Autodrive
Kettering University was one of eight schools in North America to be selected to participate in the first AutoDrive Challenge. The Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) International and General Motors recently announced Kettering University will compete in AutoDrive Challenge II which puts students at the forefront of technological innovation related to the development of autonomous vehicles.
Latest Team News

AutoDrive Lab Gets Makeover
The Kettering University AutoDrive team, Bulldog Bolt, has an improved space to focus on its next challenge.
Team members and faculty advisor Dr. Diane Peters cut the ribbon on the revamped space. The renovation included installing new lights, painting the walls, painting the floor and coating with a nonslip coating and adding a new vehicle lift and adjustable work benches.
AutoDrive Challenge
SAE International and General Motors (GM) have partnered to headline sponsor AutoDrive Challenge™, the latest of SAE International’s Collegiate Design Series.
This autonomous vehicle competition tasks students to develop and demonstrate a full autonomous driving passenger vehicle. The technical goal of the competition is to navigate an urban driving course in an automated driving mode as described by SAE Standard (J3016) level 4 definition.
Kettering University is participating in the competition alongside the following schools:
- Michigan State University
- Michigan Technical University
- North Carolina A&T University
- Texas A&M University
- University of Toronto
- University of Waterloo
- Virginia Tech
Kettering University Involvement
Kettering University’s campus is equipped with the infrastructure and faculty expertise to develop the next generation of autonomous vehicle technologies.
Infrastructure
Kettering is the only college campus in the country with an industry-standard proving ground. The facility includes a low-speed road course with elevation and surface changes, a 3.25 acre test pad built to race track performance specifications and other features aimed at creating diverse testing environments. A garage facility includes automotive bays, conference and office space and indoor lab space.
Faculty Expertise
Faculty in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Computer Science collaboratively developed the goals, objectives and opportunities for current and future Kettering students to participate in the AutoDrive Challenge.
This challenge puts Kettering students at the forefront of technological innovation related to the development of autonomous vehicles, connects them with a network of scholars and peers from the nation’s elite schools who are attempting to solve similar challenges and provides access to national workshops hosted by SAE International.