Athena Goes Autonomous: Inside Unibo Motorsport’s Breakthrough Year

Unibo Motorsport, the racing team of the University of Bologna, is a reality where more than 300 students from various fields of study combine the skills acquired at university with those learned within the team to compete annually against students from all over the world in international races on the most prestigious circuits in Europe.

During this season, the team focused on the development of the 2026 vehicle and on the implementation of autonomous driving on Athena, the electric-powered car.

We designed and produced several PCBs for the implementation of autonomous driving. Among these are: the ASSI a group of PCBs which act as indicators of the autonomous driving status; the EBS board, which controls the pneumatic brake in case of emergency; and the RES_bypass board, which bypass the remote kill switch when a driver is on board.

In addition, we also designed and produced PCBs for the 2026 vehicle, such as the new Battery Management System, which will enhance the battery pack balancing system, and the new acquisition board, developed to read analog inputs from sensors and transmit them via CAN to the VCU.

The team also participated in Formula Student Germany competition, held at the Hockenheim circuit. Due to the modifications made to integrate the autonomous driving system, the team faced several difficulties during the technical inspections, which limited participation in the dynamic events. Despite these obstacles, the team still managed to gain fundamental feedback from the static events for the development of the upcoming vehicle.

The season concluded with Formula ATA, held at the Varano de’ Melegari Circuit in September. Bringing the project of the team’s future electric car, participating in Class 3 so only in static events such as Design, Cost, and Business Plan, winning first place.

Unibo Motorsport is satisfied with how the year ended since the main goal was not to win but to implement an autonomous driving system on Athena and thus validate the systems that will be implemented in the new car.

Talking about the electric car the project for next year is even more ambitious and includes a completely redesigned powertrain, in-wheel all-wheel drive, and a clear goal: to compete with the top international teams.

As for the hybrid vehicle next year’s project will focus on optimising vibration management and integrating the hybrid propulsion system, with the intention of competing for a podium finish.

In the end for our motorcycle the upcoming electronic projects include LED cluster boards for clear visual signals, a fuse protection board for the LV system, and a CAN inverter isolation board to ensure data integrity. A new BMS is also under development to monitor battery parameters and ensure safety and compliance with MotoStudent regulations.

For more information please visit the Unibo Motorsport website.