The organizers of the Indy Autonomous Challenge have welcomed the entry of 37 universities to the competition.
Organized by Energy Systems Network (ESN) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), the competition offers a US$1.5m prize for universities to program autonomous modified Dallara IL-15 racecars to compete in the world’s first head-to-head race on the racetrack on October 23, 2021.
Universities specializing in AI software and AV engineering have formed 31 teams with representatives from countries including Austria, Canada, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA.
Paul Mitchell, president and CEO of ESN, said, “This is an extraordinary challenge, calling on the best and brightest of our university students and faculty worldwide to engineer software that will have a significant impact on the future of all classes of transportation.”
The primary goal of the competition is to advance autonomous technology and deploy ADAS to improve safety and performance in all modes of racing and commercial transportation.
J Douglas Boles, president of IMS, said, “We are proud to provide the racing world’s biggest stage for the first head-to-head autonomous race in history, where these university teams will push the limits of performance and safety on the famed IMS oval—leading to safer and better cars on the highway.”
