A student-led team of robotics experts will participate in the penultimate event next week for an international challenge that could pave the way for future breakthrough innovations in the world of autonomous vehicles. It should, given Pittsburgh universities' history of performing well in challenges such as the DARPA Grand Challenge, DARPA Urban Challenge or the 2012-2015 Robotics Challenge. But this time it's not a Carnegie Mellon University-led team that is preparing – it's a student group of roboticists from the University of Pittsburgh readying itself for next week's Indy Autonomous Challenge finals on October 23rd. The goal of the challenge is a race around the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway in self-driving cars – the grand prize of $1 million is up for grabs. Leading the team is Nayana Suvarna, the head of Pitt's Robotics & Automation Society (RAS), a robotics club at the school that pursues robotics education opportunities (the school doesn't have a formal robotics program).

It doesn't quite have the cachet of something like the Winston Cup (yet), but the Drone Racing League says its 2017 campaign will be called the Allianz World Championship Series. In another move cribbed from traditional motorsports, the drone pilots will have sponsors too. This season is airing on TV again with 12 hour long episodes that will come to ESPN/ESPN2. Those identical DRL Racer 2 drones will fly through 3D courses at more than 90mph, with the league promising bigger courses and faster drones this season. The action kicks off in June, but for now, there's a preview trailer to feast your eyes on.