Updates about our Future Plans
April 28, 2020
As many of you know, Formula Student has been cancelled or virtualized this year. We at MIT Driverless have been taking this time to reflect on our year and plan for the future. While we have not yet made any final decisions under the constantly-changing conditions of the world today, we are excited to share some of the ideas currently in the works here at Driverless.
One of the options we are evaluating for the next year is the Indy Autonomous Challenge. This is a brand-new race where we will program an automated Dallara IL-15 Indy Lights race car to outrace and outmaneuver fellow innovators in a head-to-head, high-speed 120 mph+ (200 kph+) race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the world’s most famous racetrack. This is an incredibly ambitious endeavor, as it involves completely different scope, challenge, and technology considerations.
At the same time, we are continuing to plan for the next season of Formula Student Driverless in 2021. Given the budget and manpower requirements, we will most likely be able to do only one competition in 2021. As you can imagine, the scale of the projects impose a number of risks. We are currently evaluating the possibility of pursuing IAC by finding advisors, pitching to sponsors, and recruiting students and team members for a full time team.
Finally, we must give thanks to our Delft friends. The past 2 years of success have been made possible only by an amazing partnership with TU Delft / FS Team Delft. Despite the Atlantic ocean’s distance between us, they have consistently been wonderful collaborators and teachers. We know without a shadow of a doubt that we would not be here today without our Delft brothers and sisters and we hope to continue our collaboration next year, regardless of the competition we pursue.
MIT Driverless
