The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) has set a new autonomous – in other words, there is no human in the car – driving world record at the Space Florida Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) at the Kennedy Space Centre, in the US.

The IAC and Politecnico di Milano, Italy’s largest scientific-technological university, joined forces with Italian luxury performance car maker Maserati and 1000 Miglia Experience Florida to set the record at Cape Canaveral this month.

The LLF facility is one of the world’s longest runways at 2.8 miles (4.5 km) and the historic location for NASA Space Shuttle landings.

The development of the AI driver software was completed by the PoliMOVE-MSU team, which forms part of the performance division of Politecnico di Milano’s AIDA – or Artificial Intelligence Driving Autonomous.

The record attempt saw the Maserati MC20 coupé reach 197.7 mph (318 km/h) autonomously.

This surpasses the previously held record for an autonomous car at 192.8 mph, set by IAC and PoliMOVE at the same location in April, 2022, with an IAC AV-21 racecar.

“These world speed records are much more than just a showcase of future technology – we are pushing AI-driver software and robotics hardware to the absolute edge,” says IAC and Aidoptation BV CEO Paul Mitchell.

“Doing so with a streetcar is helping transition the learnings of autonomous racing to enable safe, secure, sustainable, high-speed autonomous mobility on highways.”

The teams involved believe the new record demonstrates the robustness and reliability of the algorithms developed for autonomous driving.

“The goal of high-speed tests is to evaluate the behaviour of robo-drivers in extreme conditions,” explains the scientific director of the project, and director of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering at the Politecnico di Milano, Professor Sergio Matteo Savaresi.

“These AI systems have been tested in production vehicles at legal road speeds in IAC races since 2021.

“The AIDA team used this test to push the boundaries of autonomous driving, improving safety and reliability.

“Conducted in controlled environments without a human driver, the test assesses the AI's stability, robustness and reaction time, ultimately enhancing safety for low-speed urban mobility situations.”