Indy Autonomous Challenge Set for Head-to-Head Contest

The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) has announced the details of the upcoming IAC events at CES 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jan. 3-8. Nineteen universities from eight countries will form nine race teams and will seek to compete in the Autonomous Challenge at CES.

Luminar, a provider of automotive lidar hardware and software technology, will serve as a premier sponsor and automotive technology partner of the Autonomous Challenge at CES, the company said. The Dallara AV-21 features three Luminar Hydra LiDAR sensors to provide 360-degree long-range sensing.

“Our university teams have proven that they can advance autonomous technology by setting world records with high-speed laps and now, on the biggest technology stage at CES 2022, they will take it to the next level with a head-to-head passing competition,” said Paul Mitchell, president and CEO, Energy Systems Network. “The Consumer Technology Association and CES 2022 play a central role in showcasing and advancing autonomous technology worldwide, so we can’t think of a better partner for this next step of the competition or for future implications of this technology.”

A primary goal of the IAC is to advance technology that can speed the commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles and deployments of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), event organizers said. Designed by university teams, these enhancements will lead to increased safety and performance in motorsports as well as all modes of commercial transportation.

“Similar to the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2004 and those that followed, the Indy Autonomous Challenge plays an important role in exposing more students to autonomous technology, which in turn helps shape the next generation of engineers who will go on to build mission-driven technology companies like Luminar,” said Austin Russell, founder and CEO, Luminar.

The IAC made history on October 23, 2021, when it held the Indy Autonomous Challenge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). All 9 teams which competed at IMS, including the winner of the competition and all of the finalists, will compete at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) in the Autonomous Challenge at CES.

The race will be held Jan. 7 at the speedway and will begin at 12 p.m. PST.

The IAC university teams registered for the Autonomous Challenge at CES are:

• AI Racing Tech – University of Hawai’i (Hawai’i), University of California San Diego (California)
• Autonomous Tiger Racing – Auburn University (Alabama)
• Black & Gold Autonomous Racing – Purdue University (Indiana), United States Military Academy at West Point (New York) with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (Indiana), Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (India), Universidad de San Buenaventura (Colombia)
• Cavalier Autonomous Racing – University of Virginia (Virginia)
• KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (South Korea)
• MIT-PITT-RW – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts), University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Rochester Institute of Technology (New York), University of Waterloo (Canada)
• PoliMOVE – Politecnico di Milano (Italy), University of Alabama (Alabama) (Oct. 23 finalist)
• TII EuroRacing – University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy), Technology Innovation Institute (United Arab Emirates) (Oct. 23 finalist)
• TUM Autonomous Motorsport – Technische Universität München (Germany) (Oct. 23 winner)