Creating an Autonomous Rally Car: The Future of Racing
Summary
In this article, we explore the development of an autonomous rally car that can drive itself around a dirt or paved track without any human intervention. The vehicle is equipped with safety systems that use all available friction to help the car get around corners or avoid spins. The car is based on a stock Audi TT and has GPS antennas, accelerometers, and gyroscopes that tell us where the car is, what direction it’s pointing, and how fast it’s going. The car is controlled by a small computer in the trunk, and we use a laptop to change the program on that control computer. We are planning to take the car up Pikes Peak without anybody in the car to test its safety and performance.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Developing an Autonomous Rally Car
- Safety Systems
- Testing the Car at Pikes Peak
- Conclusion
Introduction
The development of autonomous vehicles has been a major focus in the automotive industry in recent years. The idea of a car that can drive itself without any human intervention has fascinated engineers and scientists for decades. In this article, we explore the development of an autonomous rally car that can drive itself around a track without any human intervention.
Developing an Autonomous Rally Car
Our project is to create an autonomous race car, specifically an autonomous rally car. We want to develop a car that can drive itself around a dirt or paved track, pushing the limits of what is physically possible. Race car drivers are experts at using all available friction between the tire and the road to drive as fast as possible. We want to develop safety systems that can use all of that friction to help the car get around corners or avoid spins.
The car we are using is based on a stock Audi TT. The car has electric power steering, which we tap into using the electric motor that normally assists the driver. We also tap into the electronic throttle and electronic brakes to control the vehicle’s acceleration and deceleration. We have added GPS antennas that tell us where the car is and what direction it’s pointing, as well as accelerometers and gyroscopes that tell us how fast the car is going and how fast it’s turning. All of these systems are controlled by a small computer in the trunk, which we can program using a laptop.
Safety Systems
The safety systems we have developed for the autonomous rally car are designed to use all available friction to help the car get around corners or avoid spins. We combine sensor measurements to figure out what we want the car to do, and then we tell the steering, brake, and engine to do what we need to do to get the car to move in the proper way.
Testing the Car at Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak has been a major challenge since 1916, and we think it’s a great test for our autonomous rally car. We want to see if we can make it up quickly, at race speed, and avoid the nearly 10,000-foot drops that exist if you’re too far off the side of the road. We are planning to take the car up Pikes Peak without anybody in the car. While it’s safer to have a safety driver in the car during tests, we believe it’s safer to not have anybody in the car during the Pikes Peak test. The driver in the car during tests is just there to make sure things are going okay and has his hands off the wheel. He puts the button to start the test, and then he’ll push the button to stop the test, but he doesn’t interfere with the driving at all.
Conclusion
The development of an autonomous rally car is an exciting and challenging project that pushes the limits of what is possible. We believe that autonomous vehicles have the potential to revolutionize transportation and make our roads safer. The development of an autonomous rally car is just the beginning of what we hope will be a new era in racing and transportation.
