The evolution of AI racing starts in Indianapolis
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An autonomous racecar drives in the dark during an Indy Autonomous Challenge event at CES 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Indy Autonomous Challenge
An autonomous racing initiative originally designed to be a single-day Circle City attraction will now play a role in the nation's development and training of physical AI.
The big picture: The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), a local nonprofit that organizes autonomous racing competitions among university-affiliated teams, has become a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) partner.
Why it matters: As AI interest and implementation expands, local tech leaders believe having Hoosiers behind the controls could be a boon to us all.
State of play: Systems like self-driving cars, unmanned aircraft and humanoid robots learn from modeling and simulation.
- But the training process can take years, carry significant risk and fail to account for real-world uncertainty, creating a phenomenon known in the world of robotics as the "simulation-to-real gap."
Driving the news: To close that gap, DARPA has implemented a new program and brought on IAC to help it safely speed up the training process.
What they're saying: "Our program is not simply a motorsports initiative or a collegiate student competition, or even just a showcase of technology innovation," Indy Autonomous Challenge CEO Paul Mitchell said. "It is also a platform for the rapid development, testing, validation and eventual commercialization of physical AI software."
How it works: Over the next three years, IAC teams will craft evaluation platforms to improve the efficiency of AI driver training.
- The platforms will benefit high-speed ground vehicles and could be applied for air, sea and space vehicles.
Between the lines: With AI being such a hot — and often controversial — topic, Mitchell said it's a "mixed bag" of reactions when explaining the work being done by the IAC.
- "There's certainly people that say, 'Oh, are you trying to replace the drivers? Are you trying to turn the Indy 500 into a robot race?'" he said. "We're always quick to dispel that.
- He adds the purpose is not to replace human drivers, but to help human drivers be safer while going faster.
Flashback: The first IAC race was a $1 million competition with more than 30 university teams competing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October 2021.
- "We were really focused on it being a one-off … and when we ran that event, it was clear that the teams were developing AI drivers that were capable of running these race cars, but that they could do a lot more if given more time and more testing," Mitchell said.
The latest: IAC returned to IMS on Sept. 6 for its seventh race.
- Indiana was represented by the Purdue AI Racing (PAIR) and IU Luddy teams.
- Cavalier Autonomous Racing from the University of Virginia won the time trial competition.
- PoliMOVE-MSU, a collaboration between Michigan State University, University of Alabama and Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy, won the passing competition.
The intrigue: This is a situation where machines can't keep up with humans.
- The University of Virginia team set a world record for autonomous speed on a racetrack by hitting 184 mph.
- That would have been an impressive top speed at the Indy 500 more than 50 years ago.
What's next: The next IAC race will take place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in January as part of the CES 2025.