UVA’s Robot Race Car Wins in Record-Setting Fashion

While UVA’s “CAVCAR” team had success earlier this year, taking second place in a major international race in Las Vegas, the team faced tough competition at the famed “Brickyard” from Germany, Korea and Italy, and other U.S. universities including Michigan State University, Purdue University, Auburn University and the University of California, Berkeley.

UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science professor Madhur Behl leads the CAVCAR’s team of students, who programmed the unmanned Indy racing car, built on a Dallara IL-15 chassis. The car clocked a record-setting lap time of 52.62 seconds around the famed oval track with an average speed of 171.011 mph – a new record at the speedway for an autonomous vehicle. In the final lap, the team hit a top speed of 184 mph while crossing the start-finish line. 

For more details about the triumphant run, read the Engineering School’s in-depth coverage.

UVA Today accompanied the team to the historic racetrack and captured these images of preparations and performance.

Members of UVA's "CAVCAR" team celebrate their victory by "kissing the bricks," a time-honored tradition for race winners at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)