Robot Open Autonomous Racing (ROAR™)

Established in 2019, the UC Berkeley Robot Open Autonomous Racing (ROAR) program aims to advance solutions of autonomous systems, intelligent machines, and human-in-the-loop control for extreme robotics applications. ROAR faculty and students in electrical engineering and computer science and mechanical engineering develop high- performance algorithms for 3D perception, model predictive control, reinforcement learning, generative AI, and simulation and virtual reality. 

ROAR offers multi-faceted research and educational programming designed to benefit and excite a pipeline of students from kindergarten to PhD candidates.

• AI Racing Tech – This Berkeley-led multi-university autonomous racing team competes internationally in the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC).
• ROAR GO – For college students new to autonomous racing, ROAR GO builds self-driving go-karts to compete in the nationwide Autonomous Karting Series (AKS).
• ROAR Academy – Summer programs for high school students introduce autonomous driving algorithms to prepare for a Simulation Racing Series competition.
• ROAR Ambassadors – Select high school students host outreach programs for K-12 students to grow interest in STEM fields.

ROAR has received funding from the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Army Research Laboratory, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, along with industry sponsorships.

ROAR is a program of the FHL Vive Center for Enhanced Reality in the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.