Indy Autonomous Challenge AI Racecar Presented by Bridgestone Sets Autonomous Hillclimb Record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
17 July 2024 - 12:00AM
Business Wire
On a busy Sunday afternoon, in front of a global audience of
motorsport enthusiasts, The Indy Autonomous Challenge’s (IAC)
self-driving AV-24 racecar set the record for the fastest
autonomous Hillclimb at the Festival of Speed. The AV-24 is piloted
by an AI Driver developed by Team PoliMOVE-MSU (Politecnico di
Milano and Michigan State University).
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The IAC AV-24, a racecar driven by AI,
sets autonomous record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. (Photo:
Business Wire)
The AV-24 performed a series of three runs during the iconic
festival. The record was broken during their third and final run up
the Goodwood Hill where the racecar reached a top speed of 111.2
mph (179 kph) and a finish time of 66.37 secs. The record-setting
run can be watched here. The previous record has been held by
Roborace since 2019 when their “DevBot 2.0” autonomous car clocked
a 66.96 sec time at a top speed of 101.16 mph (162.8 kph).
Goodwood is known for its unforgiving narrow course, lined with
hay bells and limited run-off space. Attempting an autonomous hill
climb at the Festival of Speed required absolute control of grip
and slippage from the AV-24’s Bridgestone racing tires as well as
precision mapping and localization in a GPS limited environment
resulting in a higher than usual reliance on the AV-24’s Luminar
Iris lidars.
The IAC and PoliMOVE-MSU teams worked closely with Bridgestone’s
tire engineers to optimize performance ahead of the Hillclimb
including traveling to Bridgestone’s European Technical Center and
European Proving Grounds in Rome. The team also had the unique
chance to explore each step of tire production and test how
impactful tire performance is on track.
Paul Mitchell, Chairman and President of the IAC: “For
three years, the IAC has been pushing the boundaries of high-speed
autonomy and setting new records along the way. The Goodwood
Hillclimb is a historic backdrop with huge crowds and a global
audience that is now aware of the potential of self-driving
vehicles to be safely deployed on roads in the future.”
Professor Sergio Savaresi, PoliMOVE-MSU Team Principal:
“This challenge represents an important milestone for autonomous
mobility. This weekend we overcame significant challenges posed by
a complicated track and temperamental weather patterns. Thanks to
the exceptional work and skills implemented by our engineering team
and tire performance ensured by our Bridgestone racing tires, we
made history by showing the public that safe and high-speed
vehicular autonomy is possible even in adverse conditions. Our
record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed will inspire confidence in
future autonomous driving applications.”
Sara Correa, Chief Marketing Officer for Bridgestone in
the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) added,
“Bridgestone is proud to support the PoliMOVE-MSU team in this
incredible achievement at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024. We
are committed to partnering with the IAC and its inspiring student
engineers to continue testing and improving autonomous technologies
in record-setting runs like this and beyond. Motorsports are part
of Bridgestone’s DNA, always have been and always will be. And what
really matters is that we take the learnings from experiences like
this and apply them to the sustainable mobility solutions we
develop for society and our customers.”
Visuals and footage including of the IAC’s Autonomous Hillclimb
can be found here.
About the IAC: The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) is a
non-profit corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) that
organizes racing competitions among 10 university-affiliated teams
representing 18 universities from around the world. Teams program
AI drivers to pilot fully autonomous racecars and compete in a
series of history-making events at iconic tracks. The IAC is
working to establish a hub for performance automation in the state
and is harnessing the power of innovative competitions to attract
the best and the brightest minds from around the globe to further
state-of-the-art technology in the safety and performance of
autonomous vehicles. The IAC started as a $1 million prize
competition with 31 university teams signing up to compete more
than three years ago, representing top engineering and technology
programs from 15 U.S. states and 11 countries. Follow the IAC
@IndyAChallenge on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, &
YouTube.
About Bridgestone: Bridgestone is a global leader in
tires and rubber building on its expertise to provide solutions for
safe and sustainable mobility. Headquartered in Tokyo, the company
employs approximately 130,000 people globally, conducting business
in more than 150 countries and territories worldwide. Bridgestone
offers a diverse product portfolio of premium tires and advanced
solutions backed by innovative technologies, improving the way
people around the world move, live, work and play.
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Marc Ferlet marc.ferlet@indyautonomouschallenge.com USA: +1 317
662 5070 FR: +33 6 79 16 96 26