Iván Hernández Dalas: A2RL autonomous racecars take to the track in Abu Dhabi

A2RL raceteam car lined up on the starting grid. There area 8 race cars, each with a unique and colorful livery.

Physical A2RL race cars lined up on the starting grid at Yas Marina race track in Abu Dhabi. Credit: SpacesuitMedia

Racetracks can be proving grounds for self-driving vehicle technologies. The second running of the A2RL, or Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, is taking place today at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The inaugural A2RL event took place on April 27, 2024, also at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The competition is designed to challenge university teams to design AI drivers that compete using standardized platforms. The A2RL is a more recent addition to the field of autonomous racing, which was pioneered by efforts such as the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) and the now-defunct Roborace project.

A2RL starts in simulation

race cars lined up in SIM paddock.

The teams have already competed earlier this year in a four-race SIM challenge. | Credit: A2RL

The A2RL event started earlier in the year with a SIM racing event. The inaugural A2RL SIM-Sprint series concluded after its fourth race in September, with Team Kinetiz claiming overall victory. The virtual autonomous racing series pushed the teams’ AI drivers to the limit at three different racetracks, including Suzuka, Yas Marina Circuit, and a unique, purpose-built virtual track, Autonodrome.

The Kinetiz team finished with 78 points, narrowly beating rival – and A2RL Season 1 winner – TUM (Technical University of Munich) by just four points. Unimore Racing (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) and PoliMOVE (Politechnico di Milano) rounded out the top four, separated by just one point.

They were followed by Constructor Racing and TII Racing. TUM was the winner of the inaugural IAC event in 2021.

“We are extremely proud of A2RL SIM-Sprint; it has been an immense success, and certainly not without its challenges,” stated Alexander Winkler, head of sporting at A2RL. “From the outset, we had to build a world-class autonomous racing simulation platform, secure team engagement, and launch an all-new virtual competition.”

“The result was a robust and fiercely competitive series that has become a genuine reference point for A2RL’s future, accelerating both AI development and our sporting framework,” he said. “Congratulations to Kinetiz and all participating teams for the remarkable progress made across the four rounds.”

Autonomous racecar gets upgrades

a2rl race car on track.

An EAV-25 racecar on the track at Yas Marina race course. Credit: SpacesuitMedia

For A2RL Season 2, the EAV-24 has been comprehensively upgraded to create the EAV-25. This new autonomous vehicle features several safety, reliability, and powertrain enhancements over the previous model. The EAV-25 platform is a Super Formula SF23, capable of 295 kph (183 mph).

Improving reliability was a central consideration for the engineering team in the development of the EAV-25. This included upgrades to many key components, including the steering system, GNSS and 5G antennas, upgraded electronics, motorsport-spec wiring looms, and more.

The EAV-25 includes safety features, updates for enhanced performance, and improvements to its powertrain.

Safety

  • Batteries: Upgraded 12V and 48V batteries with an integrated battery management system and the provision of limp modes.
  • 48V power delivery unit: This is intended to remove cranking issues and improve stability.
  • Emergency braking: A full hydraulic active braking system is based on speed to reduce the incidence of flat spot tires and decrease stopping distance in emergency braking conditions.
  • Secondary IMU: This is used on an alternative CAN (Controller Area Network) bus for redundancy.

Reliability

  • Torque limiter: The steering actuator now has a torque limiter, preserving the power steering actuator (PSA) in the event of a crash.
  • Top ring: The top ring has been fitted with a damper to isolate components from vibrations.
  • Skid layout: A2RL has implemented quick-release connectors and reduced weight by around 50 kg (110 lb.).
  • HLPC RAM: The race tested different high-performance liquid chromatography RAM and connectors.
  • GNSS and 5G: New antennas with serviceable connectors are intended to reduce noise and improve ease of maintenance and replacement.
  • Camera: The cars include a new, faster connection to the camera with a new lens.
  • Hard disk: A new PCIe hard drive comes with improved vibration resistance.
  • Looms: All wiring looms have been upgraded to motorsport standards, including connectors.

Powertrain

  • Alternator: The alternator has been upgraded to a new Honda OEM unit that is smaller with less inertia while also offering more stable voltage output.
  • Fuel pipe: To address fuel leakage and fire issues, a new fuel line has been validated and adopted.
  • Gearbox: Shorter gear ratios will enable teams to extract greater performance from the engine on the tracks used by A2RL.
  • Gearbox calibration: This reduces the harshness of upshifts and downshifts while making power delivery more progressive, according to the race organizers.
SITE AD for the 2026 Robotics Summit save the date.

