Michigan State University is racing into the future by participating in the Indy Autonomous Challenge, which officially launched in 2019 and brings together academic institutions and public-private partnerships to challenge university students from across the globe to invent and test a new generation of automated vehicle software to operate fully autonomous race cars. 

Discussing MSU’s role in the challenge in this episode of MSU Today are MSU Mobility Director Judd Herzer and Daniel Morris, associate professor in the departments of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering at MSU, who will lead a technical team from MSU.

Conversation Highlights:

(0:27) – Morris on his research interests.

(1:34) – Herzer on the evolution of his role as mobility director and the history, mission, and evolution of the challenge.

(3:13) – Morris on what excites him about participating in the challenge.

(4:17) – How do you compare the decisions a driver has to make in an Indy car to those same decisions the autonomous software must make?

(8:30) – Is the goal of participating in the challenge to inform MSU’s overall work in mobility? 

(12:39) – What races are coming up? How have we been doing in competitions so far? How cool is it to watch the cars race in the dark?

(15:37) – What happens if GPS or the internet goes down?

(16:23) – “The MSU team holds the current Guinness World Record for land speed achievement for an autonomous vehicle. It goes 192.2 mph.” The team is seeking industry or individual partners who are interested in supporting the team’s endeavors.

(18:01) – Where are we going? What’s ahead as the autonomous space evolves? How will our students be involved in autonomy’s future?

(20:45) – “The Indy Autonomous Challenge is a unique research platform, an incredible experiential learning experience for our students, and a great way for MSU Mobility to expand its partnerships within industry to help develop the future of automated and connected vehicle technologies and do it one of the most cool, extreme, and fascinating ways.”

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