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Audi is getting students involved in the development of autonomous vehicles with the Audi Autonomous Driving Cup.
Ten teams have to come up with a software package that will guide a 1:8 scale Audi Q5 through a test course that simulates real-world driving challenges. The final takes place on 25-26 March at the Audi Museum Mobile. There is a €10,000 prize up for grabs.
To assess the performance of the self-driving models a test course has been devised that includes 'oncoming and intersecting traffic, tricky parking situations and obstacles that suddenly appear', everything that their full-size counterparts have to face. The goal is to complete the course in the shortest possible time with the fewest errors. Points will be deducted for accidents, lost time and 'imprecise execution'.
Audi supplied the model cars and basic software package to the teams for the competition. Participants come from the fields of computer science, electrical engineering or mechanical engineering. Each team must develop the software architecture to process sensor data and interpret it to control the car appropriately. The model Q5 features all-wheel drive and can reach speeds of 40km/h.
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One of the competition organisers, Bjorn Giesler, commented: "The measurement sensors in the models have to work just as precisely as those in their big brothers. We are excited to see the innovative solutions the students come up with."