2018 Autonomous UrbanConcept competition rules Version 13

AUTONOMOUS URBANCONCEPT
COMPETITION 2018
Official Rules Chapter 4

Foreword
1. Organisation
Notes on this document
Terms and abbreviations used in this document
Competition description
Acceptance
Qualification event
Event Schedule
Communication of Autonomous state
Challenge starts and finishes
Track access / Number of autonomous vehicles on track
Contact with barriers or obstacles
Level 1 challenges
Challenge 1 – Autonomous distance
Challenge 2 – Complex track layout
Challenge 3 – Manoeuvrability
Challenge 4 – Obstacle avoidance
Challenge 5 – The unknown challenge
Performance and scoring – event judges
Prizes and awards
Energy types applicable
Energy classes
2. Safety
Safety Driver
Weather conditions
3. Vehicle design
Power and weight requirements
Number of seats

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Vehicle technologies and equipment

General
Environment sensors and detectors
Actuators
Sensors using lasers
On board computer
Navigation software
4. Data formats and communications
Platform and communications protocol definitions
Internal Vehicle Communications
Vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communications
Vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications
Testing and validation of On Board control system
Open and shared map format
5. System testing and validation infrastructure

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Foreword
For over 30 years, students from around the world have collaborated to develop, design and build vehicles for
the Shell Eco-marathon (SEM), a global competition that challenges participants to push the boundaries of
automotive energy efficiency.

The Shell Eco-marathon is constantly evolving to stay relevant and meet the very latest mobility challenges so it
can continue to inspire scientists and engineers of the future.

The Autonomous UrbanConcept Competition (AUC) will provide the ultimate hands-on experience for the
brightest minds to design, build and test their own driverless vehicles within a realistic and connected
infrastructure.

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1. Organisation
Notes on this document
The Autonomous UrbanConcept Competition is a new feature of the Shell Eco-marathon. These Chapter 4 rules
may be changed by the organiser prior to the events.

Certain sections and articles of this document contain provisions for rules that will not take effect until a later
date or season. Each of these articles will indicate the when the take effect and are highlighted in orange text.

Updates to this document will be published on a monthly basis. Teams will receive notifications of changes to
this document via email.

Terms and abbreviations used in this document

AUC Autonomous UrbanConcept Competition

Autonomous System The computer hardware, software and sensor system fitted to an UrbanConcept
car, including all power supplies, cables and connectors

Digital map A digital representation of the environment in which the autonomous vehicle
will operate.

Communications protocol A specification of all the message types and content between two computer
systems

OBC Refers to the Shell On Board Computer, energy sensors, antennae and necessary
cables and fittings. The OBC is used separately and in parallel to any other
computing systems present in the vehicle. Computer systems integrated by
teams shall be referred to in this document as Internal computer systems.

ICS Vehicle Internal Computer Systems (see above).

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Competition description
The Shell Eco-marathon Autonomous UrbanConcept Competition is open to all UrbanConcept Vehicles.

Overview

The AUC is designed to be a challenge that will attract all teams, at all levels of expertise and experience, and
allow them to come together and compete in a competition that gives all a chance to win to a certain extent.

With the goal of providing entry points for all teams we have structured the competition in a number of levels
of difficulties.

All teams begin at level 1 in their first year before progressing to the subsequent levels as their abilities and
experience increase.

Teams win the competition by earning the most points in the challenges of their level.

Teams that complete 3 of the 5 challenges in their level are automatically progressed to the next level in the
following season.

The Shell Eco-marathon Autonomous UrbanConcept competition is composed of a number of levels, each level
being more difficult than the level before. The first level, containing five challenges, will take place on a standard
SEM event track. Each challenge will test a different facet of the autonomous driving systems (energy efficiency,
planning and execution, manoeuvrability, obstacle avoidance, passenger requirements).

Teams will score points for a range of metrics over each of the five challenges, for example number of metres
driven autonomously or precision of manoeuvres.

The team with the most points will win that specific challenge prizes will be awarded for each of the five
challenges. Teams are not required to attempt all 5 challenges in order to compete in the competition.

Acceptance
Both the Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 rules apply in their entirety to this competition any exceptions are clearly
noted within the Chapter 4 rules.

All teams wishing to compete in the 2018 AUC competition must register for the Shell Eco-marathon event,
following the standard registration phases, and notify the organisers in writing of their intention to participate
in the AUC competition before the end of November 2017.

