Postcards from the Paddock - #IAC2022

We're already off and running with 2022! The first assignment of the year was a trip out to Las Vegas for the second Indy Autonomous Challenge event which featured head-to-head racing between full-scale autonomous race cars for the first time. I got to work the first event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last October and was blown away by what the college teams had been able to do in a short time to build the software needed to pilot an Indy Lights chassis around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at over 150 miles per hour, but the jump forward the teams had made ahead of the passing competition this past weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was truly remarkable.

While at IMS the best teams were lapping by themselves at around the 150mph mark. This time around, they were passing each other at that clip! While there certainly were some setbacks and several accidents, the pace of progress was remarkable and I suspect that the rapid advancement has actually benefited from those same setbacks. These teams never seem to make the same mistake twice. 

The impact of the technology being developed by the Indy Autonomous Challenge teams figures to be far reaching with clear applications for the automotive industry but what struck me was the potential of the developments for the traditional motorsports industry. No, I don't think autonomous race cars will replace those driven by humans any time soon, but don't be surprised if some of the same sensor technology used to help the IAC cars' AI navigate the circuit crops up in a traditional race car in the near future.

These sensors, namely LIDAR and radar, allowed an autonomous vehicle to turn laps at over 100mph in the dead of night with no artificial lights to illuminate the track (the footage is spectacular, by the way). Consider how that same technology could provide a heads-up to a driver in real time when vision is obstructed due to smoke from a crash or heavy spray when racing in the rain. That application has life-saving potential and the experts I talked to on site said it could be coming sooner rather than later, especially with industry partners like Dallara and Juncos-Hollinger Racing having a direct involvement in the IAC.

Covering an event like this is a real challenge because there isn't a playbook to draw from. Just as the teams are doing things no one has done before in the autonomous driving space, we have been trying to formulate the best way to present the information to the public. In this I am indebted to the expertise of Rob Prucka, a Clemson University professor who served as my color analyst who spearheaded the design of the Dallara AV-21 cars that the teams use, for filling in the massive gaps in my knowledge and making a very complicated undertaking make sense to the layman but still interesting to the tech-enthusiast. I hope those that tuned in enjoyed it!

After a relaxing couple of months spent with the family around the holidays it was enjoyable to get back on the road and back to work. It's shaping up to be a fun season with continued roles with SRO America and IndyCar Radio, plus more autonomous racing fun with AWS and their DeepRacer program. I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season and I hope to see you at the track some time in 2022!