The Consumer Electronics Show has become world-famous for inviting inquisitive techies to the Las Vegas desert for a first look at the latest gadgets.
On Thursday, though, CES and the Indy Autonomous Challenge also gave attendees a look at the future of a new type of motorsport: multi-agent, driverless track racing. Las Vegas Motor Speedway was the venue for the successful exhibition race, held there in the late afternoon.
And not surprisingly to anyone who follows the budding AI-programming sport of autonomous racing, the University of Virginia’s robot racecar helped provide the exciting, car’s-length finish.
A Demo for the History Books
UVA’s Cavalier Autonomous Racing, which established itself this fall as the fastest robot racecar team in the world, was among four university-based teams participating in the special exhibition.
Madhur Behl, a UVA Engineering professor of computer science and systems and information engineering, and an affiliate of UVA’s Link Lab, serves as the team principal.
“Despite starting at the back of the pack and on the outside line, Cavalier Autonomous Racing’s car fought its way to the P1 [lead position] within the first 16 laps, executing multiple overtakes in a dynamic field alongside amazing teams,” Behl reported.
Part of the strategy involved programming the AI to decide how and when it should use its allotment of “push to pass” opportunities. The special capability enables a racecar to temporarily increase its power.
“It all came down to a photo finish as we ran out of push-to-pass budget just before the final turn, securing P2 in one of the most thrilling demonstrations of open-format multi-car racing yet.,” Behl said. “This is just the beginning of a journey towards truly open autonomous racing.”
The winner of the demo was UNIMORE, from Italy’s University of Modena and Regio Emilia, which collaborates with the Technology Innovation Institute of Dubai.
