Kettering University one of 10 universities in the world selected for autonomous vehicle competition

FLINT, Michigan -- Kettering University was one of 10 universities in the world selected this month to participate in AutoDrive Challenge II, an autonomous vehicle competition for college students run by SAE International and General Motors.

Kettering also participated in the inaugural competition, which began in 2017 and ends its fourth year this June. The university’s team, the Bulldog Bolt, was previously recognized in several categories throughout the first three years of the competition, including winning first place in vehicle assessment safety and second place in the MathWorks Simulation Challenge in year three. The team won second place for its social responsibility report, third place for its concept design report, third place in the concept design event, second place for its technical reports and second place in the lateral challenge in year one of the competition. In year two, the team won first place for its concept design report and third place in the MCity Challenge.

“Being invited to join AutoDrive Challenge II is critically important to helping us further the development of our advanced mobility systems program,” said Dr. Craig Hoff, Dean of Kettering's College of Engineering, in a news release. “And it is a great complement to the performance of our students and their faculty advisors in the original AutoDrive Challenge competition. Their hard work and success clearly has impressed the SAE/GM organizers.”

The competition, which is four years long, calls for teams to develop and demonstrate autonomous vehicles that can navigate urban driving courses. GM provides each team with a Chevy Bolt EUV for the competition.

Each year, the competition builds on the next by adding more tasks. AutoDrive II will also feature 10 teams instead of eight. Other universities participating in AutoDrive II are: Michigan Technological University; North Carolina A&T University; Ohio State University; Penn State University; Texas A&M University; University of Toronto; University of Wisconsin-Madison; Queens University; and Virginia Tech.

More information about the AutoDrive II challenge is online, and information about Kettering’s team is on the university’s website.