Upon completion of registration with the organisers teams must complete two further stages before their
acceptance into the AUC completion. All teams must participate in at least one Academy day and qualify during
a qualification event.

Registration for this competition is open to all UrbanConcept teams from all regions. However, at the time of
writing this document the 2018 AUC competition will only occur before and during the Make the Future London
event.

The organisers accept that competing in the AUC competition puts greater requirements on the number and
roles of teams members present at the event. Teams requiring the presence of a number of members greater
that the total stated in other chapters of the rules should seek permission for additional attendance from the
organiser in writing.

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Due to the contrast in technical requirements and objectives teams are not eligible to compete in both the AUC
and the DWC in the same season. Teams that have registered to compete in the AUC are not able to compete
in the DWC even if they fail to participate in the academy days or pass the qualification event.

Qualification event
All teams wishing to participate in the AUC competition must attend a qualification event prior to the MtF
London 2018 event. The date, location and schedule of the qualification event shall be announced prior to the
end of 2017.

The challenges faced by teams at the qualification event will be the same as those proposed at the main event.
Teams must successfully complete two of the five level 1 challenges in order to qualify for the AUC competition
at MtF London 2018.

The results of the Qualification stage have no impact on the eligibility of teams for the Shell Eco-marathon
mileage challenge or Driver’s World Championship at Make the Future Live festival London 2018.

Event Schedule
The event schedule for the Make the Future Live festival 2018 will be published at a later date. This schedule
will include the timings and types or AUC challenges held as part of the 2018 AUC competition.

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Communication of Autonomous state

All vehicles will communicate the state of their autonomous system in real-time to the organizers (see Article
432 : page 16), this state information will include whether or not the vehicle is being driven autonomously and
will be used to score teams on each of the challenges.

Teams shall install lighting on the outside of the vehicle visible from all sides that indicates whether the car is
being driven autonomously (by the ICS) or manually by the safety driver. These lights shall be controlled by the
ICS system and may not be activated or deactivated by the driver or remotely.

Challenge starts and finishes

All challenges of all levels will follow a similar process.

a. Track sections used for these challenges will, unless otherwise stated in the challenge descriptions, be
defined using the following track markings and structures:
 Start line.
 Autonomous or Auto line.
 Finish line
 Barriers and other physical delimiters around edges of track section
 Lines and markings on track, depending on requirements of challenge.
b. Before the start signal, vehicles will wait behind Start line on one end of the track section.
c. A second line, the ‘Auto’ line will be marked 8m from the start line.
d. Upon the start signal the competing vehicle will begin the challenge from a defined position on the
track. The vehicle must be in autonomous mode (see autonomous driving signals and indications) before
the front of the vehicle crossed the ‘Auto’ line.
e. The timing for each challenge will begin when the vehicle crosses the Auto line
f. The challenge timing will stop when the vehicle crosses the Finish line

Track access / Number of autonomous vehicles on track

a. During the 2018 season, specific portions of the event track shall be reserved for the individual AUC
challenges. Only one vehicle shall be permitted in a single portion of track at any one time.

Contact with barriers or obstacles

a. Once the front of the vehicle has crossed the Start line any contact between the vehicle and track
barriers or obstacles will invalidate the attempt or challenge.

Performance and scoring – event judges

Observers / Data / Flags / Marshals, etc.

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Level 1 challenges
The challenges of the 2018 season will represent level 1 of a multilevel challenge for both the event and
participating universities of the future.

Teams may score a maximum of 1500 points by completing all 5 of the level 1 challenges.

The five level- 1 challenges for the 2018 season are:

● Autonomous distance
● Complex track section
● Manoeuvrability
● Obstacle avoidance
● The unknown challenge

Challenge 1 – Autonomous distance

a. The goal of this challenge is for competing vehicles to autonomously drive up to one lap of the event
track or course.
b. Vehicles must drive over a fixed distance course up to the length of one complete lap. Teams may score
a maximum of 400 points for this challenge.
c. Only one vehicle will attempt this challenge at any given time.
d. Scoring:
 Teams will score 100 points for one full lap driven autonomously. These points will be earned in
for each increment of 1/100th of the total track length. For example, if the track is 1200m in
length, 1 point will be awarded for every 12m driven autonomously.
 A bonus score will be awarded to teams for their energy efficiency during the lap. This bonus is
intended to indicate the improved energy efficiency given by an autonomous vehicle. Given by:

