Today's Edition
MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
At Yas Marina Circuit, a TII car rounds a corner at more than 200 kilometres an hour. There’s no driver behind the wheel – just radars, cameras, LiDARs and a network of AI systems making millisecond decisions to navigate the track.
Developed by the Autonomous Robotics Research Center (ARRC), under Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII), in collaboration with Italy’s Dallara, the vehicle is set to race fully autonomously on November 15.
It will be competing against 11 global teams at the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL), organised by ASPIRE, the technology transition arm of the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC).
In an interview with Aletihad, Professor Enrico Natalizio, ARRC’s chief researcher, explained why this race represents more than just a test of speed.
The techniques tested on high-speed autonomous cars could also inform emergency vehicles, logistics, and everyday autonomous transportation, he noted.
Learning from mistakes and rare “edge cases” in racing helps make these systems safer and more efficient in real-world applications, added Prof. Natalizio.
TII’s ARRC includes 240 staff across five vertical teams specialising in different domains of autonomous systems: cacing, ground, marine, aerial, and humanoid robots.
The racing vertical, for example, pushes AI to its limits with high-speed cars and drones, while the ground vehicle team focuses on logistics applications, including autonomous trucks that transport containers at Abu Dhabi ports – a task that can now be done without exposing human drivers to long hours under the sun.
The marine team is developing autonomous water taxis to reduce road congestion and improve mobility across Abu Dhabi’s islands.
Precision docking remains a challenge, but full deployment is expected soon, according to Prof. Natalizio.
The team is also working on autonomous underwater vehicles that can help map the seabed for potential archaeological discoveries.
ARRC’s aerial team is testing multi-drone coordination for disaster response, search-and-rescue operations, and fleet management.
Humanoid robotics, a newer focus, aims to create robots capable of collecting packages delivered by drones, and completing tasks with minimal human intervention.
Central to these advances is the use of AI and real-time data. “Data is the new oil,” Prof. Natalizio said.
He explained that ARRC is working on developing systems where multiple robots work together in coordinated fleets.
In disaster response scenarios, for example, drones can cover large areas with different roles, communicate their observations, and relay information to human operators.
Similar coordination is used for air defence and autonomous delivery systems, allowing robots to distribute tasks, adapt in real time, and respond to unexpected situations that were not explicitly programmed.
ARRC has partnered with NVIDIA and is beta-testing Google’s Gemini robotics model to advance these capabilities.
Abu Dhabi’s regulatory and innovation environment has been a key enabler.
Prof. Natalizio highlighted the support of the Smart Autonomous Systems Council, and collaborations with local authorities like the General Civil Aviation Authority, which are helping define the frameworks for autonomous vehicles and drones in the UAE.
He noted that in Abu Dhabi, ideas with real potential quickly reach decision-makers, allowing researchers to see tangible results from their work.
TII is also nurturing the next generation of AI and robotics talent through initiatives like Next Tech, sending top students abroad to study advanced robotics, then integrating them into ARRC’s projects.
Local youth are engaged through outreach programmes. This includes organising STEM workshops at the Louvre Abu Dhabi to teach kids basic robotics programming, and helping build the first team RoboCup team in the MENA region with Khalifa University.
