While the United Kingdom constitutes the base of reference for most F1 teams, the 2.0 version of motor racing – i.e. the autonomous car racing – will take up residence in Belgium. In fact, the American company Aidoptation – there is no typo, “Ai” meaning “artificial intelligence” – chose Sint-Truiden to establish its HQ and conquer the world with its technology. As we will have understood, it is a question of bringing together unmanned vehiclesbut for the Belgiumthis could mean the creation of hundreds of jobs and the attraction of numerous talents.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
But let’s start at the beginning, because autonomous car racing remains relatively unknown to the general public. And for good reason: until now these are competitions reserved for university research teams. In this way, we could compare this practice to the World Solar Challenge, which aims to keep a car running on solar electricity for as long as possible. The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) which involves autonomous racing cars is already well established and it will occur for the 4e times this month of January on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the sidelines of the famous Consumer Electronics Show 2025 (THESE). During this game, the cars entered calculate their speed, their overtaking maneuvers and their racing strategy using only the artificial intelligence. And this edition promises to be even more astonishing, because it is the first time that there is a real competition with four cars entered at the same time. And it doesn’t take long, because the vehicles have already reached a speed of 309.3 km/hwhich constitutes a new record within the framework of the IAC.
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But it’s not just about shooting in the laboratory either. Because just as the World Solar Challenge gave birth to the Dutch brand Lightyear (now bankrupt), the IAC also intends to develop commercially. To do this, Aidoptation did not choose Silicon Valley, but Saint-Trondin Limburg where the company will establish its headquarters in collaboration with the insurer Ethias and the investment company LRM.
But why the hell Belgium? Paul Mitchell, CEO of the IAC and Aidoptation, explained to our colleagues from the newspaper De Tijd that “Belgium is located in the center of Europe, close to innovation centers of Louvain (the Imec research center, editor’s note.),Eindhoven (where the microprocessor manufacturer ASML is located) or eveninstitutions such as the European Union or NATO. » In addition, Belgian financial partners participated in the round table with a participation of 5 million euros.
Furthermore, the presence of DronePort in Sint-Truiden also played an important role in Aidoptation’s decision. Because the place is equipped with a unique infrastructure, including an airstrip of more than three kilometers. This site can therefore be used for autonomous tests at high speed.
Beyond the competition
Is driving robots at over 300 km/h crazy? No. For Paul Mitchell, “everyone is currently focusing on low-speed applications, such as piloting robots taxis in urban areas. That’s great, but research shows that humans are good drivers at low speeds,” he told Time. THE high speeds must therefore be explored to boost the technology and its capabilities. This is why next month, Aidoptation will try to break a record on Cap Canaveralin the United States, while this summer she will participate in a race at the Monza circuit in Italy.
Aidoptation has great commercial ambitions for its patented technology and the company is looking well beyond self-driving car racing, although it will remain involved there. The objective is to develop AI-driven software where you have to make decisions and collaborate with complex environmentssuch as autonomous transport, industrial automation, but also entertainment and humanoid robots. Paul Mitchell is also eyeing the side of key partners like Nvidia, Cisco, Amazon or the American defense which naturally observe the development of this technology. “These people will soon be watching Belgium,” concludes Mitchell.
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