This then is Robocar, a concept that will form the design basis for the race cars that will feature in Roborace, a showcase race for self-driving cars set to run during the 2016/2017 Formula E season.
No driver, connected and electric, that’s what this one is all about. The format to run the self-driving race cars hasn’t been revealed, but Formula E hints that the ‘shows’ will feature disruptive and innovative new formats showcasing safety as well as extreme driving capabilities.
Reports indicate that the Roborace series is an avenue to both promote autonomous driving as well as offer software engineers a competitive venue to refine their craft. Teams will apparently share the same hardware, as in a base car, but develop their own software to run it.
The man behind Robocar is Daniel Simon, who began his design career at Volkswagen, working with the Seat, Lamborghini and Bugatti elements within the group. The German, who has dabbled in design in various disciplines including that of drones and motorcycles to spaceships and Le Mans cars, was also responsible for vehicular concepts in movies such as Tron: Legacy and Oblivion, among others.
It is said that the Roborace is as much about competition as it is entertainment, but how much fun there is in having a whole slew of programmed, driverless cars racing each other (silently at that) remains to be seen. Invaluable for autonomous driving research, yes, but it kind of takes the life out of racing, don’t you think?
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“…share the same hardware, as in a base car, but develop their own softward to run it.”
What is software, cousin of squidward is it?
Lol, d before e, except after r. Thanks for the spot!
I’d rather watch R/C car racing than this. Have anyone watched R/C drift and 4×4 race on youtube? So much fun.