Quebec Engineering Competition (QEC) '25

Overview

After winning Englympic, we represented Concordia at the Quebec Engineering Competition (QEC) — the provincial level of Canada's engineering competition circuit. Teams from universities across Quebec compete in 8-hour design challenges.

The Challenge: Trailer Park Rescue

Scenario: Two trailer parks separated by water, connected by three bridges:

1. A narrow bridge
2. A swinging/unstable bridge
3. A bridge with a button-activated gate

Objective: Build a phone-controlled robot to hook trailers and transport them across the bridges.

Our Approach

While most teams built traditional hitch mechanisms (like a truck towing a trailer), we went unconventional:

We built a forklift.

Instead of hooking trailers from behind, our robot lifted them from the side. This gave us:

• Better visibility during transport
• More stable load handling
• Easier maneuvering on narrow bridges

Team

Member	Role
Me	All programming, embedded systems, WiFi control
Mathias Deroshes	Electronics
Alex Fontaine	Mechanical design
Ben Benjamin	Mechanical design

Same team from Englympic, same role distribution.

Technical Implementation

• Microcontroller: ESP8266
• Control: RemoteXY app over WiFi
• Actuation: Servo motors for forklift mechanism
• Build time: 8 hours (Solution + Presentation)

Result

2nd Place — Qualified us to represent Quebec at the Canadian Engineering Competition in Halifax.