dSPACE and AWS: Powering Qualification for Indy Autonomous Challenge in Virtual Las Vegas Race

The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) at CES 2025 will be more challenging and competitive than ever. For the first time, more than two of the world's fastest autonomous racing cars will compete side-by-side at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on January 9, 2025, in what is called Multicar Races. To ensure that the cars are safe and reliable in the real world, the ten university teams have to qualify their AI drivers for the race in the virtual world in a software-in-the-loop environment from dSPACE.

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To ensure that the cars are safe and reliable in the real world, the university teams have to qualify their AI drivers for the race in the virtual world in a software-in-the-loop environment from dSPACE. (Photo: Business Wire)

dSPACE, one of the world's leading providers of simulation and validation solutions, is supporting the IAC as a software-in-the-loop technology sponsor. The company has provided all participating teams with its powerful SIMPHERA simulation solution – a powerful framework that includes simulation models, test automation, test analysis, and the ability to integrate other components such as HIL simulators. Developed in close collaboration with the IAC engineering team, dSPACE’s Cloud Racing Services offer a virtual test environment that gives university teams access to a fully configurable framework. This solution, hosted on AWS Cloud, is specifically designed for automotive applications, allowing for flexible resource allocation and parallel execution of test scenarios, significantly speeding up the testing process. For collaborative development and deployment, the IAC teams use a public project hosted on GitHub as part of a continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) workflow.

Previously, only two vehicles competed against each other in the IAC events, which have been held at historic race tracks in the US and Europe. Moving forward, the Multicar Races will introduce more vehicles on the track, creating a much more complex and demanding environment for the AI driver software. "Leading up to the race, our goal is to achieve maximum sim-to-real validation and to test the AI driver software in increasingly complex scenarios. SIMPHERA, our web-based, highly scalable solution for simulating and validating autonomous driving functions, is tailor-made for this task," says Raimund Sprick, Senior Manager Automated Driving and Software Solutions at dSPACE.

“Closing the sim-to-real gap is key to unlocking the full potential of our teams’ AI driver training for multicar racing,” says Paul Mitchell, Chairman and President of Indy Autonomous Challenge. “Racing in the cloud services being developed in partnership with dSPACE is a powerful new tool that will accelerate the transfer of AI solutions from simulation to the race track.” dSPACE has been supporting the IAC as an on-vehicle computer technology sponsor since 2022, providing the AUTERA AutoBox for all vehicles. This robust and powerful central computer processes data from lidar and radar sensors as well as cameras and vehicle networks. In early 2024, dSPACE expanded its partnership to become the official software-in-the-loop technology sponsor of the IAC.

Professor Madhur Behl, team principal of the University of Virginia's Cavalier Autonomous Racing team, explains: “Our collaboration with dSPACE has been instrumental in preparing for the IAC competition at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. We rely heavily on dSPACE SIMPHERA to run large-scale, cloud-based multi-agent simulations, refining our motion planning and control algorithms for high-speed overtaking maneuvers. Compared to our previous simulator setup, SIMPHERA has dramatically enhanced our ability to test and refine our stack efficiently. We can identify and resolve safety-critical bugs early, well before heading to Vegas, giving us the confidence to push the limits with higher speeds and more overtakes. The simulator’s real-world accuracy has continued to improve over the past few months. This allows us to arrive at the track fully prepared, maximizing practice time and streamlining the integration of our autonomous racing stack with the real car.”

At the Autonomous Challenge @ CES 2025, held on January 9 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, ten university teams will compete against each other with the world’s fastest fully autonomous racecars. CES attendees are invited to experience the excitement live at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Additionally, an IAC race car will also be on display in the entrance area of the Las Vegas Convention Center, West Hall. Raimund Sprick, Senior Manager Automated Driving and Software Solutions at dSPACE, will present on "Indy Autonomous Challenge: Racing in the Cloud“ on Wednesday, January 8 at 5:30 pm in the AWS Theater at CES 2025.

About dSPACE

dSPACE is a leading provider of simulation and validation solutions worldwide for developing networked, autonomous, and electrically powered vehicles. The company's range of end-to-end solutions are used particularly by automotive manufacturers and their suppliers to test the software and hardware components in their new vehicles long before a new model is allowed on the road. Not only is dSPACE a sought-after partner in vehicle development, but engineers also rely on our know-how at dSPACE when it comes to aerospace and industrial automation. Our portfolio ranges from end-to-end solutions for simulation and validation to engineering and consulting services as well as training and support. With more than 2,800 employees worldwide, dSPACE is headquartered in Paderborn, Germany; has three project centers in Germany; and serves customers through its regional companies in the USA, the UK, France, Japan, China, Croatia, Korea, India, and Sweden.

About the IAC

The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) is a non-profit organization 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

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