Velodyne Lidar, Inc. participated as a gold sponsor in the recent Japan Automotive AI Challenge. The university student competition, organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, brought together student teams to compete for artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm accuracy during autonomous driving on test roads.

The challenge, which took place March 23-24 at the University of Tokyo in Japan, supports education of AI engineers in autonomous vehicle (AV) development. AI algorithms developed by the teams were installed in self-driving motorized karts and used in a test-track competition. Each of the autonomous karts was equipped with Velodyne Puck lidar sensors to provide the rich perception data needed for autonomous driving. The team from the University of Tokyo emerged as the competition winner.

“This competition seeks to discover and nurture future engineers with skills in AI technology necessary for autonomous vehicles,” said Dr. Shinpei Kato, founder and chief technology officer, Tier IV Inc. “It builds student talents in image recognition technology that are indispensable for AV operation and having Velodyne, the lidar market leader, participate brings invaluable expertise and experience to the participants.”

“Through the Japan Automotive AI Challenge, next-generation AI engineers learn how lidar 3-D perception empowers autonomous vehicles,” said Wei Weng, executive director APAC, Velodyne Lidar. “Velodyne feels privileged to have worked closely with industry, government, and education organizations involved in the challenge to advance the AI skills of these creative engineers so they can contribute to growing the AV industry.”