Team Scuderia Segfault from TU Wien jumps on the podium again with 2nd place at the 21st F1TENTH Autonomous Grand Prix, held from October 14th to 18th, as part of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2024) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Under challenging conditions, students of TU Wien succeed in showing superior performance in this autonomous racing challenge against teams from renowned universities and research institutes.
Extensive race preparation
To prepare for the race in Abu Dhabi, our team consisting of students from the faculty of Informatics, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, as well as Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, worked hard to improve the race car hardware and the software, based on the results and learning of previous races. The key to an effective preparation was the availability of a permanent room for testing and development. This made it possible for our team members to extensively test new algorithms and race configurations. Well prepared, our team, Scuderia Segfault, headed to the United Arab Emirates, where the 21st F1TENTH Autonomous Grand Prix was held at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2024).
Surprise at the testing day
The first day of the race comprises open testing, such that all teams can get familiar with the venue and record necessary measurements on the track layout. Surprisingly, the floor on the race track was laid out with carpet, as opposed to the concrete floor, which teams expected. So, our students needed to dramatically adjust the parameters for the race algorithm and optimize for a high-traction race-line to get to speed and good lap times. Thanks to the good preparation, these adjustments were done without any problems, and the team could confidently start with the test runs to fine-tune the parameters and the algorithm. In this process, our team was able to push the car to the physical limits – and even beyond, witnessed by multiple vehicle rollovers in sharp turns. This needed further careful adjustments to get a fast and still reliable configuration for the upcoming time trials.
Solid qualifying at the time-trials
Starting with the next day, the team had to qualify in the time trials. In this part of the race, it is not only necessary to drive fast but also reliably, as the number of consecutive laps without crashing is also counted and weighed into the total ranking. Team Scuderia Segfault was able to demonstrate very solid performance with a top lap time of 7.35 seconds and 38 continuous laps without intervention. This was a good qualification result right behind ForzaETH from ETH Zürich and Dzik Ultimate.
Erratic fault sets the race at stake
After this, it was to test the configuration for the head-to-head races on the following day. Particularly, the team needed to make sure that the obstacle avoidance capabilities of the car were working reliably. All adjustments went smoothly until, in one of the last testing sessions, there was an erratic fault, and the car violently crashed into the track barrier and even a table behind it. Urgently, the team performed an extensive checkup of the car, which was unfortunately not able to drive properly anymore. It showed erratic behavior and the participation on the following day was at stake. Hardware components were checked and swapped in from the spare car, software parameters were inspected and tested, and extensive testing procedures were conducted. Unfortunately, this needed to halt in the evening due to the closing hours of the venue.
Final race day results in thrilling outcome
Early in the morning, the team continued debugging and fixing the problem with full effort. Every individual component of the hardware was checked and every software configuration was individually re-adjusted. The team did not give up, and this hard work paid off. Right before the start of the head-to-head races, the car was able to drive properly again. The team even managed to further optimize the race line and fine-tune the parameters to get even slightly faster lap-times. The first race was against team SAGOL. Our team showed a solid performance and could overtake the other team’s car even multiple times. Next was against ForzaETH from ETH Zürich, already a long-time classic match in the history of F1TENTH. Our team knew that this was going to be difficult, as ForzaETH already showed much faster lap times. So the tactic was to go for consistent driving while still being as fast as possible. This tactic paid off, as the other car obviously had some problems with the race algorithm or some other part of the driving stack and crashed into the race track barriers. This was the chance for our team to secure a win and advance to the finale. This was against team Dzik Ultimate, which in the end resulted in 2nd place for our team Scuderia Segfault.
About the team
Scuderia Segfault is TU Wien Informatics’ team for research on autonomous cars and autonomous racing in the F1TENTH series, consisting of Felix Resch, Luigi Berducci, Moritz Christamentl, Agnes Poks, Philipp Mandl, Elisa Di Cristo, Larisa Clement, Mihai-Teodor Stanusoiu, Monika Farsang, Nino Wegleitner, Philipp Gratzer, Piet Kaul, Samuel Lechner, under the supervision of PreDoc Researcher Andreas Brandstätter and Professor Radu Grosu from the Research Unit for Cyber-Physical Systems. A part of the team traveled to Abu Dhabi to participate at the race, others contributed in preparation and development beforehand.
Thanks to our supporting partners
Our team is grateful for the generous support from Liquid AI and TTTech Auto. Some team members are supported by project NimbleAI. The team was further supported by HTU and Magna International.
