Indy Autonomous Challenge

The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) is a series of races with full-scale autonomous race cars.

Indy Autonomous Challenge
Indy Autonomous Series
VenueIndianapolis Motor Speedway
LocationSpeedway, Indiana, U.S.
Corporate sponsorCisco, Ansys, ADLINK, Hexagon, Luminar, Microsoft, Schaeffler, RTI, New Eagle, Valvoline
First raceOctober 23, 2021
Most wins (team)1, TUM Autonomous Motorsport
Circuit information
SurfaceAsphalt
Turns4
Lap record-

The original race took place on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in October 2021.[1][2] The challenge itself started in November 2019 and consisted of several rounds and hackathons in which the competing teams needed to demonstrate their ability to race autonomously. Each team competing in the final race on the IMS used the same vehicle hardware provided by the organizers. The goal of the IAC was purely to focus on the development of a full autonomous driving software stack that enabled perception, planning and control on the racetrack.[3] In total, 1.5 Million USD was provided as prizes for the winning teams.[4]

Further races have taken place at Texas Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Overview

As a successor of the DARPA Grand Challenge, the IAC aimed to provide a challenging environment for the development of autonomous vehicles. University teams were invited to develop software[5] for solving the autonomous driving task, but in the challenging environment of a racetrack. During the competition, teams used simulation environments[6] and cloud computing to test and prove the maturity of their algorithms.[7] The IAC race cars were to drive up to 290 km/h (180 mph),[8] have high lateral and longitudinal accelerations, needed to plan their path in an adversarial environment and needed to drive safely and reliably with low computation times.[9] The IAC was therefore a proving ground for autonomous vehicles.[10] Overall, three main goals were tackled in the IAC:[11][12]

  1. Defining and solving edge case scenarios for autonomous vehicles.
  2. Catalyzing new autonomous driving technologies and innovations.
  3. Engaging the public in the competition to help ensure acceptance.

The efforts of the IAC were led by Energy System Network, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit.[13]

Indy Autonomous Challenge racecar: Dallara IL-15 IAC

For the IAC, a special autonomous race car was developed by Clemson University[14] in the Deep Orange Project[15][16][17] and was presented at the CES 2021.[18] The race car was based on a Dallara Indy Lights chassis[19] which was enhanced with computation hardware, sensors and controllers[20][21] to enable full automation on the racetrack.[22] The vehicle was called "Dallara IL-15 IAC racecar". It was rear-wheel drive, powered by an internal combustion engine that produced 335 kW (449 hp) and had a 6-speed sequential gearbox. To perceive the environment the vehicle was equipped with six monocameras, four Radars, three LiDARs[23] and an RTK GPS. As a main computation unit, commercial hardware was used that consisted of an Intel Xeon E 2278 GE – 3.30 GHz (CPU), 1x Nvidia Quadro RTX 8000 (GPU) as well as 64GB Ram.[24][25] The cars were assembled, serviced and maintained by an external company.[26]

The teams were required to purchase the race cars to take part in the final IAC race rounds 4 and 5.

2021 IAC Grand Prix
Race details
Date October 23, 2021
Official name Indy Autonomous Challenge
Location Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Podium
First
  • Germany TUM Autonomous Motorsport
 Technical University of Munich
Second
  • Italy Euroracing
 Univ. Modena, Univ. Pisa, ETH
Third
  • Italy Polimove
 Politecnico di Milano
  • The Dallara IL-15 in front of the IMS Pagode
    The Dallara IL-15 in front of the IMS Pagode
  • The Dallara IL-15 Prototype at Clemson University
    The Dallara IL-15 Prototype at Clemson University
  • The Dallara IL-15 Prototype at Clemson University
    The Dallara IL-15 Prototype at Clemson University

Timeline, rounds and rules

The IAC focused completely on the development of software for an autonomous race car; no hardware development was involved. The final challenge was to race with this software in the IAC race cars on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Along the way to the final race, the teams completed several rounds and hackathons that served as thresholds that competing teams were required to fulfill. The IAC consisted of 5 rounds that validated the competing teams' capabilities in general, and in software, before they were allowed to race head-to-head with the real cars.[27]

Round Title Dates/Deadline Explanation Price
0 Registration February 28, 2020 Teams need to register themselves online -
1 Launch February 28, 2020 Submission of a white paper that describes the team, history of automation, idea for the software pipeline etc. -
2 Demonstration May 20, 2020 Teams need to demonstrate the ability to automate a passenger vehicle with one of the two following methods:

1. Submit a two- to three-minute video of a team-supplied and -programmed automated vehicle which

demonstrates a range of functions (e.g. acceleration, deceleration, left/right turn);

2. Compete in the “evGrand Prix Autonomous Series” organized by Purdue University and

sanctioned by the World Karting Association, taking place at the IMS in 2020.

-
3 Simulation Race June 30, 2021 1. Qualifying: Complete 10 virtual solo laps around the IMS oval (~25 miles) on an Organizer-supplied

and standardized automated vehicle simulator in 15 minutes or less (i.e. averaging ≥ 100 MPH avg.).

Performance determines the starting position in the simulation race.

2. Head-to-Head Racing: The teams need to complete 20 virtual laps around the IMS oval (~50 miles)

on an organizer-supplied and standardized automated vehicle simulator in a head-to-head

virtual race among Teams in 30 minutes or less (i.e. averaging ≥ 100 MPH avg.) without impacting other

vehicles’ abilities to compete.

