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
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
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.
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.
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