Australia’s first student-built, driverless car

It’s taken three years to make and Australia’s first student-built, fully autonomous race car – the M19-D – displayed its capabilities on Open Day at Monash University’s Clayton campus. Showcasing the latest in driverless automotive technology, including “complex environment perception algorithms” and “robust actuation hardware”, the M19-D drove around the racetrack fully autonomously. Current and prospective students and staff, driverless car enthusiasts and the wider community were invited to watch the first public demonstration of the M19-D as part of the University’s Autonomous Showcase. Monash Motorsport’s Chief Executive Officer, Paras Bhutiani, said "the M19-D… is competition-ready for the Formula Student driverless competition in Germany in 2020". “We first began development on the M19-D way back in 2016, with over 200 undergraduate students from Monash working tirelessly to bring it to fruition. The talented team at Monash designed and built its innovative and high-performance features to create the state-of-the-art driverless vehicle, which we’re excited to compete with in the upcoming Formula Student driverless competition,” he said. The M19-D’s key features include: the ability to detect the racetrack and perceive the environment in real time an advanced laser scanner, also known as a LiDAR unit a stereoscopic camera system that can perceive distance similar to the human eye, using artificial intelligence a proven electric powertrain with more than 1000km of on-track testing a GPS unit that can accurately locate the race car within a 10cm radius an Emergency Braking System with complete redundancy in case of a vehicle fault Aryaman Pandav, Monash Motorsport’s Driverless Chief Engineer, said leading the build of the M19-D has provided him with job-ready skills when he finishes his double degree in mechatronics engineering and science at the end of 2020. “I’ve been part of the Monash Motorsport team since 2017. Since joining, I’ve not only gained hands-on engineering experience, but also the strong leadership skills required to excel in my career and lead a team effectively,” he said. “I’ve also created strong industry connections through networking with Monash alumni, partners and sponsors that will best prepare me for today’s workforce. Without being part of the Monash Motorsport team, this wouldn’t have been possible.” The Faculty of Engineering’s director of student teams, Dr Scott Wordley, said: “The students have done an outstanding job building the M19-D – the first student-made, fully autonomous race car in Australia. This is a true testament to their tenacity and commitment, and I’m looking forward to seeing their hard work come to life on Open Day.” Dean of Engineering, Professor Elizabeth Croft, said Monash Motorsport was a leading example of the type of internationally competitive, multidisciplinary and entrepreneurial student teams Monash University has to offer. “Monash Motorsport students are highly capable designers and competitors, with almost two decades of experience in vehicle design innovation within a successful student-led enterprise,” she said. “Student teams like Monash Motorsport offer outstanding opportunities for our students to develop technical, employability and entrepreneurial skills on a truly international scale.” Monash Motorsport is a student-run team comprising more than 130 active members who design, build, test and race Formula SAE cars in Australia and across the globe. Competing since 2000, Monash ranks second in the world in the internal combustion category, and broke ground recently by ranking seventh in the world with its first electric vehicle. View the rankings for each class here.