11 June 2019
The mission: build a fully autonomous electric vehicle in less than 48 hours, which, through distance sensors, would be able to navigate a predefined path, thus demonstrating the necessary skills to work for a high-tech company like ours.
This was the challenge faced by the participants of the hackathon organised by Leonardo and PoliHub, a non-stop two-day marathon dedicated to innovation, focused on challenging oneself and one’s creativity. The protagonists of this business game put themselves to the test, stopwatch in hand, testing their problem solving skills through software and electronics solutions in a breathtaking race.
At the PoliHub in Milan, students (recent graduates and undergraduates in STEM disciplines) discussed technology-related topics with business professionals, industry experts and mentors in order to finalise the projects. Skills, creativity, adaptability, teamwork, problem-solving and pragmatism were fundamental in meeting the design challenge.
“Palo” team members Davide Vairetti, Lorenzo Prandi, Simone Tomé, Angelo Falci and Riccardo Cantoni (three from the Politecnico di Milano and two from the Università di Pavia) won the competition, receiving a prize worth €5,000. Their project stood out not only for the time with which the automated driving system covered the planned route, but also for the quality of the final product, the budget used to implement it and their presentation in front of the jury.
Innovathon, in its second edition, is one of the ways that Leonardo is pursuing open innovation. The competition was an opportunity not only for the winners, but for all the participants in the business game, who had the opportunity to enhance their innovative skills, meet other university students and learn more about our company.
