Two competitions have progressed to wheel-to-wheel autonomous vehicle racing—launching a new division of motorsport.
Advancements in autonomous vehicle technology are usually a highlight of the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). But this year differed from the traditional showcase of self-driving cars manufactured by consumer companies. This is because one of CES’ most highly anticipated events was the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), which saw five teams race autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the Las Vegas International Speedway. PoliMOVE clinched the title and the $150,000 grand prize in the first head-to-head autonomous race. Following the success of the 2021 competition, the goal for 2022 was to continue to accelerate innovation in AV design to help self-driving cars reach consumers faster.
But the existence of the race and the ever-evolving landscape of AVs is also calling into question the future of motorsport. With fully autonomous vehicles, driver safety is no longer a concern, leaving room for further innovation and an entirely engineering-focused competition. In a sport often dominated by the personalities and politics of its drivers, many people are now questioning if future racing will ultimately make drivers obsolete.
Autonomous Racing Picks Up Steam
The first AV race began in 2004 with the DARPA Grand Challenge. The U.S, military defense agency wanted to support the development of self-driving technologies and organized a 142-mile race that covered the rugged terrain between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Unfortunately, none of the 15 vehicles that left the start line managed to finish the race, with the top team completing only 7.5 miles.
“That first competition created a community of innovators, engineers, students, programmers, off-road racers, backyard mechanics, inventors and dreamers who came together to make history by trying to solve a tough technical problem,” said Lt. Col. Scott Wadle, DARPA’s liaison to the U.S. Marine Corps. “The fresh thinking they brought was the spark that has triggered major advances in the development of autonomous robotic ground vehicle technology in the years since.”
Seeing the promise of the competition, DARPA announced a second Grand Challenge to be held in the fall of 2005. Five of the 195 teams successfully completed a 132-mile course that covered Southern Nevada. Stanford University ultimately won the $2 million prize, as the first team to cross the finish line with its “Stanley” vehicle.
Since 2005, AV technology has rapidly expanded and integrated into consumer cars, gaining popularity with automakers like Tesla. According to the IAC, the DARPA Grand Challenge inspired its new series of competitions. Now, teams are looking to push the boundaries beyond just self-driving vehicles. The goal is to create fast cars capable of competing in the highest ranks of motorsport.
“The IAC taps into prize competitions, which have a long track record of focusing minds and leveraging competing teams and other third-party contributions to overcome complex challenges,” the organizers explained. “In particular, the IAC is inspired and advised by innovators who competed in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge, which put forth a $1 million award in 2004 that created the modern automated vehicle industry. Moreover, given its heavy presence of university-affiliated teams, the DARPA Grand Challenge inspired an entire generation of students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).”
The first IAC began in 2020 and was led by Energy Systems Network (ESN), an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization from the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. The competition featured several stages, including an initial Ansys Indy Autonomous Challenge Simulation Race on a virtual model of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). The challenge then culminated in a physical competition at IMS on October 23, 2021. Nine teams competed, representing 21 universities, and the winner of the $1 million grand prize was TUM Autonomous Motorsport from Germany. The race required each team to complete a series of warm-up and racing laps to compete for the fastest lap time. However, race did not feature any of the wheel-to-wheel racing spectators are accustomed to in motorsport. So, following the race in Indianapolis, teams were given a chance to compete in a head-to-head race as part of CES 2022 in Las Vegas.
Interestingly, the competition did not rely on teams building their hardware. Instead, each team used the official IAC race car, the Dallara AV-21. The car includes LiDAR, RADAR, and camera-based sensors, with an Indy Lights chassis modified for autonomous driving and a 4-cylinder turbocharged engine. The Dallara AV-21 is a classic racing car used in high levels of motorsport that allows teams to race vehicles capable of reaching speeds of more than 200 mph. Teams developed and employed AI to control their race vehicles, navigate the racetrack, and maneuver passes. In a cheeky nod to the AI focus of the race, when Karen Chupka, the executive vice president of CES, started the competition, she announced, “ladies and gentlemen, start your software.”
Five teams ultimately competed in the CES race, and PoliMOVE, composed of engineers from Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and the University of Alabama (USA), won the grand prize. Following its success at the 2021 competition, TUM Autonomous Motorsport took home second place. The PoliMOVE team reached a top speed of 173 mph during the competition. After the exciting race, the IAC and ESN have already announced that the competition will be held again in 2023.
A New Racing Series Is Aimed at Ushering in Motorsport 2.0
Founded in 2015, Roborace is another racing competition for AVs, except in this case the cars are electric. Initially, Roborace partnered with Formula E from 2016-2018 to showcase autonomous technology and capabilities at multiple Grands Prix. With the 2019 season “Alpha” and the 2020 season “Beta,” Roborace began to carve out a section of the motorsport industry. The new sport is looking to bridge the gap between esports and motorsport, with Twitch broadcasting races and each event featuring Metaverse AR integration. Season Alpha saw human drivers complete in the first half of the race and autonomous driving take over in the second half, using the hybrid DevBot race car. Season Beta featured entirely autonomous racing, with a single car on the track at any one time, along with ghost cars and static and dynamic obstacles to make the racing more interesting. If vehicles drove through certain items, they could reduce their lap time—similar to popular video games like Mario Kart.
Roborace Metaverse Explained
Over the past two seasons, teams raced the DevBot 2.0, with each crew competing with their own custom software. Daniel Simon designed the Robocar, DevBot and DevBot 2.0 vehicles, adding to his extensive experience in vehicle design, including stints in Hollywood designing vehicles for movies like Tron: Legacy and Captain America. The DevBot 2.0 featured a suite of sensors, including LiDAR, RADAR and GPS, that provide feedback to an NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platform that runs each team’s AI software. Changes to the car design and hardware for the upcoming season are continuing to be announced, with recent news highlighting the selection of Velodyne as the official LiDAR provider.
Following the first wheel-to-wheel race at CES 2022, the upcoming Roborace season will feature the first instances of head-to-head racing for the competition. With a season of racing ahead, it will offer an exciting view into the future of motorsport.
Motorsport Has Always Driven Innovation, but Where Will It Take Autonomous Vehicles?
Motorsport has often been a platform for innovation in vehicle design and operation, while also improving public knowledge of and support for emerging technologies. Formula E helped usher in a new era of electric vehicles, and the IAC and Roborace hope to do the same for autonomous cars.
So, will we see AVs reach the ranks of motorsport like Formula 1 (F1) anytime soon? Perhaps, but most likely it will be in the form of a modified safety car. In 2017, the then head of the F1 technical department, Marcin Budkowski, noted that a driverless safety car was an option being explored by the FIA. However, when asked about the future of driverless vehicles in a sport like F1, Budkowski noted, “We must be aware of the attraction of [F1] race cars without drivers: the engineers would love it, but not the fans.” Unfortunately, the FIA has not made any additional announcements regarding a driverless safety car, making the future of AVs in F1 unclear.
As we see Roborace and the IAC increase in popularity, the future of motorsport will likely resemble the trajectory of the automotive industry: a hybrid mixture of fully autonomous and partially autonomous vehicles. Although divisions like F1 may opt to maintain the glitz and glamour of human drivers, other race series will likely expand into the unique capabilities of fully autonomous competitions. With the upcoming 2022 Roborace season, fans and engineers alike will be able to witness an entire season of wheel-to-wheel autonomous racing. Hopefully, it will be the first of many years of exciting racing as AV technology matures and cars reach the upper limits of their speed capabilities.
