The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) announced that it will relaunch its Autonomous Challenge SIM races by partnering with the Autoware Foundation (AWF) to develop the official IAC racing simulation platform integrated into the AWF’s open-source AWSIM. Autonoma, a start-up founded by former IAC university team members, will provide the advanced simulation modeling that replicates the real-world IAC racecars, integrated into AWSIM.

In 2020-21 the IAC organized a series of autonomous SIM races which allowed 31 teams comprised of 40 universities across four continents to test their AI drivers and determine their readiness to compete in on-track competitions. IAC has gone on to host four historic oval competitions with one IAC team setting a world record for autonomous racing on an oval track reaching 180 mph at Las Vegas Motor Speedway January 7, 2023. That same team, PoliMOVE, also holds the world’s fastest autonomous land speed record of 192.2 mph/309.3 kph over 1 km.

The IAC will re-launch its simulation races together with AWF to expand the number of university teams developing and training novel AI driving algorithms. The SIM races provide a highly accessible way for teams to participate in the IAC, breaking down barriers of funding or physical car availability. Teams will develop AI drivers to compete with others from around the globe. Additionally, this platform prepares teams to progress to the real-world, on-track competitions.

“Autoware Foundation’s years of experience with open-source simulation and their global network of more than 18 universities makes them the perfect partner to enable a scalable platform for autonomous SIM racing,” said Paul Mitchell, president, IAC. “This partnership will allow us to extend the boundaries of the IAC as the number of university teams will not be limited to the physical vehicles.”

“This partnership expands the long-standing relationship between the Indy Autonomous Challenge and AWF,” said Christian John, TIER IV North America President and AWF Strategic Planning Committee Chair. “We worked closely with IAC to enable the reference autonomy software on the Dallara AV-21 race car used in the first IAC competition at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and now we’ll enable IAC teams advance autonomous driving algorithms with state-of-the-art racing simulation based on AWSIM.”

AWSIM is the open-source, Unity-based simulation platform for end-to-end autonomous vehicle testing developed by TIER IV and Robotec.ai used by AWF members to advance Autoware, the world’s leading open-source software for autonomous driving. AWF is working closely with Autonoma, which was founded by previous IAC competitors from Auburn University and Politecnico di Milano. Autonoma is integrating its vehicle dynamics, tire dynamics, sensor models, vehicle interfaces, simulation framework, and 3D racetrack environments into AWSIM, allowing the IAC teams to test the performance of their autonomous software with high accuracy. Autonoma has been working closely with IAC university teams over the last year to develop and beta test the simulation to fit their exact needs, creating a “digital-twin” of the racecar and competition environments.

“By offering a highly accurate simulation platform, we empower teams to push the envelope of their software, safely and efficiently,” said Will Bryan, CEO of Autonoma. “By enabling faster iteration speed, our technology not only promotes competition, it equips the teams with the tools necessary to create meaningful breakthroughs that will shape our autonomous future.”

The IAC SIM racing platform is already available for current IAC university teams and will be available to new university teams later this summer. Teams interested in participating in IAC SIM racing events can reach out to simrace@indyautonomouschallenge.com.

About IAC: The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) organizes racing competitions among university affiliated teams from around the world to program fully autonomous racecars and compete in a series of history-making events at iconic tracks. Based in Indiana, 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 safety and performance of automated vehicles. The IAC started as a $1 million prize competition with 31 university teams signing up to compete more than two years ago, representing top engineering and technology universities from 11 countries including 15 U.S. states.

About AWF: Autoware is the world’s first “all-in-one” open-source software for self-driving vehicles hosted under the Autoware Foundation. Autoware is based on ROS 2, with contributions from the Autoware Foundation members and community at large following best-in-class software engineering practices. Further information at www.autoware.org.

About Autonoma: Autonoma is a startup focused on advanced simulation and validation tools for autonomous vehicles that close the gap between the virtual and real world. Autonoma was founded by former IAC participants and uses their experience working on the fastest autonomous cars in the world to create high-fidelity vehicle-in-the-loop (VIL) testing platforms. Their VIL platform allows a physical car to test in a safe environment, but “see” a dynamic virtual world around it. This increases safety, while allowing developers to test in a much more efficient way. To learn more, reach out to will@autonomalabs.com.

About TIER IV: TIER IV is the creator of Autoware, the world's first open-source software for autonomous driving (AD) and provides full-stack solutions for the commercialization of intelligent vehicles based on the Autoware-defined Autonomous Driving Kit (ADK), which runs on multiple platforms. Autoware is currently used by hundreds of companies globally, with field operation tests run in about 20 countries and implemented with 30 different types of vehicles. As a founding member of the Autoware Foundation, TIER IV provides open access to AD technology so that everyone, from individuals to organizations, can participate in and contribute to a sustainable ecosystem of intelligent vehicles and AD technology for the benefit of society. Learn more at TIER IV and follow @tier_iv_japan.

Media Resources:

• General IAC photos and videos can be found on the IAC Media Page
• Follow @IndyAChallenge and #IAC2023 on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & YouTube.
• Media Contact: Allison Fried, (IAC@onemorevolley.com)

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