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How to solve the problem of developing autonomous cars quickly? Audi's got a great solution - get some of the finest young minds involved, have them develop their own self-driving software algorithms and then test the theory at 1:8th scale.
The second edition of The Audi Autonomous Driving Cup will take place in late March, with eight university teams from across Germany competing for a prize pot of €16,000.
The process is simple: each team was provided with basic autonomous car software from Audi, plus a pair of identical model cars. They could then adapt the software as they saw fit to process the sensor data of their cars, interpret situations correctly and then control the car(s) accordingly.
Using 1:8th scale Audi Q5 models, the teams' entries will take on a challenging circuit in the Audi Museum Mobile at Ingolstadt. These all-electric model cars should negotiate the track automatically, as quickly as possible and with the minimum of faults. Each car will have to avoid obstructions, approach junctions with cross-traffic flow, and follow other vehicles at a safe distance. Turning across oncoming traffic, precision parking manoeuvres and an emergency brake test will also be incorporated.
Once this compulsory test is completed, the students can then show off their car's 'freestyle' element, which is something that they've programmed into it of their choice. Once all the points are collated, top prize is €10,000, second place nets €5,000 and third picks up €1,000.
Of course, this isn't all just about model Q5s driving on their own. Dr.Ing. Lars Mesow, from Audi, said: "Our engineers use the same development environment as this. That means the students work on optimising their model cars in the same way we do on real cars. Thanks to the competition circuit's challenging design, we expect the drives around it to yield conclusions that we can also transfer to software control algorithms in real-life driving situations."
Anything else?
As well as prize money, the Audi Autonomous Driving Cup allows the students to potentially forge a career for themselves at the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer. For more information about the event, head over to www.audi-autonomous-driving-cup.com.