Indy Autonomous Challenge Awarded DARPA Contract to Improve AI Training for Autonomous Systems

The IAC AV-24, World’s Fastest Autonomous Racecars, will serve as a platform for rapid “Physical AI” training in SIM and Real environments 

October 1, 2024 - Indianapolis, IN - Autonomous systems, including self-driving cars, unmanned aircraft, and humanoid robots, learn from modeling and simulation. However, the training process can take months to years, and have trouble account for all the uncertainty found in the real world. In the world of robotics, this is known as the simulation-to-real gap.

To improve this gap, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has implemented the Transfer Learning from Imprecise and Abstract Models to Autonomous Technologies (TIAMAT) program. DARPA has selected Indy Autonomous Challenge as an official test and evaluation platform for the TIAMAT program, which aims to develop rapid autonomy transfer techniques to enable same-day autonomy that is robust to the quick and inevitable changes in dynamic environments and adaptable to a variety of platforms and domains.

“We were inspired to create the Indy Autonomous Challenge by the successes of the DARPA Grand Challenges which were held 20 years ago and gave rise to the modern autonomous vehicle industry,” said Paul Mitchell, CEO of Indy Autonomous Challenge. “It is an honor to partner with DARPA to accelerate the development and training of Physical AI using our first-of-its-kind robotics platform of the world’s fastest autonomous racecars.” 

There is no question that AI will revolutionize autonomy in the physical world, but testing this in the real world is expensive and can be very risky. The IAC SIM to REAL platform will allow rapid iterative testing of novel AI models and piece together those that work best in various high-speed and edge-case environments.

Over the next 3 years, IAC will work with DARPA to build a SIM-to-SIM and SIM-to-REAL test and evaluation platform that will dramatically improve the speed and efficiency of AI driver training.  Other TIAMAT performers, as well as current IAC University Teams, will be able to test various AI models in low and high-fidelity simulation, and those proven to work will graduate to real testing on a race track in IAC AV-24 racecars. This AI training platform will not only benefit high-speed ground vehicles, but could be applied across other autonomy domains such as air, sea, and space.

About the IAC: The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) is a non-profit corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) that organizes racing competitions among university-affiliated teams from around the world. Teams program AI drivers to pilot fully autonomous racecars and compete in a series of history-making events at iconic tracks. 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 the safety and performance of autonomous 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 programs from 15 U.S. states and 11 countries. Follow the IAC @IndyAChallenge on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, & YouTube