CIG Car Racing Competition results

The winner of the CIG Car Racing Competition is Peter Burrow - congratulations, Pete! He used a modular controller based on two incrementally evolved neural networks, and the nearest competitor, Thomas Haferlach, also used a modular controller based on two neural networks, although CTRNNs rather than the more straightforward networks Pete used.

Aravind Gowrisankar and Matthew Simmerson submitted controllers based on NEAT (NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies) and I submitted a simple hard-coded controller, an simple evolved neural network, as well as (together with Hugo Marques) a controller based on an evolved neural network for controlling the car together with a copy of the whole simulation environment for predicting which car will reach the current way point first. None of these approaches scored as well as the modular controllers of Pete and Tom, but with some more work they might well do.

As for where that work would be submitted, we are planning to run another car racing competition for CEC 2007. That would give contestants several more months (until September) to work on their controllers. We haven't currently decided on the exact details of that competition, but plan to finalise it before the end of April. So if you have any ideas on in what direction to take the competition (changing the interfaces? dynamics model? task? etc) please speak up now!