On April 27th, the Indy Autonomous Challenge race car, a Dallara AV-21 programmed by the PoliMOVE team of the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Alabama, set the new world speed record for self-driving cars of 192.8 miles per hour at the historic Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The value of 192.8 miles per hour was computed as a 1-kilometre average of two consecutive attempts in both ways, to eliminate the influence of the wind. The previous record, largely surpassed by the team of the Politecnico, was set by Roborace in 2019, and was equal to 175.49 miles per hour.
During the test, at Space Florida’s launch and landing facility, PoliMOVE, led by Prof. Sergio Savaresi of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, pushed the limits of the new upgraded engine package of the auto, capable of delivering 30% more horsepower than previous models.
The record set by PoliMOVE team is an anticipation of what the future holds for autonomous vehicles. The car operates exclusively on algorithms and precision was paramount, since any small prediction or control error could have created a completely different outcome. The team is thrilled for the extraordinary result and for the fact that the data collected during the test will be made available to all, thus putting the automotive industry in a position to benefit from PoliMOVE’s work and learnings.
