It was an exciting weekend for race fans at the first ever Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) as teams competed for $1.5 million in prize money. TUM Autonomous Motorsport, from the Technische Universität München (TUM), won amongst 21 international universities competing. Schaeffler sponsored the competition to advance the commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles and deployments of advanced driver-assistance systems.
“This has been a valuable experience and fulfilling collaboration for Schaeffler, the university teams and the future of autonomous driving,” Senior Account Executive at Schaeffler Noel Marshall says. “Schaeffler believed this could be a dynamic development platform for other high-speed and mainstream applications, and based on this weekend’s performance, we are extremely glad to have been a part of the process as an IAC sponsor.”
Schaeffler provided its Space Drive system to all the teams. The IAC teams programed their own unique software to a modified Dallara IL-15 racecar with Schaeffler’s Space Drive driving and steering system over the course of a year.
Schaeffler’s Space Drive technology includes a three-stage, multi-redundant motor driver and control system that served as the central control unit for converting the digital signals into actual driving commands on the road.
“Our IAC partnership is an exciting achievement for our Space Drive technology, which has already amassed more than a billion accident-free kilometers,” Schaeffler President of Transmission Systems, E-mobility and Chassis Patrick Lindemann says. “The latest generation of this technology, Space Drive 3, is also ready for small-volume production, which is the next milestone in Schaeffler’s ADAS journey.”