Indianapolis (United States) (AFP)

Nine single-seaters will be at the start of the Indy Autonomous Challenge, a competition endowed with a million dollars, whose objective is clear, "to prove that autonomous technology can work in extreme conditions", explains Paul Mitchell, of the firm ESN, co-organizer of the event.

The IAC should have run the nine cars together, like in a classic race, but the organizers finally gave up because not all the teams were ready.

Instead, vehicles will start one after the other, and the fastest over two laps launched will win.

All the teams, made up of students from all over the world, received the same car, a Dallara IL-15, a sort of small F1, the same technological equipment with, in the spotlight, sensors, cameras, GPS and radars, to allow cars to situate himself.

What will make the difference, it is not the pilots, absent, but around forty thousand lines of codes composed by each "team".

It is they who will set the engine, receivers and the powerful computer wedged in the bucket usually reserved for the driver to music.

The MIT-PITT-RW team, the only one made up entirely of students without supervision, recovered their car only six weeks ago, explains Nayana Suvarna.

This 22-year-old engineering student was bombarded, reluctantly, a stable owner, she who does not yet have a driving license.

A PoliMove technician encodes information to prepare an autonomous car before a race in Indianapolis, October 22, 2021 Ed JONES AFP

“I didn't know anything about car racing,” she said with a smile, “but I'm becoming a fan”.

The MIT-PITT-RW's car hit 130 km / h in testing, but Nayana believes it capable of overtaking 160 on Saturday.

"A generation of talents"

Others have already gone much further.

The Dallara in the colors of PoliMOVE, a partnership between the universities of Alabama and Politecnico in Milan, went up the pit straight on Thursday at around 250 km / h, just like that of the Munich faculty TUM.

But as soon as the next turn, the car spun off, fortunately finishing without damage on the grass.

"It was a miracle that there was no breakage," said Sergio Matteo Savaresi, professor at Politecnico.

In question, no "bug", but the conjunction of cold tires and a tendency of the Dallara to oversteer (the rear tires slip).

Members of the Euroracing team prepare an autonomous car before a race in Indianapolis, October 22, 2021 Ed JONES AFP

"We have reached the limits of the car", summarizes, satisfied, the university, who supervises the PoliMOVE team.

"A professional pilot would have done exactly the same."

The Robocar, model of the manufacturer Roborace, holds, since 2019, the official speed record for an autonomous car, with 282 km / h, but it was established in a straight line on a landing strip, not on a circuit.

The idea of ​​the self-driving car has been fantasizing since the 1950s, but has seen a powerful boost over the past five years.

Most of the big car manufacturers are developing their own projects, most often in collaboration with tech giants, like Amazon, Microsoft or Cisco.

It is within this framework that the IAC fits, whose participants do not see the speed as an end in itself.

"If people get used to seeing (autonomous) cars going at 300 km / h without an accident, let it work, they will say to themselves: maybe at 50 an hour, that's for sure", fact argue Mr. Savaresi.

According to a survey published in September by Morning Consult, 47% of Americans considered autonomous vehicles less safe than those driven by humans.

Second objective, to allow a transfer of technology.

"Several teams are already planning to publish their program, in open access, after the competition", announces Paul Mitchell.

"Some of the most advanced artificial intelligence algorithms are therefore going to be available for industry, start-ups or other universities to feed off," he says.

Finally, the project aims to "develop a generation of talents", argues Mr. Savaresi.

"The people who took part in this challenge will start their own businesses or work for others," hopes Paul Mitchell, "and the innovations from this competition will live on for many years to come."

© 2021 AFP