As the Yas Marina Circuit prepares for the inaugural A2RL event, a world-first four-car, fully autonomous race, special attention must be paid to two key aspects of the competition: the car and the teams behind it .
Every competitor in the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League starts with the same vehicle: a Dallara Super Formula car. The car, in its original form, is used in the Japanese Super Formula, but here it has undergone numerous modifications and has been custom built to make it suitable for fully autonomous driving and is known as the EAV24. Outside of Formula 1, the Dallara is the fastest single-seater racing car on the planet.
Its body features durable composites. Blend of carbon and flax, a natural material that shares lightweight and stiff properties with traditional carbon fiber sourced from Swiss company Bcomp. It was designed to help the car cut through the air cleanly, generate downforce to aid fast cornering and, of course, look good.
Front and rear are state-of-the-art pushrod suspension and adaptive dampers to ensure it can get around corners as flat and as quickly as possible. Its suspension configuration has been, like its bodywork, designed to be as space-saving and light as regulations allow.
In the middle of the car is a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder internal combustion engine – the A2RL is not an electric series – that produces a big 550 horsepower. This power is transmitted to the rear wheels, via a six-speed gearbox.
It’s a race car through and through, as Dr Tom McCarthy, executive director of the ASPIRE Group, the organization that runs A2RL, explains: “We want to create drama and excitement, and with EVA24, we have it. of the best racing cars in the world, it looks incredible, and it’s very fast. With this as a basis, we have the perfect canvas for our goal: a fully autonomous extreme race. Come for the car, stay for the tech show. “.
In an A2RL car, you will have noticed the autonomous battery in the driver’s seat. It uses sensors, actuators, computers, 360-degree cameras and LiDAR technology to “see” the track and everything on it. The combination of technologies works in harmony to not only go as fast as safely possible, but also to outpace competitors.
Hardware is only half the story. The cars are built to standard specifications, the equipment is the same for each competitor. Teams are responsible for creating software that uses advanced technology as efficiently as possible. Their input allows the car’s controller, LiDAR, and planner to move, see, and decide better, hopefully better than the rest of the pack. The A2RL winner may already have been decided, but until the cars hit the track we won’t know who it is. We will know on April 27 who has what it takes to win.
The balance between hardware and software can only be forged by man. The human element of the A2RL may not be in the cockpit, but it’s certainly in the pits. The teams, from the United Arab Emirates, China, Singapore, Germany, Hungary, Italy and the United States, are a mix of engineers, programmers and motorsport scientists – perhaps not a traditional motorsport mix, but an essential mix for learning, developing and mastering autonomous racing. No matter who you are or where you come from, if you have skills and the will to win, A2RL will welcome you with open arms.
Lawrence Walter, Code19 American Team Principal, knows the value of a talented crew: “In the race for innovation, Code19 relies on our talented and diverse race engineers. They were carefully selected from across industry and academia, to come to Abu Dhabi and take the $2.25 million prize to the bank. »
The goal of the competition, aside from putting on a good show, is to take the lessons learned on the track and apply them around the world in a myriad of areas: automotive safety, logistics, aviation… you name it. There is a years-long commitment to A2RL and its drive to advance technology – it has even attracted the attention of major partners like ADNOC.
The A2RL story is just beginning, and it’s sure to be an exciting one thanks to the fast cars and the smart people behind them. For the first time, self-driving cars will compete on the world stage. They will take on a series of very real and very public challenges, not only to win an incredible $2.25 million in prize money, but also to contribute to the development of the technology that will one day be a part of all of our lives.
The race will be streamed live here, and if you want to know more about A2RL, click here.
