AI

DARPA awards AI training contract to Indy Autonomous Challenge

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), a non-profit corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, as an official test and evaluation platform to be used in improving AI training for autonomous systems.

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October 2, 2024

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), a non-profit corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, as an official test and evaluation platform to be used in improving AI training for autonomous systems, according to a press release.

As part of the deal, IAC will be used to develop the DARPA Transfer Learning from Imprecise and Abstract Models to Autonomous Technologies program, also known as TIAMAT, which aims to improve AI learning for autonomous systems.

TIAMAT is designed to help with the "simulation-to-real" gap in AI training, which is heavily based in the large learning curve faced by AI systems in trying to learn and navigate real-world systems that contain many variables and high uncertainty, all of which adds time to training programs.

"We were inspired to create the Indy Autonomous Challenge by the successes of the DARPA Grand Challenges which were held 20 years ago and gave rise to the modern autonomous vehicle industry," Paul Mitchell, CEO at Indy Autonomous Challenge, said in the release. "It is an honor to partner with DARPA to accelerate the development and training of Physical AI using our first-of-its-kind robotics platform of the world's fastest autonomous racecars."