Indy Autonomous Challenge Powered by Cisco Final Competition Rule Set 

Time Trial Competition

The Time Trial Competition will consist of a semi-final and final event. The semi-final event will be open to all teams that have qualified by the start of the event. The final event would consist of the three teams with the top scores in the semi-final event. The winner of the competition would be the team with the top score in either the semi-final or final event.

Semi-final Event

●      One race car will compete on the track at a time

●      Run order will be determined by a blind draw

●      Each race car must complete a four-lap run preceded by an “out lap” from the pit to the start/finish line

●      Lap 1 is a warm up lap

●      Laps 2 and 3 are the performance laps

●      Lap 4 is a cool-down lap

●      The final “in lap” will include an obstacle avoidance challenge on the front stretch after the start/finish line in front of the spectators

●      In order to have a clean “qualifying” run the race car must: 

o   Run fully autonomously with no chase car and comply with all race control commands (i.e. all flags, etc.)

o   Successfully complete the obstacle avoidance challenge

●      The teams which complete clean runs and have the highest average speed over laps 2 and 3 will advance to the final event. 

Contingencies:

●      If a team chooses to forgo the obstacle avoidance test they will pit after receiving a checkered flag from performance laps. Team will receive black flag on the backstretch and proceed to pit.

●      If fewer than 3 teams have clean runs, then the teams with the highest average speed over the two performance laps without clean runs will advance, such that 3 total teams advance to the final

●      If a team is unable to launch their car from the pits during their allotted 5 minute slot then they will move to the back of the line and will be given one additional 5 minute slot to launch. If they are unable to successfully launch from the pits after two slots it will be considered a DNF.

●      A team will automatically be allowed an additional attempt if one of the following problems occurs and interrupts a run: 

o   Vehicle fails to fire on receipt of an orange flag

o   Vehicle cannot shift out of first gear

o   Vehicle safe stops due to timeout of MyLaps greater than 10 seconds

o   Erroneous flags sent by race control

o   Vehicle stops due to System State 16

o   Vehicle stops due to CURWB timeout of 30 seconds or more

●      An additional attempt may be granted to a team at the discretion of the race director if other vehicle hardware problems arise that interrupt a run, including safe stops not triggered by a flag. Note that while some issues related to GPS are more likely to qualify for an additional attempt (e.g. persistent loss of RTK corrections due to network issues, failure of one or both PwrPak7 receivers), inaccuracy of measurements (increased covariance) alone will not suffice. 

●      Teams should be prepared to diagnose and explain the cause of an interruption to a run, so that a prompt decision can be made on whether an additional attempt will be granted. 

Speed Limits:

Yellow Flag: 75 mph

Black Flag: No limit until entering pit lane

Pit Lane: Speed limit is 60 mph except in the “slow zone” for which the speed limit is 30 mph, and consists of the section of the pit lane next to the active pit boxes as well as an approach buffer. The slow zone/approach buffer starts at lat/lon 39.794037, -86.238720, and the slow zone ends at lat/lon 39.790545, -86.238665.

Time Trial Competition run sequence (some details are subject to change):

Pre Run:

1. Team prepares the race car to fire the engine

2. When the time slot starts, and the team is ready for its run, the team will request an orange flag from Scoring and confirm to Scoring that the engine has fired. 

Run Start:

1. Scoring sends yellow flag to the car and the car autonomously exits the pit box, this is the start of the run

2. Once the yellow flag is received, the team will not interact with the race car (with possible exceptions described below) until it completes the run

During the Run:

1. The car will proceed to pit out and enter the track on the back straight

2. When the car enters the track, Scoring will send a green flag

3. The car will complete the out lap (crossing start/finish) and do one warm up lap under green

4. After crossing start/finish at the end of the warmup lap the car will do two timed performance laps.

5. After crossing the start/finish line at the end of the two performance laps the flag will remain green, and the car will have one cool down lap. Car will receive a yellow flag in the short chute between turns 3 & 4.

6. Pylons will be moved onto the track for the obstacle avoidance challenge as soon as the car crosses start/finish at the completion of their performance laps. 

7. Car will receive a red flag and perform a safe stop at a designated place on track. 

8. Once the track is deemed safe and pylons placement is verified the car will receive a green flag.

9. The car will  proceed through the obstacle avoidance section (avoiding the obstacles) and continue around the track. On the back stretch the car will receive a black flag to pit

10. The car will autonomously enter the pit and stop in front of the designated pit box, which will conclude the run.

Obstacle avoidance challenge:

1. The team must specify in advance whether their racing line will be on the inner half or outer half of the track

2. Two sets of pylons would be placed on the track (see picture below) -- one to prevent an early lane change and one to force the lane change (on the racing line). The spacing between the sets of pylons will be approximately 100 m. The exact location of the pylons from the start finish line will not be known by the teams prior to starting the run. 

3. The vehicle must drive through the obstacle challenge at a minimum of 60 mph (to be verified by Scoring)

Team Interaction with the Vehicle and Scoring:

1. The teams will view telemetry from the race car in their pits during the entire run

2. After receiving the yellow flag to exit the pit box, no one from the team will interact with the vehicle via the "base station" -- keyboard or joystick

3. The teams will be allowed to implement a "kill switch" via the keyboard or joystick that they could activate from their pits to stop the vehicle if they observe a problem that must be handled immediately and can't wait to be handled through scoring (e.g. yellow flag, red flag, purple flag). Handling the keyboard/joystick and/or triggering the kill switch this way would abort the run.

