Roborace

Two weekends ago at the Berlin ePrix, spectators got to see Roborace’s DevBot, the autonomous racing car prototype, do a full lap of the Formula E circuit at Tempelhof airport.  We’ve seen a few short videos which we’ll link below, but today Roborace released the thing we’ve been waiting for: actual in-car footage of the full lap around the circuit.

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In February, we brought you news of Roborace’s first self-driving car “race” at the Buenos Aires ePrix, using two of their “DevBot” development cars for the upcoming autonomous car racing series.  But earlier today at the Paris ePrix, Roborace took their actual car, dubbed “Robocar,” onto a public track for the first time.

Previously, while Roborace has been testing the Robocar around a private test track, it has only demonstrated DevBots in public.  The actual design of the Robocar which will be used for the series had only been shown at their unveiling event back in February, or parked in the paddock at last week’s Monaco ePrix.  The main difference between the two is that DevBots are a stripped-down version of an LMP-style racecar, complete with a cockpit for a human driver for testing purposes.  The Robocar however has no cockpit, and there is no place for a human driver to sit.

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In Barcelona today for the MWC 2017 Mobile Conference, Roborace unveiled the final version of its all-electric and self-driving racecar: robocar. It’s the vehicle that will be used for the self-driving racing championship that will take place before the ePrix of the Formula E later this season.
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Roborace, an electric driverless car racing series which is currently still in development, had their first “real” “race” today, driving two DevBots on the same street circuit at the Formula E Buenos Aires ePrix.

The two cars made their way around the track at a cautious yet respectable pace, with the “winner” reaching a top speed of 115 mph. Unfortunately, the losing car didn’t fare so well, getting itself into an accident and taking itself out of the race.

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During the next Formula E season, there will be a self-driving car race before some of the upcoming ePrix races. The new championship is called Roborace. Teams of software engineers will compete on vehicles all equipped with the same hardware and the first working prototype, called ‘DevBot’, is now available for testing.
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