ForzaETH, der Sombrero im Dienst der Wissenschaft

ForzaETH: The Sombrero in the Service of Science

Designing a race car that overtakes opponents on the track — fully autonomously — means pushing boundaries.

The sombrero, as becomes clear when talking to Nicolas Baumann, doesn’t get nearly enough credit in the scientific world. A goofy party hat? Not quite. Actually, it is a key communication tool.

At the ETH Hangar, ForzaETH is building an autonomous race car — a 1:10 scale Formula 1 model — designed to compete in academic competitions. Races involving opponents on the same track are a stress test for autonomous driving systems, says Nicolas Baumann of ForzaETH.

And the sombrero is more than just a visual identifier. A ring of LEDs around its brim displays color-coded signals. Rainbow mode means it’s found a way past and is going for it. The more party lights, the more party mood in the team.

Students from mechanical engineering, robotics, computer science, and electrical engineering are involved in the project. And it’s far more than a fun experiment — a growing number of academic publications have come out of the project. Each paper, says Baumann, shows how far the limits are being pushed in Dübendorf. “We’re pushing these systems right to the edge.” The ETH team has been at the front of the field since the beginning of the series and was ahead in several areas. “We published everything. Today, the entire field is operating at the top level.”

Knowledge sharing, Baumann says, is one of the biggest advantages of being based in Dübendorf. Another: the large test track right outside the hangar. Here, the distance from development to testing is literally just a few steps.