Indy Autonomous Challenge Exhibiting at Goodwood Festival of Speed as part of Future Lab; Training AI Drivers for Future Hillclimb

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) today announced that it will participate in the Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS) presented by Mastercard, which runs July 13-16 in West Sussex, England. The IAC will be exhibiting as part of Future Lab presented by Randox, an invite-only curated exhibit focused on the future of technology. The IAC will exhibit alongside other groundbreaking technology entities such as: The James Webb Space Telescope (NASA/ESA/Sussex), UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), Epic Games and more.

In addition to exhibiting the latest autonomous driving technology, members from three IAC university teams are on the ground conducting scans and digitally mapping the Goodwood Hillclimb to support IAC’s return next year for a historic autonomous hillclimb challenge.

“We are honored to have been selected by Goodwood to showcase the world’s fastest autonomous racecar technology as part of Future Lab, alongside other game changing mobility technologies,” said Paul Mitchell, president, IAC. “IAC staff and members from three of our university teams have been conducting low speed scans of the Goodwood Hill using two of our autonomous racecars to gather terabytes of data, which will generate a detailed digital map that can train our teams’ AI drivers to take on the famed hillclimb. These tests lay the foundation for IAC teams to further develop their AI driver software to come back and attempt an autonomous hillclimb record during Goodwood FOS 2024.”

“We are thrilled that the IAC is joining the invited line-up for Future Lab 2023, as part of our 'Mobility on a Mission' theme,” said Lucy Johnson, curator, Future Lab. “Their own pioneering mission to promote exploration and understanding around the capability of autonomous vehicles in a race context is speeding the industry forward and will clearly have beneficial real-world impact in the near future.”

The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) is based in Indiana, U.S. and organizes a series of competitions among full-scale autonomous racecars. Last month, the IAC announced that team PoliMOVE won the first-ever autonomous driving road course time trial competition, held at the Monza “Temple of Speed.” The historic feat took place as part of the Milan Monza Motor Show (MIMO) at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

Media Resources:

• General IAC photos and videos can be found on the IAC Media Page
• Follow @IndyAChallenge and #IAC2023 on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & YouTube.
• Media Contacts:
  • IAC - Allison Fried, ([e-mail]); IAC stakeholders are available for interview, please reach out to schedule.
  • For more information about Goodwood’s motorsport events, please contact Katharine Morgan, PR Manager: [e-mail]. For all other press enquiries, please contact: [e-mail]

About the IAC:

The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) organizes racing competitions among university-affiliated teams from around the world to program fully autonomous racecars and compete in a series of history-making events at iconic tracks. Based in Indiana, the IAC is working to establish a hub for performance automation in the state and is harnessing the power of innovative competitions to attract the best and the brightest minds from around the globe to further state-of the-art technology in safety and performance of automated vehicles. The IAC started as a $1 million prize competition with 31 university teams signing up to compete more than three years ago, representing top engineering and technology universities from 11 countries including 15 U.S. states.

About the Festival of Speed:

Presented by Mastercard: First staged in 1993, the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard is the world’s largest automotive garden party, set against the spectacular backdrop of Goodwood House in West Sussex, UK. Over 600 cars and motorcycles spanning the phenomenal history of motoring and motorsport take part along with legendary figures from the automotive world. Highlights include Future Lab presented by Randox, Electric Avenue presented by bp pulse, Forest Rally Stage, Michelin Supercar Paddock, Michelin Supercar Run, F1 Pit Lane presented by Sky, Drivers’ Club, GAS Arena, Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d’Elegance and Bonhams Auction. Stay up to date with all future announcements and on-event action across our social channels: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

About Future Lab presented by Randox:

Future Lab was conceived in 2017 as a platform through which to introduce wider stories of technology and science innovation to the world’s biggest annual motorsport and automotive celebration, Goodwood Festival of Speed. With a mission to spotlight ‘Technology for a Better World,’ for seven years the curated Future Lab campus has presented over 120 exhibits from pioneering companies, laboratories, scientists, designers, engineers and explorers, and welcomed participating teams from across the world. This dynamic, immersive environment uniquely brings together visionary stories from broad fields of innovation ranging across future mobility, energy, agriculture, climate, health, art, architecture, space exploration, ocean research, robotics and AI, and ground-breaking digital interactions.