Elefant Update: Breaking New Ground at FS2022

As they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The same is true for our driverless partners from Germany, Elefant Racing. The FS team of the University of Bayreuth has already taken its first step (or rather made its first run) towards victory!

The last few weeks have been quite challenging but also critical for the Elefant team, as things were heating up since the 8th of July, the official start of the first event. I and my team at Label Your Data felt great excitement all this time and kept our fingers crossed for the guys. 

Let’s find out how Elefant Racing is doing and what victories FR22 Thor has brought this Formula Student season!

The Elefant Team Is Reaching New Heights 

FR22 Thor is rightfully considered the treasure trove of this year’s heavy work done by the Elefant Racing team. Why is that so? Well, Thor is the result of both the engineers’ and computer scientists’ work, along with a more potent driving idea, and a more advanced level of automation enabled by our data annotators.

Integrating the driverless technology completely into the vehicle was the main objective for the 2022 campaign. The guys have successfully accomplished this by making adjustments to the monocoque, electrical system, power steering, and emergency braking system. Plus, the Elefant team focused on the set-up times between EV and DV to have additional test time for software and fine changes.

After weeks of presenting and then testing a new self-driving race car, Elefant Racing completed its first race very successfully and was preparing for FS East. But, of course, not without adventures. The team faced some technical issues regarding the DV system, but the guys quickly fixed everything and the car drove well again. The last week before the events was tough — the team spent more than 60 hours on the test track during that time. They made significant progress, drove acceleration safely, and prepared Thor for the skid pad testing. 

The new autonomous race car, Thor, was all set for the upcoming events in the Netherlands, Hungary, and Germany. Let’s see how the guys did it! 

FS 2022: New Achievements Unlocked

FR22 Thor performed outstandingly this year. However, the team shares mixed feelings with us about this season. 

The final competition, the FS Germany, marked the end of this year’s Formula Student. Altogether, FR22 Thor has demonstrated its abilities and all the driverless might during the three events: the Elefant Racing team traveled to the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, the Hungaroring in Hungary, and the Hockenheimring in Germany. Sadly, several COVID-19 cases within the squad forced the guys to postpone the fourth competition at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Successes  

The static disciplines were where Thor excelled. With their cost report, Elefant Racing qualified for the finals at FS Netherlands and came in second. Out of a total of 120 registered teams, they were still eighth in the cost report at FS Germany. It was indeed the competition with the strongest rivals. In the business plan discipline, which involves the marketing of the built vehicle, the ER was the best German team and ended fifth overall! How great is that?

The most significant achievement, which the team kindly attributes to our cooperation, was the driverless discipline “SkidPad” at the second event at the Hungaroring. It was, in fact, the first time the Elefant team was driving a skid pad. Of the few teams that could compete there at all, Elefant Racing was one of them. I can only imagine how happy the crew was when Thor succeeded in this discipline!

But there is no great success without failures, right? Especially if you’re dealing with data-driven, autonomous technology, according to my tech team at Label Your Data. 

Failures 

The Elefant team had some issues with the engine bearings throughout the entire season. Unfortunately, since the guys were unable to fix these issues on their own, they were only able to compete at the midfield level in the dynamic disciplines. Nevertheless, Elefant Racing believes that the third, entirely new engine generation, will resolve this issue the next season. I hope it all goes well for them! 

So these are the main highs and lows of this year’s FS season. We never once had any doubts about Thor’s power, and we are truly honored to have contributed to its creation and FS triumphs. 

Off to A Good Start with Elefant Racing & Label Your Data 

It seems like only a while ago, I was sharing with you the last year’s results of the Elefant Racing team and their first driverless vehicle, FR20 Ragnarök. And now the new season has come to an end, with new challenges and victories for both the guys and our annotators.

While I’m happy to learn of the Elefant team’s successes, their setbacks are just as significant. They can point out what we need to focus on for the upcoming season! Being part of this driverless project feels incredibly pleasant. It boosts the faith in our mission to co-build an AI-driven economy and help such projects scale fast and succeed. 

The next FS season has us eagerly anticipating fresh successes and difficulties that lie ahead! We look forward to continuing our long-term partnership with Elefant Racing and seeing the future driverless race car making yet another significant progress. Are you with us?