- What's up, guys?
I'm Maya Bello.
And I am super hyped to welcome you back to Round 2
of the AWS DeepRacer 2020 Championships.
(car revving)
We started this tournament with 112
of the fastest developers in the world.
- Not fast enough.
- [Maya] And now only 32 remain.
- And it's just going to get more grueling,
Maya, as our remaining developers face off Head to Head
in a single elimination bracket.
The competition in 2020 is so fierce that even a millisecond
could mean the difference. - Yeah!
- Between a spot on the Grand Prix grid or...
- No!
- It's better luck next year.
Which of our remaining developers will make it
to the Grand Prix Final?
- Come on.
- We're about to find out.
(upbeat music)
- I don't know about you guys,
but I was feeling pretty nervous in my bracket.
- It ended up being a lot more competitive than I thought.
- The bar is so high now
that it's becoming like a pro league, you know? (laughs)
(guys laughing)
It's so difficult to compete now.
- Ray, I'm up against one of your colleagues.
Can you give me any inside information and tips
on how I might be able to beat him?
- Speaking with my colleague Robin,
I think he has some very impressive models up his sleeve.
- Robin posted some fast times.
- He has demonstrated that,
yeah, you don't need four servers
in your basement to do it.
(man laughing)
- Yeah you don't need them, but they do come in handy.
- He's been spending a lot of credits trying
to train his model to beat you.
So I think he's going to give you a run for your money.
- I'm not feeling confident at all.
- But you're the hot favorite.
- It's time to head to the track
and start the Bracket of 32.
- This is a big-time matchup.
The number three developer out of group four,
who set a remarkable time in the group knockouts 23.385
it's JJ, James Jennens lining up in the yellow car
squaring off against the number two developer
from group five Robin Castro starting in the purple car.
In three, two, one.
(energetic music)
Here's the crucial start to this race and a great start
there from Robin Castro in the purple car.
Had the outside line
but a bit of a headstart
by virtue of being the two seed.
JJ is three seed.
- I've got a slow model it's behind. (chuckles)
- So much talk about what JJ had done
on the virtual circuit
coming into this tournament.
Many have picked him as the favorite
but he's got a deficit to make up here.
- Well, that was what I was worried about.
I went for a slower, more stable model
and that was the wrong choice.
- Robin Castro around one more time
crosses the start finish line.
Robin Castro to the Round of 16
and JJ, the big, heavy favorite coming in
has been eliminated.
This result will get the attention
of the DeepRacer community.
No one saw this one coming.
- So James, you fell a little bit behind right at the start.
- Yeah I failed to employ my techniques in the end.
Unfortunately I was up against Robin
who's been improving very rapidly
over the last (chuckles) little while,
and he was a worthy winner in the end.
He's done a very good job.
(upbeat music)
- Now squaring off in the Bracket of 32,
the three seed out of Group 8, PolishThunder,
Daryl Jezierski against the two seed
from group one Po-Chun representing
the National Chiao Tung University
Computer Gaming Institute in Taiwan.
Daryl known as PolishThunder racing in the purple car,
Po-Chun in the yellow car.
Three, two, one.
(energetic music)
The lights are out and the race is on.
Po-Chun spins off track.
A great opening lap from PolishThunder.
Daryl Jezierski has built up a margin
of nearly half a lap.
- (chuckles) Yeah.
Keep goin', keep goin'.
- Now through the hairpin
and oh no Daryl
off on the exit of the hairpin.
That's going to open the door for Po-Chun.
- Ah, man.
- [Ryan] That lead has been decimated.
- Well maybe he'll get an off track (chuckles).
- Po-Chun putting the pressure on here
coming around to complete the second lap.
- [Daryl] Come on lap three.
Don't go off track.
- Closing in here in the slower sections makes
a move to the inside and has the lead
with a great pass through the hairpin
and then wheel-to-wheel contact.
Getting the worst of it PolishThunder, Daryl.
(man laughs)
Not much time left as Po-Chun crosses
the start finish line
and embarks on a final lap.
Daryl losing further time,
dropping farther and farther back.
- Oh, oh (chuckles).
- The pressure is mounting.
Half a lap away from clenching a spot
in the Round of 16.
- Go off track.
- [Ryan] And Po-Chun has done it.
- Oh man.
- This is the end of the line for PolishThunder.
Daryl Jezierski.
He will not escape the Bracket of 32
and we must now say so long
to one of the more colorful characters
in the 2020 tournament.
- Daryl, thank you so much for allowing us
to follow your journey.
- Thank you guys for everything that you've done
for getting people interested in machine learning.
(upbeat music)
- This round of 32 race pits
the number one seed out of Group 7,
RayG against the four seed out
of Group number 2, nalbam-me.
RayG the purple car on the screen facing off against
a 2019 finalist from Korea.
Nalbam in the yellow car.
Three, two, one,
and they are off.
Look at that start there from nalbam.
Able to claim the apex of turn one.
Kind of parks Ray's car a little bit behind him.
- Oh he's fast.
- Nalbam-me sprinting out ahead.
- He had a great start.
- [Ryan] Very clean for both
of these developers to this point.
- I think that first turn was absolutely crucial.
- [Ryan] Still plenty of time for Ray to make a comeback,
but he's gotta be sweating this out.
- I'm counting on having a stable model
and hopefully he gets an off track.
And then I get to overtake him on the off track.
- [Ryan] To make an overtaking maneuver,
not easy around the real-life Monaco circuit.
Same goes for the track here in DeepRacer.
- His pace is not much faster than mine.
I can see but he's looking very stable as well.
- Running out of time to make
a comeback bid here.
He needs to have a mistake if Ray's going
to have a chance but Ray with the off track.
- Oh, off track.
- That opens the door.
Nalbam-me across the start finish line
will advance to the Round of 16.
And that means it's the end of the line for Ray Goh.
- I tried, I tried (chuckles).
- In the future, what do you think you would change?
- Spend a lot more time preparing.
I started quite late in my training
for the Championship Cup.
So looking forward to next year
and hopefully we can get back
to physical racing next year as well.
(energetic music)
- The field of eight for the Grand Prix has been set.
The eight developers that will have a chance
at the 2020 DeepRacer Cup
are PoChun-NCTU CGI.
(people applauding)
Kuei-NCTU-CGI, Robin-Castro,
Duckworth, Jochem, Condoriano, Karl-NAB,
and JPMC-Driftking.
- Congratulations to our eight finalists.
And thank you to everyone that raced
in the Bracket of 32
or followed along at home.
- Be sure to tune in December 15th,
live from the keynote stage at re:Invent
for the Grand Prix Final.
(upbeat music)
- Shift your machine learning journey
into high gear today at DeepRacerLeague.com