300

Where:
- The bonus score, up to a maximum of 300 points
- Best historical energy consumption value for the specific team for the
equivalent of
- The distance driven autonomously by the vehicle
- The total or maximum distance in one lap
- The energy consumed by the vehicle over
e. Any contact between the vehicle and the protective barriers will result in the invalidity of the attempt
for the team.
f. Teams will have two attempts to complete the challenge
g. Exact distances and precise layouts of challenges to be published at a later date, once London track
layout has been defined.
h. The speed limit for this challenge is 25 km/h. Teams breaking this speed limit will have their attempt
invalidated.
i. MIN AV SPEED
j. Track width will be no less than 6m.

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Challenge 2 – Complex track layout

a. The goal of this challenge is for vehicles to negotiate a complex track arrangement autonomously. Teams
may score a maximum of 150 points for this challenge.
b. Teams will be required to navigate around one of six track layouts. The organisers will communicate the
competition track section layout 48 hours before the challenge.
c. Scoring:
a. Teams that complete the section will be awarded 100 points
b. The team that completes the section with the fastest time will be awarded 50 bonus points.
c. The team that completes the section with the second fastest time will be awarded 25 bonus
points
d. The team that completes the section with the third fastest time will be awarded 10 bonus points
d. Any contact between the vehicle and the protective barriers, or structures used to define the track
section, will result in the invalidity of the attempt.
e. Teams have a time limit of 30 seconds to complete this challenge.
f. The speed limit for this challenge is 25 km/h. Teams breaking this speed limit will have their attempt
invalidated.
g. Teams will have two attempts to complete the challenge
h. Examples of potential complex track sections are provided in Annex 1 of this document on page 19.

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Challenge 3 – Manoeuvrability
The manoeuvrability challenge will test ability of vehicles to approach and stop within close proximity to
barriers and obstacles. Teams may score up to 300 points in this challenge.

a. The level 1 manoeuvrability challenge will be held on a straight length of track of between 60 and 80
metres.
b. A rectangle 4 metres long and 3 metres wide will be marked on the track after the Auto line and before
the Finish line.
c. A 3m wide, 50cm high block (the “Block”) will be placed along the end of the rectangle furthest from
the Auto line.
d. Vehicles will drive to and stop with all four wheels, in contact with the ground, inside the rectangle.
e. If a vehicle’s wheel is in contact with the ground on or outside of the lines of rectangle the attempt will
be invalidated.
f. If any part of the vehicle comes into contact with the Block the attempt will be invalidated
g. Teams will have a time limit of 90 seconds from the start signal to complete the challenge.
h. Once the vehicle has come to a complete stop, the organiser will measure the shortest distance between
the front of the vehicle and the Block.
i. Teams that fail to complete the challenge on their first attempt will be given a second attempt. No third
attempt will be given.
j. The exact layout of the challenge, including markings, shall not be published to teams until 48 hours
before the challenge.
k. Scoring:
 Teams that manoeuvre their vehicle into the marked area will score 100 points
 50 points will be awarded to teams that complete the challenge in 45 seconds or less
 The team that correctly completes the challenge with the shortest measured distance between
the front of the vehicle and the Block shall be awarded 150 bonus points.
 The team with the second shortest distance shall be awarded 70 bonus points.
 The team with the third shortest distance shall be awarded 30 bonus points.

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Challenge 4 – Obstacle avoidance

a. The level 1 obstacle avoidance challenge will happen on a straight, length of track of between 60 and
80 metres
b. 3 pairs of vertical posts (‘gates’) will be placed at intervals down the length of the track. Pairs of posts
will be no closer than 10m apart.
c. 3 Bonus objects will be placed between the sets of gates.
d. Bonus points may be collected by touching bonus objects along the course.
e. Vehicles may pass over any part of empty, unused squares
f. Scoring
 Teams must navigate between the gates and touch the bonus objects. Teams may score a
maximum of 350 points in this challenge.
 Correctly navigating between gates will earn 50 points
 Touching a bonus object will earn 50 points
 The team that completes the challenge with the fastest time will be awarded 50 bonus points.
 The team that completes the challenge with the second fastest time will be awarded 25 bonus
points
 The team that completes the challenge with the third fastest time will be awarded 10 bonus
points
g. Teams will have a time limit of 90 seconds, from the start signal to complete the challenge.
h. Any contact between the vehicle and the protective barriers will result in the invalidity of the attempt.
i. Teams will have two attempts to complete the challenge

