TEKNOFEST 5G Positioning Competition

TEKNOFEST 5G Positioning Competition is a technical competition held within the framework of TEKNOFEST, Türkiye’s aerospace and technology festival, focusing on 5G communication technologies. The competition is conducted using a 5G test network established at the Ayazağa Campus of Istanbul Technical University under the leadership of Turkcell. Its primary objective is to encourage the development of artificial intelligence-supported algorithms capable of high-accuracy and low-latency position estimation.

The aim of the competition is to develop models that can estimate the positions of target points with the highest accuracy and speed by utilizing radio network performance metrics and GPS coordinate data obtained from the existing 5G infrastructure. Participants develop positioning models using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other data analytics techniques. The competition seeks to contribute to both academic research in communication technologies and industrial innovation.

Students enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, or open education programs in Türkiye or abroad may participate in teams. Each team must consist of at least two and no more than five members. Teams may optionally receive support from an academic advisor (advisors are not counted in the team size).

The competition consists of three main stages:

1. Preliminary Design Report Stage: Teams develop algorithms for position estimation based on the provided datasets and submit a preliminary design report outlining their methodology. These reports are evaluated on technical grounds, and teams achieving specified levels of accuracy and precision advance to the next stage.

2. Final Report Stage and Feedback: Following the preliminary reports, teams participate in a question-and-answer session where they receive feedback on their projects. They then submit a final design report containing their ultimate models and analyses. Based on the evaluation, teams qualifying for the final competition are selected.

3. Final Competition: Finalist teams present a short presentation introducing their developed model on the competition day. This is followed by a field application phase. Teams use the measurement data provided to them to estimate the coordinates of target points, proceed to those locations, and locate the relevant objects (e.g., flags or banners). They then report their findings to the competition committee via the BIP application, either in written or visual form. Both the accuracy of the estimated position and the time taken to locate the object are evaluated during this phase.

The competition enables students to enhance their practical knowledge and skills in fields such as engineering, data science, communication systems, and artificial intelligence. By providing the opportunity to work with real-world data, it offers students both theoretical and applied experiential learning.

The TEKNOFEST 5G Positioning Competition aims to strengthen Türkiye’s capacity in indigenous and national communication technologies and to support young engineers in developing innovative solutions in this domain. The competition also contributes to the development of precise positioning technologies—critical for the transition to post-5G communication systems—using Türkiye’s own knowledge base.