Audi is on the way to creating the self-driving car. The Audi Autonomous Driving Cup has been placing the spotlight on self-driving automobiles since 2015 - though on a scale of 1:8. The university competition is aimed at young talents in the disciplines robotics, data science, software architecture, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. The competition will be held for the third time on 15^th and 16^th November in the museum mobile at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt, Germany.

While completing the course, the high-tech model cars have to avoid obstructions independently, negotiate junctions with crossing traffic without accidents, and follow the vehicle in front at a safe distance. A new challenge involves using intelligent algorithms to overcome tricky traffic situations. Those include independently detecting pedestrians and their intention to cross the road, thus enabling the car to respond appropriately.

This year brings a change to the required response to traffic signs. Temporary variable traffic signs need to be recognised and matched in real-time against the digital map material provided by HERE. HERE is one of the leading software companies for digital navigation maps and location-based services.

The winner of the Audi Autonomous Driving Cup 2017 is established in three steps. In the compulsory section the model cars have to perform driving tasks autonomously on a course. Next, the participants give a presentation on their technical developments. The third and final stage is the open challenge. Here, the teams get their vehicle to perform a self-imposed task as creatively as possible - this year for the first time making use of AI.

In the finals, the best three teams from the course, presentation and open challenge sections compete against each other. They have to complete unfamiliar driving tasks with as few faults as possible. The university team with the most points will receive $15,846, the second-placed team gets $7,923 and the third-place walks away with $1,584.