We are a team of mathematics, physics and computer science students at the University of St Andrews building an autonomous racing system to compete in Formula Student AI.

Formula Student AI is a UK-wide university competition held at Silverstone, where teams design cars that navigate a cone-marked track without a human driver. The vehicle must perceive its surroundings, make decisions in real time, and drive safely and quickly on its own.

Although St Andrews does not have an engineering department, students across disciplines have come together to build this project from the ground up.

Over the past few months, we have secured our primary sensor - a LiDAR system that generates a real-time 3D map of the environment - and developed our core perception and control software in simulation.

The next stage is moving from simulation to real-world testing.

To do that, we are working with the St Andrews Robotics Society to build a physical autonomous test vehicle. This allows students to gain hands-on experience in systems integration, hardware assembly, software development, and team-based engineering - practical skills that extend well beyond coursework.

We are raising funds to support:

• The autonomous test vehicle platform

• A monocular camera for perception

• Ongoing development and testing costs

Real-world testing is essential. Software that performs well in simulation must be refined on a physical track to ensure reliability, safety, and performance at competition level.

Our founding members have already contributed personally to get the project started. Every donation goes directly toward building and testing the vehicle.

By supporting this project, you are helping students at St Andrews gain meaningful experience in robotics, software engineering, and interdisciplinary collaboration - and enabling us to compete at a national level.

We’ll be sharing updates and behind-the-scenes progress with supporters as the project develops.

Thank you for taking the time to read about our work.