18. March 2022 | Press releases:

Dr. Drift defends its title The Carolo-Cup@Home 2022 goes to Karlsruhe and Aachen

As was the case last year, the KITcar team from Karlsruhe was able to beat the competition in the Carolo-Cup@Home. In both the driving tasks and the presentation, the students from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology took first place with their Dr Drift in the Carolo Master Cup of the 15th International University Competition of Automated Driving Model Cars. In the Carolo-Basic-Cup, the GalaXIs team from RWTH Aachen was victorious.

A Karlsruhe title defence and an Aachen surprise victory were witnessed in the final live stream of the Carolo-Cup@Home 2022 on 17 March 2022. Team KITcar once again won over the jury in the Carolo Master Cup with its vehicle Dr. Drift. Meanwhile, Team GalaXIs made optimal use of its break in participation last year to fundamentally overhaul the vehicle software and thus secured victory in the Carolo-Basic Cup. Both teams took first place in the virtual presentations and the video discipline.

The Dr. Drift vehicle from Karlsruhe particularly stood out in the competition due to its speed on the track. Powerful engines ensured a speed of 7 m/s even in curves. The KITcar team thus pushed the limits of what is physically possible for a model vehicle of this size. In total, the team was able to secure 340 points with its vehicle. Dr. Drift was constructed by a team of 35 students from the fields of computer science, electrical engineering, mechatronics, mechanical engineering and industrial engineering. Second place in the Carolo Master Cup went to the Spatzenhirn team from the University of Ulm with 286 points. Third place went to last year’s winners of the Carolo-Basic Cup – Team Selfie from Warsaw University of Technology with 220 points.

Team GalaXIs wins Carolo-Basic-Cup

Team GalaXIs won the Carolo-Basic-Cup with their vehicle Andromeda. The students from Aachen took first place in both categories and scored a total of 328 points. They relegated the it:movES team from the Esslingen University of Applied Sciences with 237 points and the DHBW Smart Rollerz from the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University with 209 points to second and third place.

The Aachen vehicle’s high speed was also particularly striking. Nevertheless, Andromeda is to become even faster before the next participation. Equipped with improved lane recognition and further optimised driving behaviour, the RWTH Aachen team would like to compete in the Carolo Master Cup next year.

Driving tests on their own test track

This year, the now 15th Carolo Cup was again held in an online format. The teams documented the results of the driving tasks via video on their own test track in the respective team room. In addition, they presented themselves and their vehicle in a virtual presentation to a jury from business and science, which then awarded their points. The tasks included a dynamic drive at top speed and mastering an obstacle course on the track. In the Carolo Master Cup, the course contained more complex elements, such as an overtaking ban and a speed limit, which the vehicles had to recognise and implement independently. In addition, the teams had to show in their four-minute video how they dealt with and solved a new and previously unknown challenge in the course.

What form the next Carolo Cup will take is still open. If possible, next year’s event will return to being held in person.

Results of the Carolo Master Cup

  • Team KITcar with Dr. Drift, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • Team Spatzenhirn with Spatz11, University of Ulm
  • Team Selfie with Selfie, Warsaw University of Technology

Results of the Carolo-Basic-Cup

  • Team GalaXIs with Andromeda, RWTH Aachen University
  • Team it:movES with G Wagon, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences
  • DHBW Smart Rollerz with Smarty, Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University
  • Team Ostfalia-Cup with CUP, Ostfalia – University of Applied Sciences
  • Team oTToCar with Luci, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg
  • Team cITIcar with cITIcar, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen

The prize money this year totals 4,500 euros. It will go to all successfully participating teams as a starting and motivation bonus of 500 euros each.

Organisers and Sponsors

The Carolo-Cup@Home is organised by the Institute for Control Engineering at TU Braunschweig. The competition is financially supported by IAV GmbH Ingenieurgesellschaft Auto und Verkehr and VIRES Simulationstechnologie GmbH.