The MSU College of Engineering has more than 40 registered student groups offering an imaginative array of opportunities and hands-on activities. One of them – the Spartan Autonomous Racing Club or SpARC – offers a real-life combination of Indy racing and sci-fi inspired technology.
SpARC supports the PoliMOVE-MSU team, which is fielding a race car and competing with other university-lead teams as part of the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC). All teams are provided identical vehicles with added sensors and computers that replace the driver. Each team must develop algorithms and software so that their car can achieve fully autonomous, high-speed racing.
Daniel Morris, associate professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering as well as Electrical and Computer Engineering, is SpARC’s faculty advisor. His research focuses on smart sensing, which is needed to give our car an advantage at high speeds and so beat our competitors.
Club member Ben Toaz enjoys SpARC, saying it comes with a “guarantee that you won’t be bored any time soon.” Toaz is a master’s student in electrical engineering, specializing in robotics and autonomous systems.
“My mentor recommended the club to me since it relates to my research in autonomous decision making for self-driving vehicles. I enjoy getting to see the full picture of what a self-driving system looks like.”
Current club members have varying backgrounds in machine learning, computer vision, and data processing, Toaz said. “Gaining perspective from them has given me some useful context for my own work.
“The problems we are trying to solve are fundamentally difficult,” he continued. “How do you artificially recreate the process of sensing your surroundings, recognizing the objects in it, and deciding how to act in order to achieve your goal? The short answer is doing lots of math, as fast as you can, as accurately as you can.
“Writing software that will be actually deployed on a self-driving car requires us to be ruthlessly practical,” he added. “The emphasis on effective implementation can be daunting, but ultimately clarifies what needs to be done in order to succeed.”
Julieta Lopez, a junior in computer science, is part of the camera detection sub-team.
”There is a lot to learn since I didn’t have past experience with the software and wasn’t knowledgeable about cars to begin with,” she said. “It’s great being in an environment where everyone knows more and can help you understand all the terms used and all the sensors and machinery that we interact with on the software level.
Lopez said the most enjoyable part is seeing the cars in action.
“It’s amazing seeing them avoid collisions, pass each other, speed up, slow down, and watch other schools' software in action as well. At the race in Las Vegas, it was very exciting to see the first demonstration of the multi-car race and see a competing car speed up at the very end to pass another vehicle.
“The experiential work on the team introduced me to new topics and technologies, like camera vision and autonomous systems, that I might not have explored otherwise,” Lopez explained. “It enhances my classroom learning by providing hands-on experience and helping me understand the challenges and real-world applications of the theoretical concepts I study.”
MK Bashar, a Ph.D. student in computer science, said his club experiences are helping him expand his computer vision research.
“I work on the perception and localization aspects of our autonomous racing car,” Bashar explained. “My responsibilities involve processing lidar, radar, camera data, enhancing the car’s perception of its surroundings, and ensuring accurate localization to optimize high-speed decision-making. This includes sensor integration and scene understanding, both of which are critical for autonomous navigation.
“The challenge of autonomous racing is exciting,” he continued. “For me, the fun part is seeing our ideas come to life in a high-speed, real-world application. Watching the car perform successfully on the track after solving complex problems as a team is incredibly rewarding. To collaborate with a diverse group of experts who bring unique perspectives to the table makes every step of the process a learning opportunity.”
Bashar said the biggest challenge is achieving precision in real-time decision-making at extremely high speeds.
“Autonomous racing pushes both hardware and algorithms to their limits, requiring constant optimization and adaptation. Coordinating between team members and ensuring seamless integration of all systems is a complex but rewarding task.”
Bashar added: “Joining the team is an unparalleled opportunity to apply your knowledge to a high-impact project. If you’re looking to grow both academically and professionally, this is an experience you don’t want to miss.
Read more on the PoliMOVE-MSU team: IAC team takes first place in passing-overtake competition
Written by Patricia Mroczek.
MSU College of Engineering Media and Public Relations page