 1. Place: $100,000 USD

2. Place: $50,000 USD

4 Race Qualification October 21–22, 2021 1. Usage of driverless Dallara IL-15 IAC racecar

2. Complete 10 solo laps of the IMS (25 miles) in 15 minutes or less (≥ 100 MPH avg.)

3. Complete at least one of those laps in 75 seconds or less. (≥ 120 MPH)

4. Performance determines final race starting position.

 -
5 Final Race October 23, 2021 1. Usage of driverless Dallara IL-15 IAC racecar

2. Head-to-head autonomous race

3. The teams must cross the finish line in 25 minutes or less (i.e. averaging ≥ 120 MPH)

4. The race endures 20-lap (~50 mile)

1. Place: $1,000,000 USD

2. Place: $250,000 USD

3. Place: $50,000 USD

Teams and competition results
Winners of the Indy Autonomous Challenge - Team "TUM Autonomous Motorsports"
Teams of the final Round 4 and 5 on the IMS with their racecars

Participation in the IAC was for accredited, tax-exempt colleges and university teams only.[28][29] After registration opened on 5 November 2019, 45 university teams in total registered for the IAC. While 6 teams did not submit a white paper for Round 1, 39 teams started in the challenge.[30] The competition was won by Team TUM Autonomous Motorsports from the Technical University of Munich.[31]

Team University Country Round 1

(Launch)

 Round 2

(Demonstration)

 Round 3

(Simulation Race)

 Round 4

(Qualification)

 Round 5

(Final Race)

Semifinal Final
TUM Autonomous Motorsport[32] Technical University of Munich  Germany White Paper Video Submission 2 2[33] 2 1[34]
Euroracing University of Modena and Reggio Emilia  Italy White Paper Video Submission DNF DNQ 1 2
University of Pisa  Italy
Polish Academy of Sciences  Poland
ETH Zurich  Switzerland
Polimove[35] Politecnico di Milano  Italy White Paper Video Submission 1 1[36] 3 3
Cavalier Autonomous Racing[37] University of Virginia  USA White Paper Video Submission DNS DNQ 4 DNQ
KAIST Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology  South Korea White Paper Video Submission DNF DNQ 5 4
AI Racing Tech[38] University of Hawaii  USA White Paper Video Submission 2 DNF DNF DNQ
University of California, San Diego  USA
MIT-PITT-RW[39][40] Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  USA White Paper Video Submission 5 4 DNF DNQ
University of Pittsburgh  USA
Rochester Institute of Technology  USA
University of Waterloo  Canadian
Autonomous Tiger Racing Auburn University  USA White Paper Video Submission DNS DNQ DNS DNQ
Black & Gold

Autonomous Racing[41]

 Purdue University  USA White Paper Video Submission DNF DNQ DNF DNQ
United States Military Academy (West Point)  USA
Reveille Racing Texas A&M University  USA White Paper Video Submission 4 3 Retired
WUT Driverless Warsaw University of Technology  Poland White Paper Video Submission 1 DNF Retired
Ariel Team[42] Ariel University  Israel White Paper Video Submission 3 DNF Retired
Crimson Autonomous Racing University of Alabama  USA White Paper Video Submission DNF DNQ Retired
Pegasus Colorado State University  USA White Paper Video Submission DNS DNQ Retired
Western Michigan University  USA
IUPUI - IITKGP-USB Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis  USA White Paper Video Submission DNS DNQ Retired
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur  India
Universidad De San Buenaventura  Colombia
Berkeley MPC Lab University of California, Berkeley  USA White Paper Video Submission Retired
Eagle Autonomous Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University  USA White Paper Video Submission Retired
Gator Double Dragon University of Florida  USA White Paper Video Submission Retired
Kookmin University  South Korea
Autonomous Racing Graz[43] Graz University of Technology  Austria White Paper Video Submission Retired
Go Heels Racing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  USA White Paper Video Submission Retired
Indy Car Poly California Polytechnica State University  USA White Paper Video Submission Retired
- Kennesaw State University  USA White Paper Video Submission Retired
M@Auto University of Michigan - Dearborn  USA White Paper Video Submission Retired
Wisconsin Autonomous University of Wisconsin-Madison  USA White Paper Video Submission Retired
Spartan Autonomous Michigan State University  USA White Paper Video Submission Retired
Abhiyaan Indian Institute of Technology Madras  India White Paper Retired
NA-SARATHY Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham  India White Paper Retired
KA-Racing E.V. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology  Germany White Paper Retired
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute  USA No Submission Retired
Rutgers RAM Lab Rutgers University  USA No Submission Retired
- University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign  USA No Submission Retired
UCLA University of California, Los Angeles  USA No Submission Retired
UPenn University of Pennsylvania  USA No Submission Retired
Electric Jays Johns Hopkins University  USA No Submission Retired
Key
Colour Result
Gold 1
Silver 2
Bronze 3
Green Other Positions
Purple Retired along the competition (Retired)
Red Did not Qualify (DNQ)
Blue Did not Start (DNS)
Yellow Did not Finish (DNF)
Black No Submission, Withdrawn

Autonomous Challenge @ CES
2022 IAC Grand Prix
Race details
Date January 7, 2022
Official name Autonomous Challenge @CES
Location Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 1.54 mi (2.48 km)
Podium
First
  • Italy Polimove
 Politecnico di Milano
Second
  • Germany TUM Autonomous Motorsport
 Technical University of Munich

After the Indy Autonomous Challenge at Indianapolis it was decided to have another competition with the autonomous racecars. This competition was planned for January 07 2022 as part of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022 in Las Vegas. With the help of CES and ESN the goal was to host a head-to-head, high-speed autonomous racecar passing competition on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The event itself was limited to CES attendees but was live streamed.

On January 8, 2023 the event was held again also at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during CES. PoliMOVE won the event again over nine other teams from 17 universities representing 6 countries with a car that reached a top speed of around 180 mph (289.682 km/h) during the event.[44]

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