Formula Student is launching the UK’s first undergraduate autonomous racing-car competition at Silverstone in July, giving young engineers the chance to hone their software expertise and automation skills on the renowned racing track.

Six UK universities are entering autonomous cars in the competition, which is run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and gives participants the opportunity to build, design and race cars, using their creativity and technical expertise to apply the latest technology.

The teams competing in Formula Student Artificial Intelligence (AI) include universities that have a long track record in the traditional event.

They include the 2018 runners up (Oxford Brookes University) and the 2017 winners (Cardiff University), as well as teams from University College London, Coventry University, the University of Bath and the University of Edinburgh.

IMechE CEO Colin Brown said: “This summer’s launch of the Formula Student AI competition is very exciting, and we look forward to seeing the cars on the track. The AI event leads the way in supporting the UK automotive industry, where there is growing demand for electronics and software skills.”

Formula Student AI has benefitted from access to a specially developed Autonomous Driving System-Dedicated Vehicle prototype; this has lowered the barrier to entry for teams that do not have the resources to design and build a running vehicle but have software, mechatronics and automation engineers ready to concentrate on creating control algorithms.

Over 130 teams will line up on the Formula Student grid this year, with more than 3,000 students from over 25 countries taking part in the competition, which is being held from Wednesday 17 July to Sunday 21 July at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire (NN12 8TN).

The main dynamic events will take place on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Further details can be found at the Web site (www.formulastudent.com).