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12 Dec 2022
Seventy students from 18 schools attended the latest Young Defence Scientists Programme (YDSP) Science & Technology (S&T) Camp, which ignited their interest in autonomous unmanned ground vehicles (AUGV) powered by machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI).
Held from 5 to 9 December 2022, the camp returned full swing with students gathering and engaging in a meaningful learning journey about AUGV and the technologies that drive them. As students learnt more about the concepts of AI and ML workflows and models, they also picked up a programming language to further enhance their learning.
The camp started with a sharing by Senior Engineer (Land Systems) Victor Vong and Engineer (Land Systems) Peh Hong Lin, who talked about their careers and experiences in DSTA. They also elaborated on the applications of legged robots and unmanned ground vehicles in the area of defence.
Students were then introduced to how mechanical and electrical sub-components can be integrated with software and AI algorithms to deliver autonomous systems. To provide the students with a better understanding of how autonomous systems could be used in the real world, COL Paul Cheak, Deputy Commandant of SAFTI Military Institute and Commandant of Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College, shared insights into how the technology was changing the defence landscape.
Of course, no YDSP S&T Camp would be complete without hands-on experiences. Through a series of activities, students applied their newfound knowledge to build image classifiers and sentiment analysis machines capable of classifying images and recognising text. They also learnt about neural networks – a powerful and popular ML model – and implemented them onto a programmable self-driving car dubbed the Donkey Car.
Rounding off the week of learning, students were tasked to build a self-driving car that incorporated various ML capabilities and algorithms. They had to ideate and prototype autonomous cars that could solve real-world problems in the context of defence, such as undertaking logistics resupply missions on the battlefield.
A total of 16 teams put their autonomous self-driving vehicle to the test, where the vehicles had to complete a series of challenges such as avoiding obstacles and responding to real-time intelligence and diverting their planned route of advancement. The students also shared ideas to a panel of judges, explaining how they envisioned AUGVs could be used in situations and terrains similar to famous battles such as the Battle of Waterloo.
Team Real, with team members from St. Joseph’s Institution, clinched the top prize. Not only did the team complete the most missions in the shortest time, they also presented a persuasive and well-considered application of AUGVs.
Wong Hoe Yan, a member from the winning team, was inspired by his teachers to attend the camp for an enriching experience. He said: “Thanks to the camp’s well-structured lessons and the engaging trainers, I was able to grasp complex concepts with ease while having fun. I gained a deeper understanding and appreciation for the processes behind AI training and how this technology could reshape the battlefield.”
Meanwhile, River Valley High School’s Team Hong walked away with the Most Innovative Award for their concept of the “Elephamese” – a weaponised AUGV that, much like its strong and powerful namesake, could change the tide of battle.
Yang Lin Xuan, one of the team members, signed up for the camp to fulfil her budding interest in machine learning. She added: “I met many new friends who share my passion in machine learning, and being able to try out the Donkey Car was such great fun! It was so different from the usual school curriculum and I found it incredibly enlightening. Robots and AI are not as simple as we think, and there are many factors at play we should consider when working with them.”
Camp veteran Jolynn Yeo Yi Xuan from Raffles Girls’ School had already participated in the Jun 2022 S&T camp, but she couldn’t get enough of what we had to offer. She gushed: “I wanted to join DSTA’s latest camp because I thought it would be a great way to introduce myself to robotics. Over the course of the camp, I learnt so much about how AUGVs are being trained. It was such a memorable experience, and if anyone has an interest in defence technology, I would definitely recommend that they join this camp.”
