Meet the MIT-PITT-RW Indy Autonomous Challenge Team

Jan. 31, 2023

The 2023 Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) showcased its AV-21 autonomous race car at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where MIT, the University of Pittsburgh, Rochester Institute of Technology, and University of Waterloo had a competing team.

William G. Wong

Related To: Electronic Design

This article is part of our CES 2023 coverage and the TechXchange: ROS: Robot Operating System.

Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) utilized the new AV-21 autonomous race car at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway at CES 2023. The cars run the ROS 2—the Robot Operating System. Teams from around the world compete using fully autonomous Indy-class cars.

We had a chance to talk to a few of the members of the combined MIT, University of Pittsburgh, Rochester Institute of Technology, and University of Waterloo team (MIT-PITT-RW) to find out what they do on the car and the project (see figure).

The MIT-PITT-RW team's car (top/red) is shown in the passing challenge that's part of the Indy Autonomous Challenge competition.

The competition operates via elimination races with a pair of cars in a passing challenge. One car passes the other and then it's repeated. The cycle is repeated once again with both cars speeding up by 10 miles per hour. This is done until one car can't complete its pass often due to a car losing control or having another race-related issue.

Students are involved in all aspects of the team, not just the programming or dealing with the hardware. Multiple races at different tracks occur during the year.