Taiwan Team in Top 3 of Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport

The Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport is one of the world’s most influential and highly competitive contest for self-driving vehicles, with an overall prize pool of over USD 5 million. In the 2018-2019 contest, the team “iAuto” from Taiwan participated in the startup category and made it into the top three of the competition among the 27 teams from around the world. In late June, iAuto’s automated vehicle successfully passed the on-road trial that posed complex traffic challenges, including hillside roads, open roads, crossroads with traffic lights, fog, and mixed traffic flows. The team is thus a potential winner of the first prize (USD 1 million) or second prize (USD 500 thousand) in the startup category of the competition, with an exciting opportunity to be invited by Dubai to join the country’s startup hub and secure future funds from Dubai.

iAuto is the only team from East Asia among the finalists. The members of iAuto include the research team led by Profs. Kang Li (李綱) and Jung-Ho Cheng (鄭榮和) of NTU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering; the team led by Associate Prof. Dao-Yi Huang (黃道易) of Ming Chi University of Technology; iAuto Technology; Formosa Plastics Transport Corporation; and Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). The winners and the final rankings will be announced at the award ceremony to be held in Dubai on October 15. The organizer has officially invited the iAuto team to attend the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport during October 15-16, 2019.