Technical University of Munich wins first Audi Automonous Driving Cup

The prize for the best model car with piloted driving has been awarded to Munich - a team of five students from the Technical University of Munich has won the first Audi Autonomous Driving Cup against strong competition from all over Germany.

Starting last fall, approximately 50 students in ten teams programmed model cars - small Audi Q5s on a scale of 1:8 - enabling them to drive in piloted mode. The participants have now been able to demonstrate the effectiveness of their software in the finals of the competition in the Audi museum. In direct competition, the model cars had to show how well they react to oncoming traffic and traffic at crossroads, difficult parking situations and obstacles that appear suddenly.

"The jury was convinced by the creative solutions that the students presented. Particularly in the area of driver assistance systems and piloted driving, courses of study are important that place emphasis on these innovation topics and arouse students' interest in them. After this year's good results, we will once again hold the Audi Autonomous Driving Cup in the coming year," stated Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Board of Management Member for Technical Development at AUDI AG.

The team from the Technical University of Munich convinced the jury with the precise way in which it mastered the difficult driving tasks in the final stage, bringing home the prize money of €10,000 (S$14,750). The second prize of €5,000 (S$7,375) was awarded to the students from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and the third prize of €1,000 (S$1,475) went to the team from the University of Freiburg.