No driver? No problem—this is the Indy Autonomous Challenge

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  A whopping 37 different partners contributed to the creation of the AV-21, providing sensors, radars, throttle, brakes, and more to create possibly the most fastest autonomous car ever made. [credit: Gregory Leporati ]

INDIANAPOLIS—At a block party down the road from Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) the day before the Indy 500, engineering students from across the world gathered for a very different kind of car reveal. The AV-21, with its sharp, green-blue Dallara chassis, looks like a typical Indy Lights racecar. However, there's one notable exception: no driver. Its cockpit is crammed with wires, processors, sensors, and a motherboard—essentially, a supercomputer.

"It's shaped like a car, but I don't view it as one," said Chanyoung Jung, an engineering student from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. "I view it as a robot."

Automobile, robot, or something in between, the AV-21's unveiling was a significant step for the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), a competition set for October 23 in which driverless cars will race wheel-to-wheel around IMS at potential speeds of more than 180 mph. The winning team will earn a $1.5 million university prize. Organized by IMS and Energy Systems Network (ESN), an Indianapolis-based nonprofit, the race seeks to significantly advance the safety and speed of autonomous vehicles.

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