Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak Will Make High-Speed Driverless Test Run

Just the Facts:

• Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak will drive up the famous Colorado incline in September.
• The research team will be at Pikes Peak this week to collect data and scout locations.
• The autonomous Audi is a joint project of Volkswagen Group's Electronics Research Lab, Oracle and Stanford University's Dynamic Design Lab.

HERNDON, Virginia — Audi has checked in with more news about its planned Pikes Peak run this fall for its "autonomous" TTS. The Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak, as the vehicle is called, has been redesigned to honor "the spirit of past Audi rally winners" for its driverless high-speed test-drive up the famous Colorado incline in September.

Audi of America chief Johan de Nysschen told the Automotive Press Association in April that the driverless vehicle would be making the run but had not given a target date.

The autonomous Audi is a joint project of Volkswagen Group's Electronics Research Lab in Palo Alto, California, the computer firm Oracle and Stanford University's Dynamic Design Lab. The team chose the TTS as a base because its semiautomatic DSG transmission and drive-by-wire throttle were well-suited to the electronics that allow driverless operation.

The Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak has two computers in the trunk to run safety and vehicle dynamics algorithms, along with a differential GPS system that, Audi says, will keep the TTS within 2 centimeters (0.8 inch) of the centerline of the road, although the margin at Pikes Peak will be extended to a full meter (39 inches) because of "extreme conditions" on the partly paved and partly gravel course.

A less technical touch: The designers put a large Audi logo on the roof of the Pikes Peak Autonomous Audi TTS, European DTM rallying style, so that the signature rings could be viewed from above in aerial photography.

The research team will be at Pikes Peak this week to collect data and scout locations and will return in July and August. The actual test in September will be closed to the public but certified by "an independent motorsports organization." After that, Audi will take the Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak to the El Mirage Lake bed in Southern California in November. The automaker will be hoping to get a land speed record into the Guinness Book of World Records in a new autonomous vehicle category.

Inside Line says: This is not just an empty exercise; Audi says development of autonomous technology will pave the way for better safety systems in future vehicles. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent