Autonomous Challenge Winner Launches Spinoff Company
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The winner of the inaugural Indy Autonomous Challenge has launched a spinoff company. TUM Autonomous Motorsport, the team from Technische Universität München in Germany, says driveblocks aims to develop a platform for fully autonomous vehicle applications.
Indianapolis-based Energy Systems Network, which hosted the IAC, says driveblocks is the first company to be formed through the competition.
driveblocks plans for its platform to focus entirely on SAE Level 4 and 5 applications, which means autonomous applications without any human drivers. The company is targeting the commercial vehicle sector, with plans to eventually focus on specific areas, such as agriculture and warehouse logistics.
“The IAC allowed us to build a large team of researchers and students, work with top international universities and collaborate with leading autonomous technology supplies,” said Alexander Wischnewski, co-team lead of TUM Autonomous Motorsport and chief technology officer of driveblocks. “The competitive environment allowed us to grow our technical and management skills in real-world racing conditions, one of the most demanding applications of technology. It’s exactly what we needed to start driveblocks, and the advancements we’re making because of this launch will help us tackle some of the yet unsolved challenges in the autonomous vehicle industry.”
TUM Autonomous Motorsport announced the launch of driveblocks at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. The team will be one of nine to take to the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday for the first head-to-head autonomous racecar competition.
The Autonomous Challenge @ CES is scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. ET and will be live streamed on the IAC website.