Indy Autonomous Challenge reveals its first race car

Ladies and gentlemen, write your algorithms.

The Indy Autonomous Challenge, an event that combines next-generation autonomous-driving technology with the history of IndyCar racing, has unveiled its first race car.

Organizers of the event showcased a Dallara IL-15 autonomous race car at CES this week, kicking off a competition that will end with an autonomous race in October at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The winner could drive away with $1 million in prize money.

The race car itself comes equipped with the hardware needed for teams of university students to write software that enables high-speed, high-stakes autonomous racing. That includes on-board computing, lidar, radar and cameras, and vehicle-to-vehicle communications capability.

The Indy Autonomous Challenge organizers are hoping to spur innovation that will eventually trickle down to everyday self-driving operations. With AV companies conducting on-road testing for millions of miles to see how the vehicles handle rare or extreme incidents, one might consider a race at speeds nearing 200 mph on a closed course one big edge-case scenario.

"IMS is the best place in the world to challenge the robotics community to test self-driving cars," said adviser Sebastian Thrun, who said the new Indy Series drew inspiration from the DARPA Grand Challenges that spawned today's autonomous-driving era. "By going into a racing context, we will stretch self-driving cars to the absolute limit."

More than 500 undergraduate and grad students focusing on artificial intelligence are involved with the Indy Autonomous Challenge. They represent 39 universities across 11 countries.

Teams need to qualify for the final race by crossing a series of thresholds based in simulation and real-world driving. Ten virtual laps must be completed around the famed Speedway's oval in 15 minutes or less by February, and teams must complete the same requirements in the real world at a qualifying event in the days before the Oct. 23 final competition.

— Pete Bigelow

What you need to know

GM launches commercial EV brand General Motors is launching a commercial electric vehicle business called BrightDrop and locked in FedEx Express as the first customer for a delivery van this year. The BrightDrop brand will offer electric products, software and services, GM said Tuesday. Its products will include a commercial van known as the EV600 and an electric pallet called the EP1, which allows delivery drivers to more easily transport goods from the vehicle to customers' doors.
— Hannah Lutz

Opportunities – with a grain of salt New challenges and new opportunities for the automotive and mobility sector have come out of recent consumer transportation behavior changes, said Carla Bailo, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research, in a CES panel on the vehicle technology innovations that consumers want. This includes possible changes to personal vehicle use as well as to city infrastructure that has traditionally been dedicated to cars. "When we look at what's happening in cities today, COVID is still there, and COVID is going to change commuting patterns permanently," Bailo said. "It really does open a whole plethora of opportunities for cities to use their space differently." With opportunity, however, comes the need to educate consumers about vehicle technology, a challenging task to do well, said fellow panelist Stefan Buerkle, senior vice president of sales for Bosch Cross Domain Computing Solutions.
— Alexa St. John

Biden's 'North Star' economic plan When President-elect Joe Biden takes office next week, he'll work to get the U.S. economic compass pointing to a healthy economy in which growth is being "broadly shared," according to Brian Deese, incoming director of the White House's National Economic Council. "That's going to be our North Star," he said during a Tuesday morning session at CES. Deese — who helped lead President Barack Obama's auto rescue and assisted with the former president's climate and energy policy — said a big part of achieving the Biden administration's economic objectives is investing in the U.S. to build its competitiveness. Biden's plan includes building 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the nation, supporting consumer incentives for EV purchases and transitioning the government's fleet to electric.
— Audrey LaForest

Roundup

Verizon, which is rolling out 5G services across the U.S., said its Skyward unit is testing delivery of retail products with drones along with partner UPS, Reuters reports.

Cadillac's future electric flagship sedan, the Celestiq, will feature customizable experiences for each occupant, including a full glass roof that can be adjusted to different levels of transparency in each of its four quadrants.

GM also presented a futuristic flying Cadillac — a self-driving vehicle that takes off and lands vertically and carries the passenger above the streets and through the air, Reuters reports. A senior GM executive described the concept as "reimagining the future of personal transportation." The automaker also showed a shared-van concept.

Brain food

"More of us are using self-driving deliveries and contact with transportation, but government needs to set national rules to promote investment and deployment of self-driving vehicles," Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, which produces CES, told attendees at a session on the association's vision for the tech industry.

Last mile

Tech fans aren't the only ones feeling the absence of the in-person CES. Resorts and attractions up and down the Las Vegas Strip staged a marquee takeover Sunday night, ahead of the show's Monday opening, to express their desire to see the crowds return next year. More than two dozen marquees displayed the message, "We miss you CES. Can't wait to welcome you back in 2022." CES has been held in Las Vegas for more than 40 years, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the show to go virtual for 2021.