Challenge 5 – The Last-minute challenge

a. To mimic the variety and difficulties of tasks that autonomous cars will face this challenge presents
vehicles with a task to complete at the start line. It is only at this point that the team and vehicle will
know what is expected of them.
b. The level 1 version of this challenge will consist of the requirement to stop at a specific service station
at one of four potential points around the track.
c. Four rectangles, each 4 metres long and 3 metres wide, will be marked on the track after the Auto line
and before the Finish line. Each rectangle will be labelled with a number between 1 and 4.
d. The on board autonomous system will receive the number of a specific rectangle while at the start line.
e. The vehicle’s autonomous system will receive the command through the Shell On Board Computer.
f. Teams will have a time limit of 90 seconds from the start signal to complete the challenge.
g. Scoring
a. Teams that manoeuvre their vehicle into the correct marked area will score 250 points
b. 50 points will be awarded to teams that complete the challenge in 45 seconds or less

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Prizes and awards

The winning team will score the greatest number of points following the completion of between 2 and 5 of the
challenges in their specific level at their regional Make the Future competition.

The prizes shall be announced in February 2018.

Energy types applicable

The Autonomous UrbanConcept competition is open to all energy types stated in Chapter 1 of these rules

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2. Safety
Safety Driver
a. A safety driver shall be present in the vehicle at all times.
b. The safety driver shall be the same driver identified for other event competitions and shall attend all
briefings

Weather conditions
a. AUC competition activities will not take place in the event of rain, low light levels or other poor weather
conditions.

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3. Vehicle design
Power and weight requirements
a. The organisers recognize that the integrated autonomous systems will require more power and weight
than a standard Shell Eco-marathon UrbanConcept vehicle. To this end teams will receive a weight
bonus under the standard technical inspection. However teams will be expected to completely
disengage their autonomous system from their vehicles (Servitudes, actuators, sensors, etc.) throughout
the duration of the Shell Eco-marathon mileage challenge.

Number of seats
Stipulation of number of seats in vehicles has been suspended until after the 2018 season

Vehicle technologies and equipment

General
a. Teams may integrate and operate the sensors and actuators of their choosing for the detection of the
vehicle's environment.
b. Hardware, cables, equipment, etc. install vehicles:
 shall not obstruct the driver’s visibility
 shall not impede the driver from complete and comfortable control of the vehicle
 shall not obstruct the driver’s ability to exit the vehicle quickly
c. It is recommended that teams pay particular attention to heat dissipation of installed hardware.
Sufficient ventilation and air flow shall be planned and designed surrounding equipment.
d. Hardware with moving parts shall be correctly isolated and non-accessible by the driver or from the
outside of the vehicle.
e. Teams will employ correct engineering techniques when installing hardware in and on vehicles. Care
shall be taken to ensure that hardware does not move or vibrate while the vehicle is operated

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Environment sensors and detectors

a. Teams must install external sensors and detectors so that they do not obstruct the driver’s visibility.
Driver visibility will be verified with all sensors installed on vehicle.
b. External sensors and detectors shall not protrude from the side of the vehicle to avoid injury to
bystanders, unless installed in a protective housing.
c. Teams shall take care that installed sensors make no contact with the road surface or track-side
protective barriers.
d. Sensors will not obstruct the complete and free range of movement of vehicle controls and control
commands. This shall include controls in the driver compartment and controls on wheels, steering,
brakes, throttle, etc.

Actuators
a. All competing vehicles will be fitted with at a minimum of a brake, throttle and steering actuator.
b. Testing of disengagement of autonomous system.
c. The on board autonomous systems must be disengaged from all actuators if the driver applies the
vehicle’s brakes. This action must change also change the vehicle’s autonomous state.

Sensors using lasers

a. Teams will not use sensors that make use of lasers that are above category 2 (based on IEC 60825-1).

On board computer
a. Teams may use the computing technology of their choice as their board computer system.
b. The organisers require that the on board computer communicate certain functional and operational
parameters based on the protocol definitions provided.
c. The On Board computer and autonomous systems including sensors and actuators may be powered by
the vehicle's principle on board battery or via a secondary power source. The power consumed by the
autonomous systems will not be used in the calculation of the Shell Eco-marathon mileage challenge
energy consumption results.

