A student engineering competition in which teams design and race cars at the Silverstone track in the UK is to launch an AI competition this July.
Formula Student (FS), which is organized by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, will see more than 3000 participants from over 25 countries compete this year. The competition challenges university teams to design and build a single seater car which they then drive in a series of races over three days.
The well-established event will this year launch an ‘AI competition’, where teams will program prototype autonomous and purpose-built vehicles to undertake a series of on- and off-track driving challenges.
Andrew Deakin, chairman of Formula Student, said, “This year we are really excited to have teams competing in the new FS-AI competition. Formula Student has always been proud of the work it does to prepare students for the real world of industry and FS-AI will help us achieve that in the ever expanding area of autonomous vehicles.”
After facing fierce competition last year from the winner, Australia’s Monash Motorsport, UK team Oxford Brookes University will be keen to clinch top spot. They will be joined by other long-standing and successful teams including Loughborough University, the University of Sheffield and the University of Glasgow.
Additionally, a team from Hong Kong will take part in UK Formula Student for the first time. HKU Racing from the University of Hong Kong will travel to compete in the Class 2 event, a testament to the diversity of teams competing at Silverstone.
Lucy Killington, project manager of Formula Student, said, “Formula Student remains one of the highlights of the Institution’s calendar. It is inspiring to watch the passion of young engineers applying their academic learning to real-world projects.
“We look forward to welcoming all teams at Silverstone to take part in this year’s competition and wish them the best of luck.”
Partners and sponsors of this year’s competition include Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, Robert Bosch, GKN, Mahle Powertrain and Direct Line Group.
