WVU RoboRacer team places third overall at Roboracer autonomous racing international competition in Michigan

WVU RoboRacer team members and adviser stand with their autonomous race cars after earning third place overall at the 28th RoboRacer Autonomous Racing Competition, held during the 2026 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium in Detroit, Michigan. (WVU Photo)

Demonstrating speed, precision and adaptability in autonomous vehicle technology, a team of students from the West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources placed third overall at the 28th RoboRacer Autonomous Racing Competition, held during the 2026 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium in Detroit, Michigan.

Story by Erik Rudolph, Marketing Strategist 
Photos by WVU RoboRacer Team

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

The WVU RoboRacer team competed against 17 teams from universities across the country, including teams from the University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University and Purdue University in a competition that challenges teams to build 1:10-scale autonomous race cars capable of driving at high speeds, avoiding crashes, over taking opponents and minimizing lap time.

The team was led by Andrew Sarver, a master’s student in computer science, and mentored by Mohamed Elgouhary, a doctoral student in electrical engineering. Team members included Evan Anderson, a computer science graduate who will pursue a master’s degree in computer science this fall, and Blake Buskirk, a senior undergraduate student in electrical engineering.

Amr El-Wakeel, assistant professor and coordinator for robotics in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, stated “This year, teams competed on one of the longest tracks in RoboRacer competitions, and some teams were notably using artificial intelligence, including the WVU team.”

Sarver helped prepare WVU RoboRacer for competition by guiding the capstone group and organizing a more efficient path from development to race day.

“I advised the capstone group during the semester and organized a codebase that reduced overhead and streamlined the process of getting the car racing as quickly as possible,” Sarver said. “Mohamed and I were the ones who tuned the car at the competition and got it racing.”

The WVU RoboRacer team integrated both the hardware and software systems for the scaled-down race car, including the motor, speed controllers, in-house 3D-printed suspension, computing board, LiDAR sensor and autonomous driving software. El-Wakeel said RoboRacer is built around software algorithms, but a strong hardware system is critical to keeping the vehicle stable at race speed. For this year’s competition, WVU used a research algorithm developed in the iCPS Lab by Elgouhary that applied simulation-to-real zero-shot reinforcement learning to help the car navigate the course, overtake opponents and complete laps.

“The biggest challenge was the racetrack geometry, which included sharp curves and dynamic lane widths that can be very challenging for reactive algorithms and modules,” El-Wakeel said.

During the mapping session, Sarver said the car began losing its position and crashing before the team discovered the LiDAR mount was flexing during acceleration, causing the sensor to see over the course walls.

“As proud engineers, we fixed this by using zip ties to solidify the mount and resolve our issue,” Sarver said.

El-Wakeel said the team’s previous competition experience helped WVU prepare more effectively for its third RoboRacer appearance.

“The team has shown growth and maturity in their third participation in the competition, where the previous race experience helped a lot with the team preparation in terms of what to focus on while training and the potential pitfalls to avoid,” El-Wakeel said.

That preparation proved important during the final race for third place, when WVU trailed by roughly half a lap before its car overtook its opponent near the end of the race.

“At that moment, I was extremely excited,” Sarver said. “We were going up against one of the best schools in the world, and we were up 1-0 in the series. We managed to overtake them and win third place at the last second, which was almost movie-like. Our method of racing had not been tested in a real race before, so seeing it perform this well was extremely validating.”

Sarver said the competition experience stood out not only because of the racing, but because of the community surrounding autonomous vehicle research.

“The experience was unlike any other robotics competition I’ve been a part of,” Sarver said. “Everyone there not only had some amazing algorithms but also contributed to the community as a whole through open sourcing and research papers. I met some very nice people and had some very interesting conversations that broadened my perspective on how autonomous racing could be achieved.”

El-Wakeel said the competition gave students an opportunity to take research from the lab into a real-world testing environment while competing against strategies developed by other universities.

“The competition, and particularly this round, was an interesting venue to take our research from the lab to real-life testing while examining the algorithm against other schools’ algorithms and racing strategies,” El-Wakeel said. “Participation in competitions allows great hands-on experience, interactions with top schools and the chance to also have fun.”

For Sarver, participating in WVU RoboRacer helped him grow as an engineer by learning from other students, researchers and competitors working on similar problems.

“I love talking to other engineers to get their perspective on how they approach problems,” Sarver said. “This widens my perspective and helps me solve issues as I encounter them. This competition was an amazing experience that furthered my understanding of controls thanks to the incredibly talented and smart members of the community.”

Sarver said he encourages other students to get involved with competitive teams and experiential learning opportunities at Statler College as early as possible.

“My point of view has always been that books only take you so far,” Sarver said. “The field of engineering is so complex that you couldn’t possibly cram it all into courses, so experience plays a large role in how confident you are in your own abilities.”

He added that WVU and the Statler College offers students many ways to get involved outside the classroom, including WVU RoboRacer. “Joining a competitive team like this allows you to spread your wings, challenge yourself and talk to other engineering students who come from all sorts of different backgrounds,” Sarver said. “In my experience, the earlier you get involved, the more you’ll grow in the classroom, in the field and as a person.”

Find more information about WVU Robotics.

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