brace automotive self driving challenge 2022

Team windesheim wins RDW self driving challenge 2022

the challenge

How do we ensure that self-driving vehicles will find their way safely in the future? With the Self Driving Challenge, the RDW offers young talent the opportunity to further develop their skills in the field of smart mobility for six months. A unique project, in which student teams compete with each other by having their self-driving vehicle race on a professional track.

the vehicle

rdw self driving challenge brace automotive

The team that has a self-driving vehicle race across the track in the fastest time is the winner of the RDW Self Driving Challenge. The vehicle class in 2022 is an electric kart. This kart is equipped with a CAN bus, various actuators, sensors, and a small computer on which algorithms can be run. The kart is driven in three different speed settings.

The teams have started from scratch, and still had to make the kart self-driving. To develop a solution, the teams received hardware on loan, as well as software and data.

Test days were organized on the track for physical testing of the solution. And for testing data outside the test days, the teams were given a virtual environment.

the race

The qualifying of the winning team was anything but smooth. Zwolle performed worse than the other teams on Wednesday prior to the final and could not get through the infamous first corner autonomously with the kart. During the final, therefore, team Windesheim mainly focused on making it to the first corner. When that was successful, the kart rolled from one bend to the other at running speed, self-propelled. The jury counted a total of 14 completed turns out of a total of 23 turns. The weather was also good for them during the final. The Zwolle model worked best when it was cloudy, and that were the weather conditions on the day of the final.

After a tough qualifying, the autonomously driving kart really took off during the final. With one team it was running to keep up with the kart, with the other team trudging. But speed was not decisive for the game, just as the teams' starting position proved not to be a predictor of the winner.

the results

The self-driving kart of the student team from Zwolle won gold for the first time on Friday 10 June in the Self Driving Challenge at the TT Junior Track in Assen. The software team from Groningen came in second and the car technology team from Rotterdam took third prize.

The winners of the challenge not only get the honor and a beautiful trophy, but also get a unique automotive experience. ‘Functional Safety – How To Build Safer Cars’ offered by BRACE automotive development.

source: selfdrivingchallenge.nl