (Tied for 3rd Place): Gyerche (Keimyung University), SharkHolmes (Sookmyung Women’s University)
  • Received the Gangwon Information & Culture Industry Agency President’s Award and prize money
• Encouragement Awards (Tied for 5th Place): YoomiWaNayeoniDeul (Kangwon National University), Tashu (Konyang University)
  • Received the Gangwon Information & Culture Industry Agency President’s Award and prize money

Key Highlights

1. Reinforcement Learning–Based Autonomous Driving
   • Participants experimented with various algorithms on the AWS DeepRacer simulator, then deployed these models onto real vehicles in an offline track environment—effectively combining theory and practice.
2. Industry–Academia Collaboration and Regional Innovation
   • With participation from college students and enthusiasts nationwide, the competition fostered creative ideas and technological prowess in the AI sector and contributed to Chuncheon’s efforts to advance digital industry development.
3. Real-Time Streaming & Accurate Measurement
   • All events were livestreamed on the official Chuncheon YouTube channel, allowing remote viewers to follow the competition in real time.
   • The AI-based object detection system automatically tracked vehicle off-track incidents and start-line crossings, ensuring high levels of fairness and accuracy.

Significance of the Event and Future Outlook

A Chuncheon city representative noted, “We were deeply impressed by the enthusiasm and technical skill demonstrated by this year’s participants. We will continue collaborating with global companies to further develop Chuncheon into a premier hub for AI and cloud industries and to nurture future AI talent through a variety of events.”

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the event sponsor, also said, “We once again confirmed the high technical capabilities of Korean college students and general developers. We plan to foster an even richer AI ecosystem through ongoing collaboration and investment.”

By successfully showcasing advanced autonomous driving models and providing practical experience, the “2024 Chuncheon AWS DeepRacer Championship” played a significant role in broadening the talent pool in the AI and autonomous driving fields. In particular, the grand prize winners of Team Tokyo-Drift are expected to highlight the potential of Korean AI on the international stage when they attend AWS re:Invent.

Competition Overview & Schedule

• Participant Eligibility: College students and adults nationwide (teams of 2–3)
• Application Period: August 1 (Thu), 10:00 – August 7 (Wed), 10:00, 2024
• Format: Preliminary (Online, 60 teams) → Main Round (Online, 20 teams) → Finals (Offline, 6 teams)
• Provided Support:
  • DeepRacer account usage fees (10 hours for prelims, 30 hours for main round, 30 hours for finals)
  • Training sessions (4 hours × 2 sessions), onsite vehicle rental for the finals
• Awards:
  • Grand Prize (1 team): KRW 2,500,000 + Mayor of Chuncheon Award + Invitation to AWS re:Invent
  • Excellence Award (1 team): KRW 2,000,000 + Mayor of Chuncheon Award
  • Merit Awards (2 teams): KRW 1,000,000 + Gangwon Information & Culture Industry Agency President’s Award
  • Encouragement Awards (2 teams): KRW 500,000 + Gangwon Information & Culture Industry Agency President’s Award