HUN-REN SZTAKI researcher gave a talk on AI-based autonomous drifting at the Summer Drift Festival
A member of the Intelligent Processes Research Group at HUN-REN SZTAKI, Szilárd Hunor Tóth, junior research fellow and PhD student, gave a workshop talk on Saturday, 11 July 2026 at the Summer Drift Festival held at the Rabócsiring in Máriapócs, Hungary, part of the international Drift Kings championship and organized by HUNAKAMO. The talk was aimed primarily at drivers, mechanics and other team members, and focused on AI-based autonomous drifting.
The workshop presented the results of research carried out jointly by the Department of Automotive Technologies of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) and HUN-REN SZTAKI. The developments presented are based on reinforcement learning, and what makes them special is that autonomous drifting has been successfully demonstrated not only in simulation, but also on a real vehicle. The research is carried out within the framework of the Autonomous Systems National Laboratory project.
The event was special in that, this time, the presentation was not given at an award ceremony but as a dedicated professional workshop for drivers, mechanics and team members, allowing participants to get a closer look at the goals and results of the research. According to feedback, the audience was once again surprised by how advanced autonomous-drifting research is in Hungary, and by its potential practical applications for the self-driving vehicles of the future.
The event is a good example of how scientific research can engage in dialogue with the practical world of motorsport at a prestigious venue, and how it can contribute to future developments in autonomous vehicle control. The collaboration between HUN-REN SZTAKI and the BME Department of Automotive Technologies will continue with similar presentations at upcoming events – the 2026 race calendar of the Drift Kings championship is available at drifting.hu, and the next event expected to feature a similar talk is the Trackwood #15 Drift Festival, on 29 August 2026.
