Bridgestone powers AV-24 to record autonomous hillclimb

Bridgestone racing tyres have helped the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) set a new milestone in autonomous vehicle racing with its AV-24 racecar.

Piloted by an AI driver developed by Team PoliMOVE-MSU (a collaboration between Politecnico di Milano and Michigan State University), the AV-24 achieved the fastest autonomous Hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

‍During the festival, the AV-24 completed a series of three runs up the iconic Goodwood Hill. The record-breaking moment came in the third and final run, where the racecar reached a top speed of 179 km/h and finished the climb in just 66.37 seconds.

This feat surpassed the previous record set by Roborace’s “DevBot 2.0” in 2019, which had a finish time of 66.96 seconds and a top speed of 162.8 km/h.

The IAC and PoliMOVE-MSU teams collaborated extensively with Bridgestone’s tyre engineers to prepare for the Hillclimb. This partnership involved visits to Bridgestone’s European technical centre and proving grounds in Rome, where the team had the opportunity to delve into every aspect of tyre production.

These insights were crucial in optimising the AV-24’s performance, highlighting the critical role of tyre technology in achieving high-speed precision on the track.