College students' discipline competitions are conducive to the cultivation of their practical and innovative abilities, and are an important carrier for colleges and universities to cultivate innovative and high-quality talents. The 11th Tianjin College Students' Discipline Competition, the "Qicheng Cup" Artificial Intelligence Micromouse Competition, was hosted by the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission, undertaken by Nankai University, and  sponsored by Tianjin Qicheng Sciences & Technology Co., Ltd. The competition briefing was held at Nankai University on March 16, 2023. More than 200 participating teachers and students from Tianjin University, Nankai University, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin Chengjian University, etc. attended the meeting. 

At the meeting, Professor Hu Zhihui, the head of the Practical Teaching Section of the Academic Affairs Department of Nankai University, delivered a speech on behalf of the hosting university. He stated that since 2009, with the strong support of the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission, 11 sessions of the Artificial Intelligence Micromouse Competition have been successfully held. He expressed gratitude to Tianjin Qicheng Science & Technology Co., Ltd., which has sponsored and supported the competition for 11 consecutive sessions. Over the past decade or so, it has provided technical and financial support for the competition and made efforts and contributions to promoting the deep integration of industry and education and building a community with a shared future for school-enterprise cooperation. Currently, informatization, digitization, networking, and intelligentization are developing vigorously. This year's competition innovatively added a 3D virtual simulation track. Contestants used 3D virtual simulation technology to complete the interaction between virtual and reality, perfectly interpreting the application of digital twin technology. 

Song Lihong, the CEO of the titled sponsoring and supporting enterprise, Tianjin Qicheng Weiye Technology Co., Ltd., stated that with the popularization and application of artificial intelligence technology, 3D virtual simulation technology has attracted much attention, and the virtual simulation micromouse event emerged under the support and advocacy of many international experts. College students can participate through the TQD-Micromouse-OCv1.0 virtual simulation evaluation system, without the restrictions of region, time and space. Qicheng  has invested a lot of manpower, material and financial resources to fully support the newly added virtual simulation track competition this year. It sponsored and leased competition facilities worth ￥200,000 yuan to escort the competition for the contestants to use during the competition. These include: 1. Provide the TQD-OCv1.0 virtual simulation evaluation system for free to fully create a fair, just and open competitive environment on the same field. 2. Open the usage rights of VMware virtual machines for free, eliminating the troubles of complicated software environment configuration and facilitating the contestants to participate conveniently; 3. Provide the supporting Demo routines of the virtual simulation software platform, maze maps and 3D models of the micromouse machine for free; 4. Provide the competition's official website registration system and supporting servers and other competition facilities for free for this competition. 5. Provide free supporting deployment, verification and other technical service work. 

Subsequently, Chen Likao, engineer from Tianjin Qicheng Science & Technology Co., Ltd., conducted professional technical training for the 3D virtual simulation micromouse event; Engineer Qiu Jianguo gave a detailed explanation on the software and hardware technology and debugging methods, rule analysis and precautions of the classical micromouse. 

After the meeting, Yuan Chenhu, an associate professor from Tianjin Polytechnic University and a guiding teacher, expressed his gratitude to the host university, Nankai University, and the supporting enterprise, Tianjin Qicheng Science & Technology Co., Ltd., for providing the participating teachers and students with a precious opportunity for close-range technical exchange and training, and giving the contestants new ideas and methods for pre-competition training. Currently, higher education has entered the "fast lane" of intelligent development. Universities are applying more cutting-edge technologies such as the new generation of information technology, artificial intelligence, 3D virtual simulation, and digital twin to education and competitions, further improving the efficiency, quality, and accuracy of knowledge acquisition, thereby achieving the goals of promoting teaching, learning, reform, and construction through competitions.