4. If the team observes that the behavior of the car at high speed is not good, they can request a "meatball flag" from Scoring, which would reduce the top speed of the car by at least 15% (to be verified by Scoring). This cannot be reversed during the rest of the run.

5. If a vehicle safe stops on the track, the team may request to continue their run via a RED-GREEN flag combination from Scoring. If the team determines that the vehicle state is not okay to continue, they may abort the run and recover the vehicle, if possible, via their base station.

Final Event

●      One race car will compete on the track at a time

●      Run order will be from lowest scoring to highest scoring teams from the semi-final event

●      Each team will get 4 warm up laps and two performance laps

●      Scoring would be based exclusively on the fastest average speed over the two performance laps

●      The winner of the overall competition will be determined as the racecar that participates in the finals and that has the highest average speed for two consecutive performance laps over the entire competition (either semi-final or final)  

Contingencies:

●      If a team is unable to launch their car from the pits during their allotted 5 minute slot then they will move to the back of the line and will be given one additional 5 minute slot to launch. If they are unable to successfully launch from the pits after two slots it will be considered a DNF.

●      A team will automatically be allowed an additional attempt if one of the following problems occurs and interrupts a run: 

o   Vehicle fails to fire on receipt of an orange flag

o   Vehicle cannot shift out of first gear

o   Vehicle safe stops due to timeout of MyLaps greater than 10 seconds

o   Erroneous flags sent by race control

o   Vehicle stops due to System State 16

o   Vehicle stops due to CURWB timeout of 30 seconds or more

●      An additional attempt may be granted to a team at the discretion of the race director if other vehicle hardware problems arise that interrupt a run, including safe stops not triggered by a flag. Note that while some issues related to GPS are more likely to qualify for an additional attempt (e.g. persistent loss of RTK corrections due to network issues, failure of one or both PwrPak7 receivers), inaccuracy of measurements (increased covariance) alone will not suffice. 

●      Teams should be prepared to diagnose and explain the cause of an interruption to a run, so that a prompt decision can be made on whether an additional attempt will be granted. 

Speed Limits:

Yellow Flag: 75 mph

Black Flag: No limit until entering pit lane

Pit Lane: Speed limit is 60 mph except in the “slow zone” for which the speed limit is 30 mph, and consists of the section of the pit lane next to the active pit boxes as well as an approach buffer. The slow zone/approach buffer starts at lat/lon 39.794037, -86.238720, and the slow zone ends at lat/lon 39.790545, -86.238665.

Time Trial Competition run sequence (some details are subject to change):

Pre Run:

1. Team prepares the race car to fire the engine

2. When the time slot starts, and the team is ready for its run, the team will request an orange flag from Scoring and confirm to Scoring that the engine has fired.

Run Start:

1. Scoring sends yellow flag to the car and the car autonomously exits the pit box, this is the start of the run

2. Once the yellow flag is received, the team will not interact with the race car (with possible exceptions described below) until it completes the run 

During the Run:

1. The car will proceed to pit out and enter the track on the back straight

2. When the car enters the track, Scoring will send a green flag

3. The car will complete the out lap (crossing start/finish) and do four warm up laps under green

4. After crossing start/finish at the end of the four warm up laps, the car will do two timed performance laps.

5. After crossing the start/finish line at the end of the two performance laps the flag will remain green, and the car will have one cool down lap. 

6. After crossing the start/finish line one more time, the car will receive a black flag on the back stretch and autonomously return to pit

Team Interaction with the Vehicle and Scoring:

1. The teams will view telemetry from the race car in their pits during the entire run

2. After receiving the yellow flag to exit the pit box, no one from the team will interact with the vehicle via the "base station" -- keyboard or joystick

3. The teams will be allowed to implement a "kill switch" via the keyboard or joystick that they could activate from their pits to stop the vehicle if they observe a problem that must be handled immediately and can't wait to be handled through scoring (e.g. yellow flag, red flag, purple flag). Handling the keyboard/joystick and/or triggering the kill switch this way would abort the run.

4. If the team observes that the behavior of the car at high speed is not good, they can request a "meatball flag" from Scoring, which would reduce the top speed of the car by at least 15% (to be verified by Scoring). This cannot be reversed during the rest of the run.

5. If a vehicle safe stops on the track, the team may request to continue their run via a RED-GREEN flag combination from Scoring. If the team determines that the vehicle state is not okay to continue, they may abort the run and recover the vehicle, if possible, via their base station.

4. If the team observes that the behavior of the car at high speed is not good, they can request a "meatball flag" from Scoring, which would reduce the top speed of the car by at least 15% (to be verified by Scoring). This cannot be reversed during the rest of the run.

5. If a vehicle safe stops on the track, the team may request to continue their run via a RED-GREEN flag combination from Scoring. If the team determines that the vehicle state is not okay to continue, they may abort the run and recover the vehicle, if possible, via their base station.