Get ready to take the pole position in the AWS DeepRacer League. Today, we’re excited to bring you the next stage in the AWS DeepRacer journey – the AWS DeepRacer League 2019.

In November 2018, Jeff Barr announced the launch of AWS DeepRacer on the AWS News Blog as a new way to learn machine learning (ML). With AWS DeepRacer, developers have an opportunity to get hands-on with a fully autonomous 1/18th scale race car driven by reinforcement learning, a 3D racing simulator, and a global racing league.

Thousands of developers joined the live action at the race tracks at AWS re:Invent 2018, racing for glory and prizes, and to win the coveted AWS DeepRacer Championship Cup. The 2018 reigning Champion is Rick Fish, co-founder of UK-based FinTech startup Jigsaw XYZ. It was a close race, but Rick rose victorious with a winning lap time of 50.51 seconds. You can check out the final race and also a recent interview with Rick where he gave us an update on what he and his race team are doing to prepare to defend the title in the 2019 Championship, on deepracerleague.com.

Now it’s your turn to get on the track and learn ML with AWS DeepRacer. There are two ways to participate in the AWS DeepRacer League 2019: the Summit Circuit and the Virtual Circuit. Winners and top point scorers will be heading on an expenses-paid trip to race in the final stages of competition at AWS re:Invent 2019 in Las Vegas.

Summit Circuit – Bringing the race to a city near you

You can join us at any of the 20 AWS Summits, globally, where we help you build and train a model at a workshop, or you can bring a model you have trained at home. You can then put your model to the test and compete on the track in the AWS Summit Expo. There are no limits on how many of the 20 Summit events you can participate in. Simply register for the Summit you want to race at, and we will see you there. Check out the Summit Circuit schedule here.

Virtual Circuit – Compete from anywhere in the world

The Virtual Circuit opens up the race to anyone, anywhere. You can build models and compete online in the league through the AWS DeepRacer console. The virtual races will take place monthly on new, increasingly challenging tracks, and are open to all levels of expertise. Sign up for the preview to get on the list for early access. The first event of the Virtual Circuit will launch soon, stay tuned for updates on deepracerleague.com.

Whether you are new to machine learning or ready to build on your existing skills, we can help you get ready to race. Developers with no prior machine learning experience can get started by watching this AWS DeepRacer Tech Talk to get familiar with the basics of reinforcement learning (a branch of machine learning that’s ideal for training autonomous vehicles) and AWS DeepRacer. For the early adopters out there who are already comfortable with reinforcement learning, you can dive in and build an AWS DeepRacer model using the Amazon SageMaker RL notebook.

Come join us at one of the Summits or on the Virtual Circuit and get in on the action. It could be you lifting the Championship Cup in 2019. You can also follow the action online at deepracer.com and on Instagram: awsdeepracer.

Developers, the race is on!

About the Author

Sally Revell is a Principal Product Marketing Manager for AWS DeepLens. She loves to work on innovative products that have the potential to impact people’s lives in a positive way. In her spare time, she loves to do yoga, horseback riding and being outdoors in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.