The Indy Autonomous Challenge is set to return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, Sept. 6 after a three-year hiatus.
In January, the University of Virginia became the top U.S. team after a competition in Las Vegas held at the Consumer Electronics Expo. Now, Cavalier Autonomous Racing – “CAR” or “CAVCAR” for short – will vie to take all at The Brickyard.
The Indianapolis race, which has been on hiatus since Indy Autonomous Challenge’s inaugural matchup, will be like none held before in the U.S.
“This event will feature a high-speed time-trail competition, a head-to-head passing competition and a multi-agent racing demonstration,” said professor Madhur Behl, CAVCAR’s team leader. “It will mark a historic moment reminiscent of the very first Indianapolis Motor Speedway race in 2021, but with increased complexity and speed, and a lot of autonomous overtaking. Our eye is on the prize for this event.”
From Setback to Comeback
UVA’s CAVCAR outpaced the MIT-PIT-RW team at the CES 2024 Indy challenge, performing an overtake at 143 mph – an exciting comeback following a 2022 crash that required that the team rebuild.
That made UVA the top U.S. team. However, in the final round, UVA went head-to-head with Technical University of Munich’s entry. UVA’s car accelerated as TUM attempted an overtake, forcing a rule violation.
Now, UVA is ready for Indianapolis. “This is the first time teams will be racing each other in our AV-24 cars, the upgraded model,” Behl said. “We can’t wait to show what our AI can do among multiple cars at ‘the Racing Capital of the World.’”
