Nova is an undergraduate research team under Professor Justin Ruths developing a research-focused and open-source self-driving vehicle. While companies have made great strides in autonomous driving, it has become difficult for academic research to participate due to the proprietary nature of the software that runs these systems. Nova aims to provide research groups with a solution that can not only be understood and operated by an academic research lab, but also be deployed in real-world test vehicles.
Faculty member, Justin Ruths will be matching all gifts given to UTD's self-driving car project Nova, $1 to $1 up to a total of $1,000.
Goal # 1: $200 for software license to use remote desktop software that allows our group to run simulations of the vehicle on a central computer.
Goal # 2: $500 to purchase radar sensors, which will provide an additional sensing modality beyond cameras and LiDAR and perceive the environment in mor varied situations.
Goal # 3: $750 to purchase a new GPS device. This would provide centimeter-level accuracy for locating our vehicle and keeping it in the road lane.
Ongoing Fundraising Goals: Additional funds raised will be used to purchase materials for ongoing maintenance and fabrication of our vehicle, as well as supplies for outreach materials. Funds will also support student opportunities for conference travel and training.
Testimonials from UTD Students:
“Nova enables me to partake in research in the cutting-edge field of autonomous vehicles. As the team structure mimics the corporate world, I gain both technical and professional development skills from this experience.” -- Hansika Sundaresan
“I feel confident talking with others about the technical or conceptual details of Nova. I love being able to produce and test ideas I've learned in class or online to get a working output that benefits the project.” -- Meyli Colmenero
“My interviewer loved hearing about the experience and personally related to the tools/algorithms I used. It was exciting to realize that Nova's work directly ties into real systems used across the AV industry.” -- Nikhil Narvekar
We appreciate your support on Comets Giving Days. Your generosity will help us to expand the impact of the research and collaboration of faculty with UTD Students, create an open-sourced AV software stack, and help UT Dallas further their outreach to educate the public about autonomous driving and K-12 students about the opportunities in STEM careers
