According to multiple Chinese outlets, the 2017 China Intelligent Vehicle Future Challenge (IVFC) started Saturday in Changshu City of east China’s Jiangsu Province.  

First held in 2009, the IVFC is tasked to provide a platform to present the latest development and achievement of driverless technology. It is expected to inspire more and more universities and scientific institutions to participate in the research of autonomous intelligent vehicle and promote China’s comprehensive capabilities in this emerging high-tech field.

So far, the annual event has become the highest-level competition for smart vehicles with the largest number of competing teams in China. The 2017 IVFC has attracted 25 teams from famous universities, scientific research institutions and companies nationwide, said the local media.

Compared to the previous ones, the event this year increases the difficulty of competitions, where both manned and autonomous vehicles are asked to compete together by simulating actual traffic flows. It is expected to test the basic cognitive accuracy of different driverless systems and their responses to various driving situations. In addition, the IVFC will also require competitors to complete various tests to examine their vehicles’ performance, such as comfort and agility.

“One thing is that we have made the traffic environment more dynamic. In the previous competitions, only driverless vehicles were in the test environment,” said Wang Feiyue, deputy chairman and general secretary of Chinese Association of Automation.

“However, this time, we have invited more than 20 experienced drivers from driving schools to join the test together with the driverless vehicles. They will overtake driverless vehicles, or drive slowly and force the driverless vehicles to change lanes.”