The Cooper Union Albert Nerken School of Engineering’s IGVC Team was honored with the Innovation Award at the annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) for their groundbreaking Brake-by-Cable design. The IGVC provides undergraduate and graduate student teams from across the nation an opportunity to present their autonomous vehicle designs and demonstrate their self-driving and parking capabilities. As the oldest and largest autonomous vehicle competition in the US, it offers a prestigious platform for innovation and learning.

While the Cooper team placed last and did not complete the self-drive course, these results have only fueled their determination to improve. The teams’ efforts and hard work have not gone unnoticed in the competition. In addition to the Innovation Award, the University of Oklahoma plans to start competing in the self-drive category next year and approached the Cooper team with questions about their by-wire system, inspired by the team's ground-up approach. The competition judges were also impressed by the presentation detailing the changes to their system, in which all first-year students participated.

While proud of their hard work, the team is not satisfied with this year's performance and are committed to pushing forward next year. This summer, the IGVC team is dedicated to enhancing their vehicle's system to tackle more complex function tests and, ultimately, to complete the IGVC challenge successfully. Guided by the insights gained from this year’s competition, they are also committed to developing comprehensive training and onboarding materials for new students eager to join the team.