US Auto Industry
Around The Corner - How Differential Steering Works (1937)
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The Challenge
Energy Systems Network (ESN), an Indianapolis-based non-profit and a branded initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) and CICP Foundation, Inc. (CICP Foundation), is the organizer of the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC). The IAC is a broadly collaborative effort that brings together public-private partnerships and academic institutions to challenge university students around the world to imagine, invent and prove a new generation of automated vehicle software to run fully autonomous racecars and inspire the next generation of STEM talent.
The IAC taps into prize competitions’ which have a long track record of focusing minds and leveraging competing teams and other third-party contributions to overcome complex challenges. In particular, the IAC is inspired and advised by innovators who competed in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge, which put forth a $1 million award in 2004 that created the modern automated vehicle industry. Moreover, given its heavy presence of university-affiliated teams, the DARPA Grand Challenge inspired an entire generation of students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
A primary goal of the IAC is to advance technology that can speed the commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles and deployments of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). These enhancements will lead to increased safety and performance in all modes of motorsports and commercial transportation. In addition, the competition is a platform for students to excel in STEM.
The first history making IAC was held on Oct. 23, 2021 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where 21 universities from 9 countries forming 9 teams competed for the $1 million grand prize. TUM Autonomous Motorsport – Technische Universität München (Germany) took home the top prize.
#ces #indycar #lasvegasmotorspeedway
Indy Autonomous Challenge Briefing • CES 2023
#indycar #ces2023 #autonomousdriving
The Luminar Lidar Proactive Safety Demo is designed to showcase their "always on" safety product.
#luminar #lidar #ces
indyautonomouschallenge.com
Energy Systems Network (ESN) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), organizers of the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), today unveiled at CES 2021 the official racecar that will be autonomously driven by scores of university teams in the world’s first high-speed, head-to-head autonomous race at the Racing Capital of the World on Oct. 23, 2021.
The goal of the IAC is to advance technologies that can speed the commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), leading to increased safety and performance. In addition, the IAC challenges the best and brightest university students worldwide to engage in hands-on engineering.
“The Dallara-built IAC racecar is the most advanced, fastest autonomous vehicle ever developed,” stated Paul Mitchell, president and CEO of ESN. “IAC sponsors are providing radar, lidar, optical cameras and advanced computers, bringing the value of each vehicle to $1 million.”
The IAC, scheduled for October 23 at IMS, will hold a qualifying simulation race during the Indy 500 week in May. The total prize purse is $1.5 million: $1 million awarded to the winning team in October, and an additional $500,000 for winners of hackathons and simulation races, awarded by IAC sponsor, Ansys.
More than 500 university students, PhDs and mentors who excel in artificial intelligence software, have responded to the challenge, representing 39 universities in 11 countries on four continents and 14 U.S. states.
Sebastian Thrun, winner of the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, said that the DARPA race served as inspiration for the IAC. “It proved that robots can drive themselves in very confined environments, but that they don’t have the agility and skill of a really well-trained human race driver to act in extreme situations. IMS is the best place in the world to challenge the robotics community to test self-driving cars. By going into a racing context, we will stretch self-driving cars to the absolute limit.”
The Autonomous Racecar
Since 2002, Dallara has been the sole racecar supplier of the Indy Lights series, and now the modified Dallara IL-15 is the official IAC racecar. The racecar has been retrofitted with hardware and controls to enable automation to enhance safety, control and performance. Components include rugged-edge on-board computing, vehicle-to-vehicle communications, perception systems, high-end graphics processing units, drive-by-wire, and artificial intelligence acceleration and powerful central processing units to run IAC teams’ software and algorithms in the racecar.
One of the challenges for autonomous racing is solving edge case scenarios – challenges that occur only at extreme operating parameters, such as avoiding unanticipated obstacles at high speeds.
“Dallara is the best racecar engineering company in the world, yet designing the chassis for autonomous racing was really challenging,” explained Stefano dePonti, CEO and general manager of Dallara USA. “We know how the world’s best race drivers react in the Dallara in high-speed scenarios, but now we have to anticipate the actions of a robot.”
Innovation at IMS
IMS has been a catalyst and proving ground for motorsport and transportation innovation since its inception in 1909. IMS hosts the crown jewel of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the Indianapolis 500 — annually the world’s largest single-day sporting event. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is North America’s premier open-wheel racing series.
“The IAC is going to bring the best minds from around the world to solve a very complex problem, right here at the Racing Capital of the World,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “As the birthplace of motorsports’ innovation, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a fitting setting for this event, and we can’t wait to see the winning entry cross the Yard of Bricks into history.”
IAC Sponsors and Contributors
Indiana Economic Development Corporation, ADLINK, Ansys, Aptiv, AutonomouStuff, Bridgestone, Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR), Dallara, Microsoft, New Eagle, PWR, RTI, Schaeffler and Valvoline.
About the Indy Autonomous Challenge
Sonoma Raceway • Sears Point
From The Prelinger Archives
#DaytonaBeach
Date: October 18-20 1963
http://www.ultimateracinghistory.com/race.php?raceid=37066
davemacdonald.net/gallery/closeups/kingcobra63pacificgp.htm
Courtesy: Prelinger Archives
The Changing Architecture Of The Automobile Body (1967) by General Motors Corp
Futuramic Design
Driving Magic
#Oldsmobile #GM
O'Mara's Chain Miracle by Handy (Jam) Organization
Publication date 1951
Topics TOWNS, POLICE, MAIN STREETS, AUTOMOBILES, CHEVROLET
Digitizing sponsor Chevrolet Division, General Motors Corporation
#Chevrolet
Classic "capitalist realist" drama showing the manufacture of Chevrolets from foundry to finished vehicles. Though ostensibly a tribute to the "master hands" of the assembly line workers, it seems more of a paean to the designers of this impressive mass production system. Filmed in Flint, Michigan, just months before the United Auto Workers won union recognition with their famous sitdown strikes. Released the same year as two other films with which it shares similarities: MODERN TIMES and TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. Selected for the 1999 National Film Registry of "artistically, culturally, and socially significant" films.
Publication date 1936 Topics Jam Handy Organization, National Film Registry, Chevrolet Motor Company, automobile manufacturing, Flint Michigan
#Chevrolet
FLIR Launches Second Generation Thermal Camera for Self-Driving Cars and New Thermal Handheld for Automotive Repair
businesswire.com/news/home/20190107005342/en
FLIR flir.com
Dramatizes teen-age attitudes toward theft. Presents a story about two teen-age boys who steal a car, unsuccessfully attempt to involve a friend in the theft, take a joy-ride with a girl who does not know the car is stolen and, when chased by the police, are responsible for the death of a little girl.
Courtesy A/V Geeks Archives
Ford Research And Engineering Center
Stop, Look And Think
Billy Budd Films
The Mercury Comet automobile runs durability tests at Daytona Racetrack. Features a motion picture record of a dramatic test of automotive performance and durability. Shows four comets traveling the world's fastest track for a distance record of 100,000 miles at an average speed of more than 105 miles per hour.
Traffic Safety Films Inc
Los Angeles Police Department
Produced by the House Public Works Subcommittee on Investigations and Review, this film details the statistics of American highways, including accidents and their causes, and describes Congress' suggestions for improving highway conditions.


