Inside Track Motorsport News
  • News
    • Breaking News
    • Press Releases
    • Results & Points
    • Industry News & Products
    • Driver & Team Releases
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • Features
  • Streetwise
  • Current Issue
  • Partners
No Result
View All Result
Subscribe
  • News
    • Breaking News
    • Press Releases
    • Results & Points
    • Industry News & Products
    • Driver & Team Releases
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • Features
  • Streetwise
  • Current Issue
  • Partners
Subscribe
Inside Track Motorsport News
No Result
View All Result

Waterloo Students To Race Autonomous Vehicles At Indy Speedway

October 20, 2021
in Industry News & Products
0
Waterloo Students To Race Autonomous Vehicles At Indy Speedway

Waterloo students Brian Mao (front left) and Ben Zhang (front right) work with teammates during testing of their autonomous car at the Indy speedway.

6
SHARES
173
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

WATERLOO, ON (OCTOBER 20, 2021 ) – Two students at the University of Waterloo expect to be part of history this weekend when an autonomous, million-dollar racecar they helped develop drives itself around the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour.

Brian Mao and Ben Zhang are members of a four-university team set to compete with rivals from around the world for a US $1-million top prize at the Indy Autonomous Challenge on Saturday.

“This is something nobody else has done before – take autonomous vehicles up to those kinds of speeds,” said Mao, a master’s student in applied mathematics. “There are a lot of unsolved problems that have to be tackled.”

Ten teams representing 21 universities will put modified Dallara AV-21 racecars through their paces at Indy, the largest sports venue in the world, as the culmination of a competition that included several simulated races.

Students from nine countries have been working since 2019 to program driverless cars equipped with the latest sensory equipment so they are capable of negotiating the track on their own at high speeds. Waterloo is the sole Canadian school involved.

“The only control we have is an emergency button,” said Zhang, a master’s student in electrical and computer engineering.

Mao (BASc ’20, mechanical engineering) and Zhang (BSC ’20, computer science) have been in Indianapolis for about six weeks, working full-time to integrate software developed by their team into the actual racecar.

“Honestly, it’s amazing just seeing it in person,” Mao said of the stadium. “The track is so big that after the first turn, we won’t even be able to see our car. We have to watch it on several monitors.”

Waterloo initially had a team of its own called WATORACE, but joined forces with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pittsburgh and the Rochester Institute of Technology to pool resources and expertise due to the complexity of the project.

The core of the Waterloo contingent, a subgroup of student design team WATonomous, also includes software engineering undergraduate Kyle Anderson, computer science undergraduate Ryan Larkin and Rollen D’Souza, a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering.

Mao, 23, of Newmarket and Zhang, 24, of Vancouver will be part of a six-person pit crew for their car when the final race – the details of which are still being worked out by organizers – is staged. It was one of just four that didn’t crash in the final simulated race in June.

“We are confident it will go around the track at high speed,” said Zhang. “We have tested it multiple times. What we’re still a bit unsure of is its obstacle avoidance manoeuvre.”

Organized by Energy Systems Network and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and backed by a long list of sponsors, the event is meant to advance technology for the commercialization of autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems.

Waterloo’s joint team backed off its original goal of a 180-mph top speed to improve safety and complete the race unscathed.

“We’re both nervous and excited at the same time because we’ve put in so much time and care so much about this,” Mao said. “We really want to make sure we don’t crash the car.”

From: University of Waterloo Media Relations

Tags: automotive engineeringautonomous vehiclesengineeringIndianapolis Motor Speedwayself driving vehiclesUniversity of WaterlooWATonomous
Previous Post

Fitzpatrick, Zardo, Houghton, and Cadman Victorious at Flamboro Frostoberfest finale

Next Post

Dykstra Takes Fall Nationals Win to Clinch Pinty’s Action Sprint Tour Title

Next Post
Dykstra Takes Fall Nationals Win to Clinch Pinty’s Action Sprint Tour Title

Dykstra Takes Fall Nationals Win to Clinch Pinty's Action Sprint Tour Title

Discussion about this post



Subscribe today and receive every issue in your mailbox, at a fraction of the newsstand price.

Subscribe Now

Inside Track Motorsport News

From local grassroots racing to Canadian touring series and the Canucks who compete on the international stage, Inside Track Motorsport News is the leader in terms of timely, in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the motorsports that matter to Canadians.

Corporate

  • About ITMN
  • Frequent Questions
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us

Advertising

  • Magazine Advertising
  • Web Advertising
  • Marketplace

Magazine

  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Change of Address
  • Gift Subscriptions
  • Back Issues
  • Returns and Refunds
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

© 1997-2023 Inside Track Motorsport News. All Rights Reserved.
Please do not replicate images or take columns from this website for use on another without permission of the author.
Designed and developed in Adelion Studio

Subscribe
  • News
    • Breaking News
    • Press Releases
    • Results & Points
    • Industry News & Products
    • Driver & Team Releases
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • Features
  • Streetwise
  • Current Issue
  • Partners
No Result
View All Result

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgot Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?