PITTSBURGH STARTUP ROBOTICS COMPANY, SKA CUSTOM ROBOTS AND MACHINES, BACKS CARNEGIE MELLON’S SELF-DRIVING RACE CAR AT 2023 CES IN LAS VEGAS
JANUARY 11, 2023 – PITTSBURGH, PA – Pittsburgh-based robotics engineering company SKA Custom Robots and Machines has elected to sponsor Carnegie Mellon University’s Autonomous Racing team, a team of 90 students which represents a significant cross-section of future robotics expertise. In collaboration with AI Racing Tech, the team’s self-driving race car placed third in the 2023 time trials at speeds of over 170 miles per hour in one of the most exciting robotic sporting events in North America.
SKA, President & CEO, Spencer Krause, helps CAR Technical Director, Ravi Patel put the hood on one of CMU’s autonomous race cars.
“Autonomous Challenge races were held last week in Las Vegas and will be held again in May 2023,” says Max Wiemer, founder and director of The CMU Indy Racing Team’s newly formed Business Division.“ This race was the culmination of work between AI Racing Tech and Carnegie Autonomous Racing collective. As a collective, we were proud to push the bounds of autonomous racing as teams expand from single-agent to multi-agent competitions.”
“SKA is proud to support the next generation of Autonomous Racer,” stated SKA president, CEO, and CMU alumnus, Spencer Krause. “This presents an opportunity for SKA to foster relations with multiple universities, support a new sport, and continue to push the limits of self-driving technology.”
SKA’s contribution to the Carnegie Autonomous racing team is one of several instances of the startup’s support of student technology organizations at the university. In 2021, SKA sponsored a CMU Robotics Club virtual event that allowed students to drive the company’s robots over the internet. Krause, who was heavily involved in robotics labs and organizations during his time as an undergraduate and grad student adds, “I know what it is like to be a student in need of project funding, and we want to support the team as much as possible.”
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About SKA Custom Robots and Machines
SKA Custom Robots and Machines is an engineering firm based in Pittsburgh, PA that specializes in solving difficult technical challenges. The SKA team has worked on medical robots, human-augmentation technology, construction robots, cleaning robots, inspection robots and more. Learn more at www.ska.solutions.