News and events archive

Back in the spring, they were fine-tuning their models in the classrooms of the Faculty of Informatics at Masaryk University during the national qualification round. A few months later, they were standing on the winners' podium at the European finals of the NXP Cup 2025 in Eindhoven. The story of the EmCar and µCar teams shows how far student enthusiasm for technology can take them.

The NXP Cup is an educational initiative by NXP Semiconductors that combines electronics, programming, and artificial intelligence in practice. The task for student teams is to build an autonomous model vehicle that can independently navigate a race track using cameras and sensors without human intervention. Participants gain experience with embedded systems, machine vision, and real-time control.

This year, FI MU students achieved extraordinary success in the NXP Cup 2025 competition. The EmCar team, consisting of Adam Valt, Adam Mydla, and Vladimír Drobný, won gold. The µCar team, consisting of Vojtěch Szotkowski, Martin Skalský, and Lukáš Paul, took second place. Both teams advanced from the national qualifying round, which took place in April 2025 at FI MU. Their victory followed on from last year's success of our students in Hamburg, confirming that FI MU is one of the technological leaders in this international competition.

The finals in Eindhoven attracted twenty university teams from across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. "It was interesting to meet the other teams and see what ideas they came up with. I liked the training day the most, where we all shared the test tracks – there were lots of different cars everywhere," says Vladimír Drobný from the µCar team.

During NXP Cup, our students were able to benefit from their experience in the Embedded Systems course offered by the Design and Architecture of Digital Systems Laboratory (EmLab) at the faculty. Here, they learned the basics of microcontroller programming on the same boards used in the competition. Anyone who knows the basics of the C language and is eager to learn new things can enroll in the course. EmLab provides the necessary equipment and guidance as part of its seminar, where students can work on their own projects, including competition cars.

"On the first day of the competition, we were still experimenting with improvements, but in the end we decided to go with a proven classic – and it paid off," says Adam Valt from the winning team. "The final round was exciting, as we were competing against the best European schools. That made our joy all the greater when we managed to win and successfully represent FI," adds his colleague Adam Mydla. They also appreciated the traditionally friendly atmosphere of the entire event.

The competition is not only a fun challenge for students, but also a practical experience with modern technologies and teamwork. The success in Eindhoven is also proof that FI MU students can compete with the best European technical schools.  

For more information about the competition finals, visit the organizers' website. 

Enjoy the atmosphere of the entire competition thanks to the recording of the finals! 

If you are interested in the competition and want to be part of next year's event, the teams are currently looking for new members. Just write to Ján Labuda from Emlab. You can also stop by the NXP stand, which will be in the FI lobby on Tuesday, November 4, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., where you can learn more. As part of their diversity initiatives, the race organizers also welcome girls' and mixed teams. 

NXP Semiconductors Czech Republic s.r.o. has been part of the Association of Industrial Partners FI MU since 2020. Cooperation in SPP started with the modernization of the PV198 Onechip Controllers course, which received new hardware and content thanks to NXP. In addition to organizing the Autonomous Model Car Control Competition at FI, they have also been involved in the FI Talent Competition several times. The number of students participating in FI's compulsory internships and thesis writing is regularly increasing. Cooperation with the EmLab at FI MU is also key.