TUM Autonomous Motorsports Wins Third Annual Autonomous Challenge @ CES

Today, the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), the global innovator in high-speed autonomy, announced that TUM Autonomous Motorsport from the Technical University of Munich won this year’s Autonomous Challenge @ CES as part of CES®2024.

The team’s exceptional performance and cutting-edge autonomous driving technology propelled it to first place in a thrilling race that showcased the future of automotive innovation, as they bested Cavalier Autonomous Racing out of the University of Virginia, which took second place in the competition.

The TUM Autonomous Motorsport team’s triumph was earned with its racecar reaching maximum speeds of more than 150 mph despite cold weather affecting the tires and overall windy conditions. In a never-seen moment during the thrilling semifinal matchup, the TUM and KAIST teams raced side by side, two wide and wheel-to-wheel through turns one and two, getting as close as 1.5 meters from each other—a first for high-speed autonomous racing.

The TUM victory is a testament to the remarkable advancements in autonomous technologies and the dedication of the next generation of innovators and thinkers. After TUM’s victory, as the sun set over Las Vegas, three IAC racecars achieved a world first, with all three fully autonomous racecars running on the track simultaneously.

Three IAC University teams, PoliMOVE-MSU, AI Tech Racing, and TII Unimore, took to the track with the newly unveiled Next Gen Autonomous Vehicle Platform, the IAC AV-24. The three-racecar demo began under the track lights. In another world, first, the lights were turned off, and the IAC AV-24 racecars operated in total darkness, demonstrating the ability of autonomous vehicle technology to work without any visible light.

The crowd of CES 2024 attendees went wild when the TII Unimore racecar passed the AI Tech Racing racecar, running in pitch black, outlined in only LED lights to illuminate the autonomous racecars for the crowd to see.

“Congratulations to TUM Autonomous Motorsport on its Autonomous Challenge @ CES victory,” said Paul Mitchell, president of IAC. “This achievement, along with the performances of all participating teams, especially the world’s first night runs with three IAC AV-24 racecars, proves that autonomous driving is no longer a distant dream but a reality shaping our future.”

The IAC AV-24, the most technologically advanced and fastest autonomous racecar ever assembled, showcased an unprecedented equipment package. Equipped with cutting-edge hardware and piloted by AI driver algorithms, the AV-24 represents a significant leap forward in high-speed autonomous mobility.

“We are honoured to be back at CES 2024, hosting the Autonomous Challenge for a third time,” continued Mitchell. “Over the years, we have witnessed historic moments, from the first-ever head-to-head autonomous racecar competition in 2022 to a new autonomous world speed record in 2023. Now, with the operation of three IAC AV-24s in total darkness, we continue to push the boundaries of high-speed autonomy.”

The IAC AV-24, developed in collaboration with top industry partners Bridgestone, Cisco, Continental, dSPACE, Luminar, Marelli, NI, VectorNav and others, will continue to be on display in IAC’s West Hall booth, #5901, through Friday, January 12 at CES 2024.

Nine teams from 18 universities spanning seven countries participated in the event in different capacities, whether competing with legacy IAC AV-21 racecars or demonstrating the capabilities of the groundbreaking IAC AV-24 racecar.

Six teams from nine universities spanning three countries competed using the IAC AV-21 racecar in the Indy Autonomous Challenge @ CES 2024 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including:

• Autonomous Tiger Racing (ATR) – Auburn University
• Black & Gold Autonomous Racing – Purdue University
• Cavalier Autonomous Racing (CAR) – University of Virginia
• KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (South Korea)
• MIT-PITT-RW – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts), University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Rochester Institute of Technology (New York), and University of Waterloo (Canada)
• TUM Autonomous Motorsport – Technische Universität München (Germany)

Three teams from nine universities spanning four countries demonstrated the IAC AV-24 racecar in the Indy Autonomous Challenge @ CES 2024 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including:

• AI Racing Tech – University of California, Berkeley (California), University of Hawai’i (Hawai’i), with University of California, San Diego (California), Carnegie Mellon University (Pennsylvania)
• PoliMOVE-MSU – Politecnico di Milano (Italy), University of Alabama (Alabama), Michigan State University (Michigan)
• TII EuroRacing – University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy), Technology Innovation Institute (United Arab Emirates)