Team Fantastic 4.0, final-year engineering undergraduates, from APU’s Centre of Research and Development for IoT (CREDIT) secured the Platinum Medal at EUREKA INTERNATIONAL BRUSSELS Invention and Innovation Competition 2025 and three special awards for their innovative SecurePath AGV.

Final year engineering undergraduates — Chong Chan Heng, Goh Chuk Fun, Pang Cheng Hsiang, and Samantha Koay Yenn Xian — known as the Fantastic 4.0 from Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation’s (APU) Centre of Research and Development for IoT (CREDIT) have made history in their efforts to engineer an AGV with purpose.

These bright young engineers have bagged the highly esteemed Platinum Medal Award at the virtual EUREKA INTERNATIONAL BRUSSELS Invention and Innovation Competition held earlier this month in Belgium. 

Their ground-breaking innovation, the ‘SecurePath AGV’, is a highly intelligent autonomous guided vehicle meant to improve safety and emergency response capabilities.

Their idea combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) with sophisticated robotics, a custom LLM Chatbot, computer vision for detection, and a useful navigation system; SecurePath AGV offers practical social engineering solutions that can be utilised in any environment.

Representing the Fantastic 4.0, Chan Heng explained, “The key to nabbing the win was the complex application of the innovation, how clearly we could illustrate its real-world impact, and how well we presented the system architecture during the judging session.”

He continued, “We did face a few hurdles. Tight deadlines for getting everything completed, stiff competition from the highly talented international teams, and the need to present technically the complexity of the product to a panel of international judges within a limited time.”

Through this competition, the team learned how to pitch complex engineering ideas in a way that is both clear and convincing, be able to demonstrate crucial innovation and practicality points, and how to take constructive criticism on the chin.

“We also got to see a load of cutting-edge ideas from other international participants, which really broadened our understanding of what is trending in tech innovation worldwide. 

“Honestly, being part of the EUREKA INTERNATIONAL BRUSSELS Invention was exciting,” he added, “It was a fantastic experience to showcase our project on an international stage, meet other innovators, and swap ideas across all sorts of different fields.”

“This competition definitely added value to our studies at APU. It is helped us put the technical knowledge we have gained on campus to good use in a real-world context, sharpened our critical thinking and presentation skills, and has given us a real boost of confidence for tackling future engineering challenges.”

Beyond the Platinum Medal, the team also secured three additional special awards: one from Innovation Initiative Co-operative Inc. ‘The Inventors Circle’ (Toronto, Canada), another from the Turkish Inventors Association (TÜMMİAD), and a third from the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest. 

According to Professor Ir EUR ING Dr Vinesh Thiruchelvam, APU’s Chief Innovation & Enterprise Officer, this recognition reaffirms APU’s dedication to nurturing talents on to becoming innovators addressing common day complex social challenges by bridging computational and engineering skills.

He further explained how these APU students have shown just how well Malaysian universities can compete and excel on the global stage.

“The SecurePath AGV is not your ordinary robot. Infusing AI, it was built on the robust SCUTTLE robotic platform with a sturdy aluminium frame, it uses SLAM navigation for independent patrolling, machine vision to spot falls and recognise faces, an LLM-powered chatbot for natural chat, and an automated emergency dispensing system for getting medical supplies as required in various environments.”

The Head of CREDIT, Assistant Prof Dipl-Ing Inv Ir Narendran Ramasenderan, who mentored the students with Mr Krishna Ravinchandra congratulated team Fantastic 4.0 on this success.

According to Ir Narendran, “The SecurePath AGV is the result of months of hard graft, technical brilliance, and innovative thinking. These students have proven that APU’s hands-on, project-based learning approach produces graduates who are ready to take on global challenges.”

The CREDIT research centre at APU has been instrumental in developing cutting-edge IoT solutions across a variety of industries, and this latest award adds to the centre’s growing list of international accolades; solidifying APU’s reputation as a technological innovation hub in Malaysia and the wider ASEAN region.

The team’s multi-award-winning rover can independently navigate busy retail spaces, identify emergency situations, chat with people using voice or text, and provide immediate access to medical supplies through clever servo-controlled compartments.

For APU, this international recognition highlights the university’s successful approach to education, where a strong emphasis on the practical application of what is learned in the classroom is then combined with the development of higher industry level skills that makes the graduates ready for the real world.

As team Fantastic 4.0 has returned from Brussels’ virtual competition with their prestigious awards, they serve as inspiration for future generations of APU students who are looking to make their mark in the world of technology and innovation. These students will develop the same DNA.