A2RL to debut multiple cars on the track at once

For the first time, the teams are expecting to compete with multiple racecars on the track at the same time. Unimove team member Ayoub Raji stated that the multi-car competition is the most challenging aspect of the competition.

“I think that I will connect to the multi-car [racing]. I mean, that’s really the most challenging part, because we already demonstrated our vehicle to be faster than a human target,” he told The Robot Report. “But I know that for the multi-car, there’s still a lot of work to do to have that confidence that we have in the single car.”

Raji noted that the challenge is not just technical, but also about managing time and focusing on the most critical scenarios.

“Of course, when you are behind some scenarios and conditions, you could risk being too anxious and think, ‘OK, everything is bad. Everything.'” he said. “Instead, you need to really focus and say, ‘OK, let’s say that there are these scenarios really bad and have 70% of chances to happen. Let’s focus on that, solve them and then just keep those other scenarios that have, say, 10% to 20% of the risk, to happen in the real world, as a last thing to do.'”

Yash Katare, autonomous systems tech leader at A2RL technology partner Aspire, added: “I think it’s going to be one of the first times we’re looking at six cars [on the track]. And that brings out a different dynamics altogether. Imagine what you think in a microsecond; that’s what you’re doing in milliseconds. It’s that comparison.”

“These teams have been collaborating on the track and the testing,” he said. “Everybody has come up together to look at that multi-car racing, collecting that data, and it doesn’t start with one it starts a stepwise process. The build-up to it has been very interesting.”

You can follow all of the action online in real time on the A2RL website.

The post A2RL autonomous racecars take to the track in Abu Dhabi appeared first on The Robot Report.



View Source

Popular posts from this blog

Iván Hernández Dalas: 4 Show Floor Takeaways from CES 2019: Robots and Drones, Oh My!

Image
We’ve had some time to recuperate from the madness of CES, in which more than 150,000 attendees and thousands of exhibitors displayed their latest gadgets, gizmos and yes, even robots, on the CES show floor. Last week’s reporter’s notebook focused on the collection of startups around the Eureka Park area of CES, but several of the same trends were evident on the main South Hall 2 area of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where drones, robotics, AR/VR, and gaming took center stage. While most of our time was spent at CES hosting the Service Robots Arrive in Daily Life event, we did have some time during the week to visit the show floor and record observations. Here’s what we saw on the show floor, as well as some of our own individual meetings: 1. Underwater drones make a big splash On the main floor, there was no busier aerial drone booth than the DJI booth, but that is expected given the company’s dominance in the space. But once you got past that, you noticed a lot more drone co...
Read more

[Ivan Hernandez Dalas] Mechatronics in Ghost in the Shell

Image
Adam Savage Behind the Scenes of Ghost in the Shell The acclaimed Ghost in the Shell portrayed serious advancements in technology and mechatronics, 20 years later we'll have a live action movie bringing all those elements to life. The acclaimed Ghost in the Shell (1995 Production: I.G, Bandai Visual, Kodansha and Manga Entertainment) portrayed serious advancements in technology and mechatronics, 20 years later we'll have a live action movie bringing all those elements to life. Animatronics, 3D printing, Castings, engineering, and art  will bring together this state of the art cyborgs  in a movie we can’t miss.  Tested´s Adam Savage  shows us -in a visit to Weta Workshops- how their team put together the  amazing and visually stunning  cyborgs for the movie. Adam Savage Behind the Scenes of Ghost in the Shell! Of course, let´s watch the trailer: "They created me, but they cannot control me." GHOST IN THE SHELL star...
Read more

Iván Hernández Dalas: Tacta Systems raises $75M to give robots a ‘smart nervous system’

Image
Tacta Systems said its technology enables robots to perform delicate, variable, human-like tasks with flexibility, efficiency, and autonomy. | Source: Adobe Stock Tacta Systems Inc., which is developing dexterous intelligence to give robots tactile skills and spatial awareness, last week raised $75 million. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup said it will use the funding to accelerate the development of systems capable of performing complex, human-like tasks. “Enabling machines to solve complex, physical world problems is the next frontier in robotics technology,” stated Andreas Bibl, co-founder and CEO of Tacta Systems. “AI models have become incredibly sophisticated in working with text and video, but much of the physical world remains incomprehensible to them,” he said. “We’re incredibly excited about the disruptive technology that we’re developing, which will ultimately help humanity automate much of the drudgery of factory work and grueling physical labor.” Tacta said its br...
Read more