TTS COUPE HEADING FOR HILL CLIMB WITHOUT A DRIVER

+ Click to Enlarge 'LOOK MA, NO HANDS!': ...and no driver either. This is the Autonomous Audi TTS Coupé quattro and the German automaker plans to send it on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in the US under computer control only.

November 29, 2009
By Les Stephenson

It's 30 years since Audi introduced "quattro" all-wheel drive to its cars but that was only the start of an ongoing experiment with mechanical and computer technology – just look what they plan to do now…

…and let's hope it's not going to be the thin edge of a wedge or motorsport could be reduced to driverless, satnav-controlled, life-sized slot cars with faces such as Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton reduced to mere faces in history books, fondly remembered as crazy eccentrics.

So what is it? Audi calls it the Autonomous Audi TTS Coupé quattro and will send it up the scary Pikes Peak Hill Climb in Colorado in the US – a 20km nightmare of curves, straights and, if you get it wrong, long drops.

Without a driver.

The Autonomous Audi TTS Coupé quattro is a direct result of work at the VW Group's Automotive Innovation Laboratory – a collaboration between VW's Group Electronics Research Laboratory and Stanford University in the US to advance car technology.

Audi has a number of real-world driving tests for the driverless car, though it isn't saying what – except that Pike's Peak is in the pipeline, though not as part of the annual competition.

Just as well – what if the damn thing won?

For now, Audi says, the project is not intended to make drivers redundant or consign the thrill of controlling a fine automobile to history's dustbin of political correctness and nanny-state grey.

Nope, say the Four Rings people, it is meant to explore the best capabilities of current and future technologies to assist drivers and enhance the experience behind the steering-wheel for future driving generations.

Dr Burkhard Huhnke, executive director of the Electronics Research Lab, has noted that the technology found in this special TT could help drivers to respond more effectively to changing traffic conditions, thus reducing road congestion and accelerate their reactions to hazards.

He also suggested that the technology could return time to car owners by taking care of routine driving chores such as locating an assigned space in a car park.

"We believe developing a car that can perform as well and respond as rapidly as a 'professional', such as a race or rally driver, will eventually be able to drive its way around incidents in a way that a 'normal' driver couldn't," he went on.

"While a less-experienced driver may freeze or make the wrong correction, the Autonomous TTS would take over or guide the driver to escape from a critical situation. It could also compensate if a driver is inattentive to conditions or distracted but, of course, it won't prevent all accidents."

MOST EXTREME AUDI YET

For Audi, even in a non-competition format, the Autonomous TTS run will also mark the brand's return to the Pikes Peak course with its 160 turns and climbs 1440m to the 2860m summit. Bobby Unser set a record time of 11min09.22 in 1986 at the wheel of a Pikes Peak S1 Audi quattro to beat the 11min25.39 set in 1985 by Michele Mouton (Audi Sport quattro).

Then in 1987 Walter Röhrl clocked 10min47.85 in a 2.1-litre, five-cylinder Pikes Peak quattro that delivered almost 450kW – one of the most extreme Audi quattro cars yet built.

Audi still holds several records, even though Rohr's record was eventually broken. While mid-engine cars with all-wheel-drive and even all-wheel steering compete nowadays Audi, with its road car-derived, front-engined and steel monococque chassis, still holds the record for a front-engined car on The Peak after three decades have elapsed.

So how does the car get along without a driver?

The VW electronics lab has converted a standard Audi TTS quattro to "drive by wire" and is developing a safety system to ensure a reliable autonomous drive that can perform a vehicle shutdown if it determines conditions have become unsafe.

THERE'S A BACKUP SOLUTION

The TTS is currently controlled by a boot-mounted computer by in 2010 Stanford algorithms will be running in the car using Java "real time" receiving programming updates via telemetry with a range of 30km. Ultimately, aerial towers will send/receive signals to such cars in a manner similar to cellular mobile telephone aerials today.

As a backup solution, the vehicle includes a telemetry system that can transmit all vehicle parameters to a receiving station up to 20 miles away which can also shut down the vehicle remotely, or order the safety systems to engage and bring the car to a controlled stop.

The Audi is powered by a turbocharged, two-litre FSI engine delivering 350Nm of torque and is capable of 0-100km/h in 5.2sec and comes as a coupe or convertible.