Press release -
World record for the self-driving car from the Politecnico di Milano. PoliMOVE is the fastest ever on the NASA airstrip
Milan, 29 April 2022 – 192.2 mph/309.3 kph. Never before has a car driven by artificial intelligence alone been this fast. On 27 April on the straight of the Space Shuttle airstrip at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, the car created by the Politecnico di Milano-PoliMOVE broke the world speed record for a fully autonomous car on a straight (the previous record held by Roborace was 175.49 mph/282.42 kph). The Politecnico Team had already achieved the record on 26 April but decided to raise the bar and improve its performance. On 27 April, PoliMOVE's car beat its own record to reach an incredible speed of 192.2 mph/309.3 kph, smashing through the “wall” of 186,4mph/300 kph. The speed of 192.2 mph/309.3 kph was obtained as an average of over 1 km in two consecutive attempts in opposite directions (to eliminate the effects of the wind). The Politecnico was the only team to attempt this, thanks to their victory in Las Vegas in the Indy Autonomous Challenge. In a few days, the team will attempt to replicate the feat on the Atlanta circuit, this time on a race track and not on a straight.
“We saw what the future holds for autonomous vehicles and credit goes to the entire PoliMOVE team, especially Dr Brandon Dixon of the University of Alabama,” said Prof. Sergio Savaresi, team lead of Politecnico di Milano. “We were running a car operating on algorithms alone, where precision is paramount, and any small prediction error could have created a completely different outcome. This test run was exhilarating, and we are thrilled with the world record, but we’re also excited by the fact that this data will be made available to all, and the industry will benefit from our work and learnings.”
PoliMOVE is part of the Politecnico research group mOve, led by Professor Sergio Savaresi, which has been studying for 20 years automatic controls in all types of land vehicles: from electric bicycles to cars and even tractors. On 7 January 2022, the PoliMOVE team from the Politecnico di Milano won the Indy Autonomous Challenge in Las Vegas, the first head-to-head race between cars driven by artificial intelligence, where PoliMOVE reached the track speed record of 172,9 mph/278.4 kph. The competitors included teams from some of the best universities in the world. All the teams raced with the same vehicle, the Dallara AV-21; the added value was the work of the individual teams.
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Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers.
The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer.
Research has always been linked to didactics and it is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system.
Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belong, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development.
The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico Milano taking part into the European and world network of leading technical universities and it offers several courses beside many which are entirely taught in English.
