Project activities are designed to allow students to experience the "manufacturing process" as it actually takes place in many industries, including goal setting, problem identification and solution, work process organization and progress management, effective budget execution, post-implementation feedback and improvement, etc. These real-life experiences greatly contribute to the development of students as "people who can play an active role in the field," which is the goal of the university's founding spirit.
- Solar Car Project
- Human-Powered Aircraft Project
- Robot Project
- Student Formula Car Project
- Social Open Innovation Challenge Project
- Game Creation Project
Solar Car Project
The Solar Car Project aims to design and build a solar car and win a solar car competition. In the design and fabrication of solar cars, students take the lead in researching knowledge and acquiring skills related to solar cars. We also focus on theory- and data-based manufacturing by optimizing the body structure using computer simulations and testing the performance of the car body. As for competitions, we participate in solar car competitions such as "World Green Challenge" and "SHIRAHAMA ECO-CAR CHALLENGE". Since these competitions are held on multiple dates, team members live together, drive and maintain the solar car, and plan the race strategy in order to finish the race and achieve high rankings.
- Activity Location: Omiya Campus MONOLAB ANNEX (Building 1, 1F) and Clubhouse 1 (2F)
- Faculty Advisor: Associate Prof. Muneyoshi IYOTA
- Organization’s Website: https://oit-scp.jimdo.com/ (in Japanese)
Human-Powered Aircraft Project
As the name suggests, the Human-Powered Aircraft Project designs and builds human-powered aircraft to compete in the Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation's "Bird Man Contest Championships," aiming to reach the turning point and win the competition. There are a total of seven groups in the project, including the Propeller Group, Wing Group, and Electrical Equipment Group, and students belong to each group (with concurrent duties) and work on the design and construction of the aircraft. The HPA (Human Powered Aircraft) exchange meetings are held on a regular basis to observe flights of human-powered aircraft and to interact with other related personnel, and technical exchanges with other universities and teams of working people are also actively conducted.
- Activity Location: Omiya Campus MONOLAB ANNEX (Building 1, 1F)
- Faculty Advisor: Assistant Prof. Sho YOKOYAMA
- Organization’s Website: http://soaroit.jp/birdman/index.html (in Japanese)
Robot Project
One of the goals of the Robot Project is to compete in national robot competitions such as "NHK Robocon" and "Rescue Robot Contest" and achieve good results. Since the work involved in building a robot is very diverse, we divide the work into different sections, such as designing the body, creating electrical and electronic circuits, programming, and so on. For example, when controlling a motor, the person in charge of electrical and electronic circuits and the person in charge of programming work together. Therefore, it is important to have good communication skills to correctly inform others of the situation and to correctly understand what they are saying.
- Activity Location: Omiya Campus MONOLAB ANNEX (Building 1, 1F)
- Faculty Advisor: Prof. Takashi TAKUMA
- Organization’s Website: https://oitrobotp.wixsite.com/oit-monolab-robotpj (in Japanese)
Student Formula Car Project
Every year, we build a new formula car and compete in the Student Formula Japan Competition. This competition is a "competition using vehicles conceived, designed, and built by students themselves" that is backed by the industry as a whole to nurture the future leaders of the automotive industry. As many as 90 teams from all over the country compete in the static (cost, presentation, and design) and dynamic (0-75m acceleration, figure-8 turn, circuit course time attack, circuit course endurance, and fuel consumption) competitions to see how well their cars perform overall. Under strict regulations, the contestants are required to find out how fast, safe, and tough they can drive, how quick they can turn, and how just they can stop.
- Activity Location: Omiya Campus MONOLAB ANNEX (Building 1, 1F)
- Faculty Advisor: Prof. Kazunari KUWAHARA
Social Open Innovation Challenge Project
It was launched with the aim of solving regional issues faced by government and many companies through the combined efforts of companies, government, and universities in the form of idea-solving and hackathons, and promoting PBL (Project Based Learning) education.
Examples of specific initiatives
- Image recognition system for outdoor events
- ITxReal Mystery Solving Walking Tour
- Instantaneous deployment system for personalized advertisements using innovative next-generation technology
- Preference structure and demand forecast of parking lots around Hirakata Station using conjoint analysis
- Visualization of waterfront garbage based on image AI and promotion of behavioral change toward environmental issues
- Activity Location: Hirakata Campus and various public places in Osaka
- Faculty Advisor: Prof. Mutsuo SANO
Game Creation Project
The purpose of the Game Creation Project (GCP) is not only to learn the ins and outs of game creation under the practical guidance of professional game development instructors, but also to acquire the "think, do, and reflect" skills necessary for entering the workforce through game creation. Projects will include creating games to be exhibited at on-campus events such as Open Campus and Kitayama Festival (college festival), exhibited at off-campus events such as BitSummit and Tokyo Game Show, and research presentations at academic conferences by including academic perspectives.
- Activity Location: Hirakata Campus 263 Seminar Room (Building 2, 6F) and Media Center (Building 1, 3F)
- Faculty Advisor: Assistant Prof. Sho OI