Navigation software
The organisers will provide a set of digital maps that teams will use to both test and validates their autonomous
systems during the construction and inspection of their vehicles. The navigation software used by teams shall
use only this map format.

The navigation software will be capable of using sensor information from both the car’s rear sensors and virtual
sensors when testing on board systems within a virtual environment

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4. Data formats and communications

Data communications protocols to be published on November 27 2017.

Teams are free to select and integrate the Autonomous System of their choosing. However, the organisers will
provide digital maps of the environment in which the vehicle will be tested and driven. These digital maps will
have an open format and mark-up language allowing the organiser to clearly communicate the positions of both
static and dynamic obstacles within the competition environment.

The digital maps will represent either real or fictitious competition environments in which teams will be required
to demonstrate and competes using their autonomous systems. In the case of a real environment, for example
a regional event, a LIDAR scan of the environment will be used as the basis for the digital map

Static obstacles may include buildings, trees, railings, barriers and other fixed structures. Dynamic obstacles are
obstacles that may or may not physically exist in a real environment, but the autonomous system will
nevertheless be expected to navigate around or over these points. Dynamic obstacles may include virtual
pedestrians, vehicles and other potential obstacles to avoid. They may also include bonus points, stop-signs
traffic lights, and other points that the autonomous system should take into account.

All competing vehicles will be expected to transmit telemetry and autonomous system live data parameters to
an IOT platform provided by the organiser. The communication protocol frequency and other specifications will
be made available to competing teams prior to the start of the 2018 season.

All vehicles will continuously transmit the state of their autonomous system including whether or not the vehicle
is being driven by a human or the onboard computer. the organisers will continuously and verify the state of
the autonomous system within the vehicle and all telemetry data will be used to enhance the experience of both
the teams and spectators.

Platform and communications protocol definitions

Internal Vehicle Communications

Based on internal protocol

Autonomous state

Disengagement of autonomous system

Vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communications

a. No communications by teams and their vehicle shall be permitted during attempts at the competition
challenges, other than those that transit through the competition infrastructure and the onboard
computer provided by the organiser.

Vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications

Reserved

Testing and validation of On Board control system

Vehicle ICS will be verified and tested during an extended technical inspection prior to the start of the
autonomous challenges.

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All vehicles will be fitted with both a Dead Man's Switch and panic button accessible to the driver at all times
within the driver's compartment.

All cars will arrive in inspection with batteries fully charged and will run from internal power supply throughout
the inspection process

The safety driver will be required to hold down the Dead Man's Switch throughout the use of the vehicle’s
autonomous systems. If at any time the driver releases the dead man switch the vehicle's autonomous systems
will be disengaged from all servitude servos accentuated throttles and power control system instantaneously.

A panic button will be fitted within the driver compartment if at any time the panic button is pressed the
vehicle's autonomous control system will be instantaneously disengaged.

Teams will also connect their autonomous vehicle control system to the e stop button on the outside of their
vehicles.

It will be required that all teams demonstrate that the driver can fully disengage the autonomous systems of
the vehicle through the use of both the Dead Man's Switch and panic button.

Open and shared map format

Initial proposal of format and content to be published November 27 2017.

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5. System testing and validation infrastructure

Reserved

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Annex 1 – Level 1 Challenge Illustrations

Please note that the illustrations given over the following pages are intended to demonstrate the general
principal of each of the level 1 challenges. These images do not represent the final challenge or track layouts
are not to scale.

Challenge 1 – Autonomous distance

See description of challenge on page 8.

IMAGE 1 - CHALLENGE 1 ILLUSTRATION

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Challenge 2 – Complex Track Layout illustration

See description of challenge on page 8.

IMAGE 2 - CHALLENGE 2 COMPLEX TRACK LAYOUTS

Challenge 3 – Manoeuvrability
See description of challenge on page 10.

IMAGE 3 - EXAMPLE OF CHALLENGE LAYOUT FOR MANOEUVRABILITY

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Challenge 4 – Obstacle avoidance

See description of challenge on page 11.

IMAGE 4 - CHALLENGE 3 EXAMPLE LAYOUT OF GATES AND BONUSES

Challenge 5 - The Last-minute challenge

See description of challenge on page 11.

IMAGE 5 - CHALLENGE 5 EXAMPLE OF POSSIBLE LAYOUT

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