Kick-off for the RDW Self Driving Challenge 2025: Talent in Action!

The Self Driving Challenge is organised by RDW, providing young talent with the opportunity to develop their skills for the future of autonomous driving. This unique project sees student teams competing against each other by navigating their autonomous vehicles through a series of challenges that simulate real-life driving scenarios.

With eleven student teams participating this year, the event has set a new record. Johan in 't Holt, project lead for the Self Driving Challenge, expressed his excitement: “It is great to see increasing support for autonomous technology through educational institutions, helping the Netherlands generate more expertise in this field. Additionally, it is crucial that the challenge continues to grow in quality by implementing even more realistic scenarios.”

The teams represent institutions from across the country, including MBO, HBO, and WO educational levels. Over the coming months, they will work intensively to develop autonomous software and prepare their vehicles for the competition, culminating in the final on Thursday, 12 June, where they will battle for the championship trophy.

The final will take place at the RDW test centre in Lelystad. The course is filled with challenges, requiring vehicles to respond appropriately to real-life situations such as stopping at traffic lights, parking, and overtaking. The team that completes these challenges most successfully will be crowned the champion.

Last year’s open category winner, Fontys, is confident about their chances due to their experience but offers a word of advice to the competition: “You have to work hard to win. In the final weeks leading up to last year’s event, we practically lived on pizza, spending every day either at the test track in Lelystad or at school fine-tuning our vehicle until we were kicked out.”

The teams will compete in two categories: open and closed. In the closed category, RDW provides a kart and a computer, which teams can programme as they see fit. The seven teams in the open category use and programme their own vehicles. This category has seen significant growth, as noted by Thijmen Fellinger, a former participant and SDC crew member: “The open category is overtaking the closed category with the karts. While the karts made participation more accessible, the open category allows students to further develop technology within their own vehicles.”

Each category will have its own winner. From March to June, teams will have special test days to trial their vehicles on the self-driving challenge track. Naturally, RDW will ensure the safety of all participating autonomous vehicles during these tests.

The teams competing in the closed category are: Hanze University of Applied Sciences, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, and Saxion University of Applied Sciences. The open category includes University of the North, NHL Stenden, Fontys, HAN, Firda, University of Twente, and Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences.

We are already looking forward to the test days and the final. Follow the teams on their journey to the final via www.selfdrivingchallenge.nl or @selfdrivingchallenge on LinkedIn and Instagram. Want to get into the spirit of the 2025 edition? Watch the aftermovie of the Self Driving Challenge 2024 here.

RDW organises the competition to gain insights into the complexity of autonomous vehicles and how they make decisions. This helps RDW better prepare for a future in which self-driving technology will play an increasingly significant role, both in daily use and in the type approval process. Through this challenge, RDW also aims to position itself as a potential employer, bringing together young talent and smart mobility.